Town Hall railway station, Sydney
Template:Short description Template:Use Australian English Template:Use dmy dates Template:Infobox station
Town Hall railway station is a heritage-listed<ref name=oeh/> underground suburban rail station located in the centre of the Sydney central business district in New South Wales, Australia. The station opened on 28 February 1932.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> It is named after the Sydney Town Hall, located directly above the station.
History
The station is built on the site of Sydney's earliest colonial cemetery, the Old Sydney Burial Ground.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> In 2008, part of this cemetery was being excavated from under the Town Hall.
The station opened on 28 February 1932<ref name=oeh/><ref>Town Hall Station Template:Webarchive NSWrail.net</ref> and was built with six platforms, which were split over two levels with three platforms on each level. When the station opened, only four of the platforms were in use: platforms 1, 2 and 3 on the upper level and platform 6, served by escalators, on the lower level.<ref name=stjames>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> The other two platforms were built in preparation for a proposed western suburbs line from the city to Gladesville, as envisaged under the Bradfield scheme.<ref name=stjames/> This line was never built, and the platforms (4 and 5) remained disused until incorporated into the Eastern Suburbs line when it opened in June 1979.
The station concourse had a major restructure in 2005 when the shops inside were closed to make way for the increasing crowds.
During a refurbishment of the station in 2014, a sign pointing to an air-raid shelter was uncovered on a staircase leading to Platforms 1 and 2. It has been encased in a Perspex casing.<ref>"Town Hall Station upgrade" Railway Digest January 2015 pages 44-45</ref>
Station configuration
{{ safesubst:#invoke:Unsubst||date=__DATE__ |$B= {{ safesubst:#invoke:Unsubst||date=__DATE__ |$B= Template:Ambox }} }} Town Hall has two platform levels, each with three platforms – physically two island platforms, but set up so that one faces two tracks and the other faces the other track. Each platform has one lift in the centre connecting the concourse with the platforms, providing Easy Access for wheelchairs. These facilities were constructed in 1999. The lower-level platforms (4 to 6) have 4 escalators to the concourse. As the platform is not wide enough, the escalators are in a cross configuration, with two at either end of the platform and another two at the centre. The escalator directions can be changed by staff throughout the day as the passenger flow dictates. The upper-level platforms have stairs up to the concourse. There are also small staircases linking the two platform levels.
The concourse is above the two platform levels and immediately below street level. The station is linked to nearby shopping centres including the Queen Victoria Building, The Galeries, Town Hall Square, Pavilion Plaza and, Woolworths Supermarket. There are also several exits up to each side of George Street.
Opened in 2024, the Sydney Metro line includes another station located at Gadigal.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Platforms and services
Template:Sydney Trains platform box
Transport links
Light rail services
Above the underground concourse on George Street is the Town Hall light rail stop, which is the serviced by the L2 Randwick and L3 Kingsford lines.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
| Line | Destinations | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Template:Rcb | Circular Quay & Randwick | citation | CitationClass=web
}}</ref> |
| Template:Rcb | Circular Quay & Kingsford | citation | CitationClass=web
}}</ref> |
Bus services
Town Hall station is served by bus routes operated by Busways, CDC NSW, Keolis Downer Northern Beaches, Transdev John Holland and Transit Systems, under contract to Transport for NSW. Template:Columns-list
Trackplan
See also
- Architecture of Sydney
- List of Sydney railway stations
- Railways in Sydney
- Rail transport in New South Wales
- Sydney underground railways
References
External links
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- Town Hall Station at Transport for New South Wales (Archived 2 May 2020)
- Town Hall station map Transport for NSW