Blacktown railway station, Sydney

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Blacktown
Blue Mountains Line
Cumberland Line
Western Line
Station code BAK
Suburb Blacktown
Street(s) Main St
Distance from Central Station 34.87 km
Altitude (above sea level)  ? m
Types of stopping trains Suburban all stops
Suburban limited stops
Intercity
CountryLink
Number of platforms 7
Number of tracks 7
Platform arrangement 3 Island
1 Side
Type of station Ground
Ticket barriers Yes
Transfers available Bus
Train
Disabled access Handicapped/disabled access Yes
Station facilities Link

Blacktown is a railway station on the Western railway line, Sydney of the CityRail network, servicing the suburb of Blacktown and surrounding region. It is the interchange station for the Richmond Branch of the Western Line, and is considered the northern terminus of CityRail's Cumberland Line. The station is also served by the daily Countrylink XPT service to and from Dubbo. Blacktown is an Easy Access station, with lift access to all platforms.

Contents

[edit] History

Blacktown station opened on 2 July 1860 as Black Town Road with the construction of the Main Western railway line.[1] Captain Martindale, the colony's chief engineer was not happy with work done by contractor John Gibbons and refused to issue a certificate for work done. Not happy with the decision Gibbons told his men to remove 3 portions of the track near Parramatta. He was arrested and placed in the Parramatta Watch House before being released on bail which soon settled the matter. Two days later the first train did run into the new Black Town Road Station tooting hip, hip hooray. The 'road' was dropped from the station name on 1 August 1862. [2]

In the beginning steam hauled trains were the norm passing Black Town Road and latter Blacktown Station then in the 1940s, 50s and 60s steam was giving way to firstly diesels and when the lines were electrified, electric multiple units were the norm. Today all suburban and Intercity trains are of double deck design, with the exception being Countrylink's XPT and Xplorer services to and from Dubbo and Broken Hill respectively and the Indian Pacific.

Access to Blacktown Station before the major rebuild was via a footbridge on the eastern end or Sydney end of the station. The only example of the former footbridge at Blacktown can be found at Clyde station and even then it's built a little different. The track layout around the station has changed a little with the inclusion of an extra side platform on the old Up Loop on the site of the old Trackfast Parcels Office & Building. An extension of the former Up Siding outside the old Blacktown Signal Box it's now known as the Up Richmond line continues for a distance of 1.681km from the old sidings dead end to points that connect it to the Up Main just before Seven Hills and was build to alleviate congestion of up trains from Richmond proceeding to the Up Main just after the station waiting for Down Richmond trains coming off the flyover entering platform 2.

The station received a major rebuild in the 1990s to a modern glass and steel structure with the addition of an extra platform and the provision of lift access to all platforms.[citation needed]

The new footbridge also has a mezzanine level which is home to Cityrail offices, these offices include Station Managers Office, Train Crewing Sign On/Off and Meal Rooms for station staff and train crews which include toilets and locker rooms. The station is known as the "Mother Ship" as it looks like a UFO when lit up at night. Also in the upgrade, Blacktown also received 3 escalators one from the footbridge to the bus interchange and two for access to Main Street on the southern or down side of the station.

Included in this major upgrade was a new bus interchange constructed between the Main Western & Ricmond Lines with a new bus only road between the interchange and George Street on the eastern end of platforms 1 & 2.

[edit] Platforms/Service

Platform 1

  • Western Line (Richmond Branch) - all stations and limited stops services to Central; then to Lindfield, Gordon, Hornsby or Berowra via the North Shore Line.

Platform 2

  • Western Line (Richmond Branch) - all stations services to Riverstone and Richmond.

Platform 3

  • Western Line - terminating services; all stations and limited stops services to Central; then to Lindfield, Gordon, Hornsby or Berowra via the North Shore Line.
  • Cumberland Line - terminating services; all stations services to Campbelltown.

Platform 4

  • Western Line (Western Branch) - all stations and limited stops services to Central, then to Lindfield, Gordon, Hornsby or Berowra via the North Shore Line.

Platform 5

Platform 6

  • Western Line (Western Branch) - all stations services to Penrith and Emu Plains; peak hour limited stops services to Penrith and Emu Plains.
  • Blue Mountains Line - intercity services to Springwood, Katoomba, Mount Victoria and Lithgow.

Platform 7

  • Western Line (Western Branch) - all stations services to Penrith and Emu Plains; peak hour limited stops services to Penrith and Emu Plains.

[edit] Bus Services

Blacktown Station Bus Interchange

Stand 1: NightRide

Stand 2: Busways

Stand 3: Busways

Stand 4: Busways

Stand 5: Hillsbus (702) and Westbus (830)

Stand 6: Hillsbus

Stand 7: Busways

Stand 8: Busways

Stand 9: Busways

Stand 10: Hillsbus

Stand 11: Hillsbus

Stand 12: Hillsbus

Stand 15&16: Busways and Hillsbus (T61)

Stand 17: Busways

[edit] Trackplan

Track arrangement at Blacktown
Track arrangement at Blacktown


[edit] See also

[edit] Notes and References

  1. ^ Main Western railway line. Nswrail.net. Retrieved on 27 January 2007.
  2. ^ Pictorial History of Blacktown District. 

[edit] Neighbouring stations

Preceding Station
(inbound)		 Line Following Station
(outbound)
Westmead
Blue Mountains Line
Penrith
Seven Hills
Cumberland Line
Campbelltown → Blacktown
terminus
Seven Hills
Western Line
Doonside (via Emu Plains)
Marayong (via Richmond)
Preceding station   CountryLink   Following station
towards Dubbo
 CountryLink Western
Dubbo XPT
towards Sydney
 
CityRail Stations		 Logo
Blue Mountains Line North Sydney | Milsons Point | Wynyard | Town Hall | Central | Redfern | Strathfield | Granville | Parramatta | Westmead | Blacktown | Penrith | Emu Plains | Lapstone | Glenbrook | Blaxland | Warrimoo | Valley Heights | Springwood | Faulconbridge | Linden | Woodford | Hazelbrook | Lawson | Bullaburra | Wentworth Falls | Leura | Katoomba | Medlow Bath | Blackheath | Mount Victoria | Bell | Zig Zag | Lithgow
Cumberland Line Campbelltown | Leumeah | Minto | Ingleburn | Macquarie Fields | Glenfield | Casula | Liverpool | Warwick Farm | Cabramatta | Canley Vale | Fairfield | Yennora | Guildford | Merrylands | Harris Park | Parramatta | Westmead | Wentworthville | Pendle Hill | Toongabbie | Seven Hills | Blacktown
Western Line Central | Redfern | Burwood | Strathfield | Lidcombe | Auburn | Clyde | Granville | Harris Park | Parramatta | Westmead | Wentworthville | Pendle Hill | Toongabbie | Seven Hills | Blacktown | Doonside | Rooty Hill | Mt Druitt | St Marys | Werrington | Kingswood | Penrith | Emu Plains | Marayong | Quakers Hill | Schofields | Riverstone | Vineyard | Mulgrave | Windsor | Clarendon | East Richmond | Richmond
(stations in italics are under planning or under construction)
CityRail Lines
■ Eastern Suburbs & Illawarra | ■ Bankstown | ■ Inner West | ■ Airport & East Hills | ■ South | ■ Cumberland | ■ Western | ■ North Shore | ■ Carlingford | ■ Olympic Park | ■ Northern | ■ South Coast | ■ Southern Highlands | ■ Blue Mountains | ■ Newcastle & Central Coast | ■ Hunter
Under construction or planning: CBD Rail Link | Epping to Chatswood Line | North West Metro | South West Rail Link

[edit] External links

Coordinates: 33°46′06″S 150°54′27″E / -33.76843, 150.90735