page_title: Central railway station, Sydney
section_title: Central Electric Station
hierarchical_section_title: Central railway station, Sydney / Station layout / Central Electric Station
caption_attribution_description: English: Central Station, Sydney
context_page_description: Central is a heritage-listed Australian railway station located in the centre of Sydney in the City of Sydney local government area of New South Wales. The station is the largest and busiest railway station in New South Wales and serves as a major transport interchange for NSW TrainLink inter-city rail services, Sydney Trains commuter rail services, Sydney light rail services, State Transit and private bus services, and private coach transport services. The station is also known as Sydney Terminal. The property was added to the New South Wales State Heritage Register on 2 April 1999. It recorded 85.4 million passenger movements in 2018.
  Central station occupies a large city block separating Haymarket, Surry Hills and the central business district, bounded by Railway Square and Pitt Street in the west, Eddy Avenue in the north, Elizabeth Street in the east and the Devonshire Street Tunnel in the south. Parts of the station and marshalling yards extend as far south as Cleveland Street, and are located on the site of the former Devonshire Street Cemetery.
context_section_description: To the east of the Sydney Terminal building are ten further platforms, used by suburban Sydney Trains services and by a limited number of NSW TrainLink intercity services during peak hours.
  As part of the construction of the electrified city railway in the 1920s and the electrification and expansions of the Sydney suburban lines, the existing station was cut back to 15 platforms with new Platforms 16 to 23 built on the station's eastern side in 1926. The Electric Station was part of the construction works overseen by Bradfield that included the excavation of the tunnels, the building of the Harbour Bridge, and electrification of the suburban rail network.
  The platforms continue north via a six-track viaduct paralleling Elizabeth Street built to the north, passing over Campbell Street and Hay Street, and ending at Goulburn Street where it enters tunnels to connect with the City Circle underground rail system and the North Shore over the Sydney Harbour Bridge.
  Platforms 16 to 23 are also elevated, but are served by a lower level concourse at street level. Railway staff refer to this part of the station as the "Central Electric Station", or "Central Electric System". The two stations were managed and staffed as separate entities. This section of the station is also referred to as the "suburban" platforms. There are two major pedestrian entrances to Central Electric: one at Elizabeth Street and one at the top of Eddy Avenue ramp.  Both are constructed of Maroubra sandstone with classical detailing.
  The four island platforms allow four eight trains to use the station, four trains in each direction. South of these new platforms, a series of flying junctions were built. This involved the four southbound tracks passing beneath the northbound tracks with a series of diamond crossings allowing trains to cross lines without impeding trains traveling in the opposite direction.
  In February 1926, Platforms 18 and 19 of the steam station were wired for electric trains with a demonstration run from Sydney to Hurstville. This wiring was transferred to Platforms 21 and 23 and Platforms 14 and 15 were wired for Bankstown electric train services commencing October 1926 and later worked into St James. As the Homebush electrification was completed, Platforms 17 and 18 were wired. Electric trains to Hornsby via the main line commenced on 21 January 1929. Trains to Hornsby used Platforms 16 and 18. Steam services to Parramatta and Liverpool were converted to electric in November 1929. Western electric trains began operating through to Wynyard from 28 February 1932.
  Two further underground platforms were built as part of the Eastern Suburbs Railway, bringing the total number of platforms in the suburban section to ten. Construction commenced in 1948 but the line was not finished until 1979. While the plans called for four platforms, two (for the Southern Suburbs line) were intended to be used in the future and have never been brought into service. They were for a time used for archival storage by the railways.
caption: Eddy Avenue entrance to the suburban platforms
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