Wikipedia

Bondi Junction railway station

Bondi Junction railway station is a heritage-listed railway station located on the Eastern Suburbs line, serving the Sydney suburb of Bondi Junction in the Australian state of New South Wales. It is served by Sydney Trains's T4 Eastern Suburbs & Illawarra Line services and NSW TrainLink's South Coast Line services.

Bondi Junction
Bondi Junction platform terminus, June 2018
General information
LocationGrafton Street, Bondi Junction
Australia
Coordinates33°53′28″S 151°14′50″E / 33.891093°S 151.247208°E / -33.891093; 151.247208
Elevation64 metres (210 ft)
Owned byTransport Asset Holding Entity
Operated bySydney Trains
Line(s)Eastern Suburbs
Distance6.76 kilometres (4.20 mi) from Central
Platforms2 (1 island)
Tracks2
Connections Bus
Construction
Structure typeUnderground
AccessibleYes
Other information
Status
  • Weekdays:

Staffed: 24/7

  • Weekends and public holidays:
Staffed: 24/7
Station codeBJN
WebsiteTransport for NSW
History
Opened23 June 1979; 45 years ago (1979-06-23)
ElectrifiedYes
Passengers
2023[2]
  • 12,583,200 (year)
  • 34,475 (daily)[1] (Sydney Trains, NSW TrainLink)
Services
Preceding station Sydney Trains Following station
Edgecliff
towards Waterfall or Cronulla
 Eastern Suburbs & Illawarra Line Terminus
Preceding station NSW TrainLink Following station
Edgecliff
towards Kiama
 South Coast Line
(morning and evening services)
 Terminus

History

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Bondi Junction track layout

As a long-standing major commercial area in Sydney's east, a railway line had long been considered to Bondi Junction. The suburb was variously proposed to have been the intermediate or the ultimate terminus of an Eastern Suburbs Railway since 1916. In 1967, tenders were awarded for the construction of the Eastern Suburbs line as far as Bondi Junction. Construction began shortly thereafter.

Construction plans

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Although a subway station, construction required the demolition of a block of mixed commercial-residential buildings to permit staging of the project, the construction of a works compound and, once the railway was completed, to be the location of the bus interchange facility.

The line was to be eventually constructed to Kingsford, but the first stage would run only so far as Bondi Junction. As the planned interim terminus of the line, terminus facilities were provided at the station. These consisted of a turnback tunnel between the main running tunnels and a trailing crossover.

An underground shopping complex was proposed to be constructed at the concourse level of the station (similar to that which exists at Martin Place). Additionally, an underground walkway would be provided to the then proposed (later constructed) Bondi Junction Plaza shopping centre.

Construction realities

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Construction of the Eastern Suburbs Railway generally proceeded from the Erskineville tunnel portals to Bondi Junction. As such Bondi Junction was the last developed station site.

In 1976, the Wran Government sought to reduce costs on the railway's construction. As a result of an inquiry by an Eastern Suburbs Railway Board of Review, a number of recommendations were made and accepted by the government.[3] Relevantly these included:

  • Eastern Suburbs Railway not be constructed beyond Bondi Junction and the route to Kingsford be abandoned
  • Line be fully integrated with the Illawarra line (not be run independently)
  • Shopping centre on the station concourse not be constructed
  • Tunnel to the Bondi Junction Plaza not be constructed
  • Level of finish at the station be reduced and only four escalators be provided from the concourse level to the platform level
  • Scale of the bus interchange be reduced

As a result of these changes, Bondi Junction became the permanent terminus of the Eastern Suburbs and Illawarra railway lines. However no provision was made for an upgraded turnback facility.

Opening

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The Eastern Suburbs Railway was opened on 23 June 1979 by the Premier, Neville Wran.[4][5]

Rebuilding the bus interchange

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Entrance to the station concourse from the bus interchange

The bus interchange facility opened in 1979 was basic. The location of the station meant the land and airspace on which it was located was highly valuable. This in turn led to various proposal throughout the 1990s to sell the airspace and redevelop the interchange. In 1998, Woollahra Council, then controlling the site of the bus interchange, finalised an agreement to sell the airspace above the site to Meriton who commenced construction of a new bus interchange together with two residential apartment towers and a small shopping centre in April 1999. The new interchange was temporarily opened in September 2000 for the Sydney Olympics but subsequently closed for further work. The new bus interchange, two apartment towers and the shopping centre opened in July 2001.[5] The shopping centre known as Tiffany Plaza (renamed to Meriton Retail Precinct Bondi Junction in 2018) featured a McDonald's outlet, a gym, a child care centre and seven other retailers.[6]

Reconstruction of the bus terminal altered the locations of commuter access to the station concourse. As such, alterations were required to the station concourse. The resulting renovation of Bondi Junction station primarily involved upgrading station staff facilities, the installation of toilets and the general updating of the station, hitherto a time capsule to the 1970s.

The renovation was conducted coincidentally with the Easy Access upgrade to the station and the replacement of the original incandescent lamp platform indicators with plasma display indicators.

Clearways Project upgrade

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Constructed as a part of the Rail Clearways Program, a second turnback facility was built. The major work consisted of the construction of a new crossover tunnel on the city side of the station. This created an X-shaped or diamond junction allowing terminating trains to arrive at either platform. The changes allowed the full line capacity of 20 trains per hour to be turned at Bondi Junction, the prior limit being 14.

In addition, extra stabling facilities were provided by utilitising unused sections of tunnels beyond the station. These tunnels were constructed on anticipation of continued tunnelling towards Kingsford. They have had track laid and overhead wire installed for a length of two eight-car trains in each tunnel. This gives a total stabling capacity of five eight-car trains (two in each siding and one in the turnback tunnel).

Complementing the stabling capacity at the station is the erection of a staff meal and waiting room on the platform level.

Construction began on the site in October 2004 while the station was closed and trains terminated at Edgecliff. Commissioning took place in April 2006.[7][8]

Platforms and services

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Platform Line Stopping pattern Notes
1 terminating services to & from Cronulla, Waterfall & Helensburgh [9]
terminating services to & from Wollongong, Port Kembla, Dapto & Kiamaonly during peak hours and weekends[10]
2 starting services to & from Cronulla, Waterfall & Helensburgh [9]
starting services to & from Wollongong, Port Kembla, Dapto & Kiamaonly during peak hours and weekends[10]
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Bondi Junction Interchange: All bus routes are operated by Transdev John Holland except routes 389 and 440 which are operated by Transit Systems.

Stand A:

Stand B:

Stand C:

Stand D:

Stand E:

  • Arrivals only

Stand F:

Stand G:

  • Arrivals only

Stand H:

Stand J:

Stand K:

Stand L:

Stand M:

  • School services only

Stand N:

  • Arrivals only

Stand P:

  • Arrivals only

Stand Q:

  • Arrivals only

Stand R (Grafton Street):

Stand S (Grafton Street):

  • Arrivals only

Stand T (Grafton Street):

References

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  1. ^ This figure is the number of entries and exits of a year combined averaged to a day.
  2. ^ "Train Station Monthly Usage". Open Data. Retrieved 26 January 2024.
  3. ^ Kennedy, Brian (1982). Subterranean Sydney. Frenchs Forest: AH & AW Reed. p. 63. ISBN 058950312X.
  4. ^ Bondi Junction Station Archived 6 March 2016 at the Wayback Machine NSWrail.net
  5. ^ a b Bondi Junction railway station Archived 4 March 2016 at the Wayback Machine NSW Environment & Heritage
  6. ^ "[:en]Meriton Retail Precinct - Bondi Junction[:zh]Luna[:]". Meriton. Retrieved 29 December 2020.
  7. ^ Rail Clearways Program - Completed Projects Archived 11 July 2015 at the Wayback Machine Transport for New South Wales
  8. ^ Bondi Junction Turnback Project Profile Transport Infrastructure Development Corporation
  9. ^ a b "T4: Eastern Suburbs & Illawarra line timetable". Transport for NSW.
  10. ^ a b "South Coast line timetable". Transport for NSW.
  11. ^ a b "Transdev route 333". Transport for NSW.
  12. ^ "Transdev route 380". Transport for NSW.
  13. ^ "Transdev route 381". Transport for NSW.
  14. ^ "Transdev route 386". Transport for NSW.
  15. ^ "Transdev route 387". Transport for NSW.
  16. ^ a b "Transdev route 379". Transport for NSW.
  17. ^ "Transdev route 313". Transport for NSW.
  18. ^ Route 350 timetable Transport for NSW
  19. ^ "Transdev route 326". Transport for NSW.
  20. ^ "Transdev route 327". Transport for NSW.
  21. ^ "Transdev route 328". Transport for NSW.
  22. ^ Route 356 timetable Transport for NSW
  23. ^ "Transdev route 360". Transport for NSW.
  24. ^ Route 390X timetable Transport for NSW
  25. ^ "Transdev route 352". Transport for NSW.
  26. ^ "Transdev route 355". Transport for NSW.
  27. ^ "Transit Systems route 389". Transport for NSW.
  28. ^ "N91 Nightride". Transport for NSW.
  29. ^ "Transit Systems route 440". Transport for NSW.
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  Media related to Bondi Junction railway station, Sydney at Wikimedia Commons

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