Chatswood railway station

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Chatswood railway station is a rapid transit and suburban railway station located in the Sydney suburb of Chatswood. It is served by Sydney Trains services; the T1 North Shore & Western Line and the T9 Northern Line, and Sydney Metro North West & Bankstown Line services.

History

Chatswood station opened on 1 January 1890 when the North Shore line opened from Hornsby to St Leonards.<ref>Chatswood Station NSWrail.net</ref> An island platform was built on 23 May 1900 and a third dock platform brought into use on 12 July 1919. There was a small goods yard, similar to the one at St Leonards, on the western side of the station, beyond the northern end of the platforms. The dock platform on the eastern side of the station was used for electric parcel-van traffic and also for terminating some services from the city, until these were rescheduled to terminate further along the North Shore line from January 1992.<ref>"CityRail launches new timetable" Railway Digest February 1992 page 45</ref> It was removed in October 1994.<ref>"Signalling & Safeworking" Railway Digest November 1994 page 41</ref> Until 1958 there was a tram terminus in Victoria Avenue beside the station. The station entrance was later integrated with a shopping centre called The Interchange in the mid-1980s.

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Construction on the new station in April 2007

With the construction of the Chatswood to Epping line, it was decided to redevelop the station to accommodate Chatswood's new role as a junction station. The original station, as well as the attached bus interchange and shopping centre were demolished in 2005 and a temporary station was opened where the former platform 3 was located. A new western island platform opened in place of the original island platform on 16 October 2006. The eastern island platform opened in 2008.<ref>Chatswood Transport Interchange Template:Webarchive Transport Construction Authority</ref><ref>Chatswood Transport Interchange Template:Webarchive NSW Treasury</ref> The signal cabin that was located at the northern end of the station building, was saved and has been preserved as part of the bus interchange.<ref>Historical Signal Room Template:Webarchive Willoughby City Council</ref>

The new station precinct is known as the Chatswood Transport Interchange (CTI) and consists of the railway station, a bus interchange and pedestrian pathways connecting the precinct to the surrounding streets. The CTI was constructed as a Public Private Partnership and was to include a new shopping plaza called Metro Chatswood and three towers. The private developers, CRI Chatswood, went into receivership whilst construction was underway.<ref>Carter, Bridget. Chatswood development delays trigger $28m payout for Bonett The Australian 30 September 2010.</ref> As a result, the shopping centre remained closed until 2014 and major construction of the towers was delayed for several years.

From 26 May 2019, Chatswood station became the major terminus of the Metro North West Line which replaced the Epping to Chatswood railway line which closed on 29 September 2018.<ref>Station Link and adjustments to train and bus services supporting the new Sydney Metro Northwest Template:Webarchive Transport for NSW 11 September 2018</ref> This will, at a later date be extended to Bankstown via the Sydney Harbour Rail Tunnel. This will leave Platforms 1 and 4 the only platforms served by Sydney Trains, while the two terminating roads are used by the Metro North West Line.

Station layout

Template:Multiple image The station consists of two island platforms – a city-bound platform and an outbound platform. The two centre platforms now serve as the terminus of the Sydney Metro Northwest line. The outer platforms serve the Northern and North Shore lines. A turnback / stabling road is located to the south of the station and is used to terminate some trains from the Sydney Metro.

Access to Chatswood station is provided by a series of pedestrian walkways at three different intersections: Victoria Avenue and Railway Street, Chatswood Mall and Orchard Road, and Post Office Lane and Victor Street.<ref name="interchange map">Guide to bus services at Chatswood Transport Interchange New South Wales Ministry of Transport Retrieved 15 February 2009</ref> Additional pedestrian entrances are available from Chatswood Central Plaza, adjacent to the north side of the station concourse.<ref name="interchange map"/>

Because the station and tracks are level with the ground, the concourse is actually below street level despite being open-air in nature. The installation of new "jump-proof" opal card ticket barriers<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> in 2018 reduces fare evasion and ensures faster entry into the concourse which features stairs, lifts, and escalators to access the platforms. The station fulfills Sydney Trains' Easy Access criteria.

File:H41-Chatswood-P1.jpg

An H Set at Platform 1, September 2022

File:Metro Northwest testing new trains in Chatswood station, Sydney.jpg

Sydney Metro platforms (2 & 3), April 2019