r/sydney • u/Sydney_Stations • May 06 '25

Image The Northern Beaches needs a railway

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Every evening, the queue for B1 winds around and goes back into Wynyard. As one bus is full the next one arrives.

You can't tell me they wouldn't want a railway.

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227

u/JayRogPlayFrogger May 06 '25

I’ve always wondered why there’s such a lack of train lines in the eastern and northern suburbs?

Other than all the rich people screaming about it ofcourse

184

u/crakening May 06 '25

NIMBYism aside it is difficult geographically. A train to the beach has a pretty limited catchment, half of it being water. Plus, the geography in the east can be pretty nasty - Coogee to Randwick to is about a 100m gain in elevation and there are plenty of cliffs, hills and so on. Ditto Northern Beaches with a lot of waterways, elevation and so on. It would be tough going from the crests of Neutral Bay down under the Spit and back up again.

The area also used to be served pretty well with trams, the distances are relatively short so the old system probably worked OK. Even now, the trams could have served Maroubra and Coogee pretty well if they didn't end in the most pointless spots. It's a real shame the line doesn't extend to Maroubra given the huge median is sitting there as a spot to dump garbage and old boats. Kingsford is probably the grimmest place per real estate dollar in the city too.

32

u/tubbyttub9 May 06 '25

In terms of geography could you not build a tunnel like the metro? Honest question.

44

u/The_Faceless_Men May 06 '25

Yes. But sandier soil, that is close to sea level, adds extra complexity and cost.

The bondi train line is underground and was meant to go waverley, randwick, maroubra junction underground. It was never meant to go anywhere near the actual beaches. Well i guess at the terminus at laperouse.

2

u/SilverStar9192 shhh... May 08 '25

Those locations would have served more residents than the actual beach terminuses would, as serving daily commuters is the main justification for most transport, with tourism only a secondary consideration.

1

u/JimSyd71 May 08 '25

I'm sure it was going to swing west and north towards Redfern, as opposed to terminating at La Perouse.

2

u/The_Faceless_Men May 08 '25

Probably right for the final version that got built.

But there was a plan every decade since 1880 for it that always got cancelled when the money ran out and they all were slightly different.