Type Commuter rail Website RailCorp Owner RailCorp | Status Active Operator(s) Sydney Trains Track gauge Standard gauge | |
 | ||
Locale Sydney
Central Coast
Newcastle
Blue Mountains
Illawarra Opened 1 January 2004 (as MRA) Terminis Central Railway Station, Sydney | ||
The New South Wales Metropolitan Rail Area (MRA) is the government-operated railway network centred on Sydney and bounded by Hamilton in the north, Bowenfels in the west, and Glenlee and Bomaderry in the south. The MRA contains the entirety of the state's electrified rail network (save for the isolated Skitube Alpine Railway). The MRA is owned by RailCorp and maintained by Sydney Trains.
Contents
Background
Prior to 2004, the entire NSW Government-owned rail network was operated by the then Rail Infrastructure Corporation (RIC). In preparation for the planned lease of the interstate and Hunter Valley networks to the Australian Rail Track Corporation (ARTC), the Transport Administration Act 1988 was amended in 2003 to define a "metropolitan rail area", to be managed by a new agency called RailCorp. The residual non-metropolitan, non-ARTC network remained with RIC as the Country Regional Network, and is now managed directly by Transport for New South Wales.
Boundaries
At its northern extent, the MRA is bounded by the former terminal station at Newcastle. Since December 2014, however, trains have only operated as far as Hamilton. The northern section of the network extends 165 kilometres from Central and is electrified for its entire length. The Main North railway continues north from Broadmeadow into the ARTC-operated Hunter Valley network.
At its western extent, the MRA is bounded by the former station at Bowenfels, a few kilometres west of the town of Lithgow. In practice, the last MRA station is Lithgow. The western section of the network extends 158 kilometres from Central and is electrified for its entire length. The Main West railway continues west from Bowenfels into the Transport for New South Wales operated Country Regional Network.
At its south-western extent, the MRA is bounded by the rural locality of Glenlee. The last metropolitan station is Macarthur, in Campbelltown. The south-western section of the network extends 58 kilometres from Central and is electrified for its entire length. The Main South railway continues south from Glenlee into the ARTC-operated interstate network.
At its south-eastern extent, the MRA is bounded by Bomaderry Station. The south-eastern ("Illawarra") section of the network extends 154 kilometres from Central and is electrified as far south as Kiama (119 kilometres from Central). Bomaderry is also the terminus of the South Coast railway. The ARTC-operated interstate network joins the South Coast railway at Unanderra, south of Wollongong.
The Southern Sydney Freight Line and Sydney Freight Network are physically within, but do not form part of, the MRA. These are reserved for use by freight trains and are operated and maintained by ARTC.
Operations
All Sydney Trains services operate within the MRA. NSW TrainLink intercity and regional services operate beyond the MRA.