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South Coast line
Overview
Mode	Interurban rail line Coach service
Area	Wollongong Shellharbour Kiama Shoalhaven
Map colour	Blue/Grey
Owner	CityRail
Design
Length	153 km
Stations	40
Connects	Central Wollongong Port Kembla (branch) Dapto Bundanoon (by coach) Kiama Bomaderry (Nowra)
1887	Opened
Operations
Operator(s)	CityRail
Fleet	Oscars, V, T, G, L sets; Endeavour railcars
Depot(s)	Mortdale for suburbans, Flemington for V sets
Public transport |  v • d • e

The South Coast Line is in the intercity region of Sydney's CityRail services. It serves the coastal region to the south of the Sydney metropolitan area including the Illawarra region, most notably the regional city of Wollongong, and extended services reach as far as Nowra in Shoalhaven.

The line is operationally and historically known as the Illawarra Line throughout its length from the Illawarra Junction at Redfern to its terminus in Bomaderry. CityRail currently markets the suburban services to Waterfall and Cronulla as the Illawarra line and interurban services south to Wollongong and Bomaderry as the South Coast line.

^[1]The South Coast (Illawarra) line commences at the Illawarra Junction at Redfern. Here, a dive-under allows inter-city services from the South Coast line to cross underneath the main suburban railway lines to access Sydney Terminal. From the Illawarra junction, four tracks head south through the stations of Erskineville and St Peters to Sydenham. Immediately north of Erskineville station, the Illawarra lines are connected to the Illawarra Relief Lines which emerge from underground. These lines form the Eastern Suburbs line which opened in 1979. Heading south from Erskineville, the eastern-most pair of tracks are the Up and down Illawarra lines which usually carry the Illawarra line passenger services. The western-most pair of tracks are the Up and Down Illawarra local tracks which usually carry Bankstown and East Hills line express trains. To the west of the four tracks between Erskineville and Sydenham lies a reservation for a further pair of tracks with partially constructed platforms at Erskineville and St Peters stations. There are current plans to complete these tracks under the Rail Clearways plan, these tracks will be known as the Up and Down Illawarra relief lines.^[2]

At Sydenham, six platforms are provided, with Bankstown line services generally using the western-most pair (platforms 1 and 2), East Hills peak hour services using the inner pair (plaforms 3 and 4) and Illawarra line services usuing the easternmost pair of platforms (platforms 5 and 6). South of Sydenham, the Bankstown line branches off in a westwards direction. The Botany Goods Line crosses over the four Illawarra line tracks via a flyover on its way to Port Botany. The line then reaches Tempe station, before crossing the Cooks River. South of the Cooks River lies Wolli Creek station, where the East Hills line branches off in a westerly direction. The Illawarra line continues south as four tracks through a rock cutting to the stations of Arncliffe (2 side platforms and an island plaform), Banksia (2 island platforms) and Rockdale. Rockdale station has five plaforms, platform 1 (the most westerly platform) is currently unelectrified and disused for passenger services, but was previously been a terminating point for electric passenger trains. South of Rockdale, the line passes through Kogarah station (one island plaform 2 & 3 and 2 side platforms 1 & 4) which has a shopping centre built overhead. The line the makes a westerly turn, heading through Carlton and Allawah stations (both with two island platforms). Carlton is currently undergoing an upgrade to easy access status with the provision of lifts, Allawah had this completed in the early 2000s.

The next station is Hurstville (2 island platforms), which is where the four track section ends and terminating facilities are provided. Like Kogarah, Hurstville has a shopping centre built above the platforms. South of Hurstville, the line becomes 2 tracks with bidirectional signalling. The line passes through Penshurst and Mortdale (island platforms). At Mortdale is the Mortdale train depot which lies on the eastern side of the tracks with access points from the south of the station. The line then continues to Oatley which has an island platform and a set of points allowing trains to be turned-back. The line then crosses the Georges River over the Como Bridge, which opened in 1972 replacing an older single track bridge which still exists to the east of the present structure and is used as a cycleway. The line enters the Sutherland Shire, passing through Como station (which was moved to its present, new site with the opening of the new bridge in 1972), and Jannali (side platforms) before reaching Sutherland.

At Sutherland, three platforms are provided. The Cronulla Line branches off in an eastwards direction south of the station. The line then continues south through Loftus, Engadine, and Heathcote (all side platform stations). South of Loftus, the former Royal National Park line branched off, this has now been converted into a tram line connecting to the Sydney Tramway Museum, and connections to the mainline have been severed. The final station for the operation of suburban services is Waterfall station, which is an island platform. At Waterfall, there is a train stabling yard and a train turnback (shunting road) south of the station. South of Waterfall is the site of the 2003 Waterfall train disaster.

The line then heads south through the challenging terrain of the Royal National Park and Illawarra escarpment. The line makes a steep decent down to Wollongong. The original alignment through the towns of Helensburgh and Lilyvale which opened in 1888 was bypassed by a new route in 1915. A new station at Helensburgh (island platform) was subsequently opened with the new alignment. A set of points allows the turnback of trains at Helensburgh. The line then proceeds through several tunnels down the Illawarra escarpment through the hamlets of Stanwell Park and Coalcliff. South of Coalcliff, the line becomes single track as it passes through the Coalcliff tunnel, before becoming double track again near Scarborough station. The line then proceeds south through the northern suburbs of Wollongong, then Wollongong and its southern suburbs. At Coniston south of Wollongong, an electrified branch line heads east to Port Kembla. At Unanderra, the line to Moss Vale branches off to head west over the Illawarra escarpment to join the Main South line. Double tracking ends here at Unanderra, the line continues south as a single line track. The line continues south through Kembla Grange where a simple platform serves the Kembla Grange racecourse. The line then reaches Dapto where a passing loop is provided. Dapto was the southern extent of electrification until 2001^[3] . The line then passes south through the hamlet of Albion Park Rail (where another crossing loop is provided) to reach Kiama, the current extent of electrification. South of Kiama, the line continues as a single track non-electrified line through rolling dairy pastures via several tunnels to the towns of Gerringong and Berry before arriving at its terminus at the town of Bomaderry on the northern bank of the Shoalhaven River. At Bomaderry, sidings connect to the Manildra Group's starch mill, the only current source of goods traffic south of Unanderra^[4].

Illawarra (Sth Coast) Line

Legend 2 from Main Suburban Line Erskineville St Peters Sydenham Metropolitan Goods line to Botany Bankstown Line to Liverpool Tempe Cooks River East Hills Line to Macarthur Wolli Creek (to Airport Line) Arncliffe Banksia Rockdale Kogarah Carlton Allawah 15 Hurstville Penshurst Mortdale Oatley Georges River Como Jannali Sutherland Woronora Cemetery Branch Cronulla branch to Cronulla Loftus National Park branch Engadine Heathcote 39 Waterfall Waterfall Tunnel Sth Waterfall Temporary Junction Cawley Loop Cawley Tunnel Helensburgh Temporary Junction Old Helensburgh Tunnel Helensburgh Helensburgh (1st site - closed) Helensburgh Tunnel Metropolitan Tunnel Old Metropolitan Tunnel Metropolitan Junction Metropolitan Colliery branch Lilyvale No. 1 Tunnel Lilyvale No. 2 Tunnel Lilyvale (1st site - closed) Lilyvale Tunnel Lilyvale (2nd site - closed) Otford Otford Tunnel Bald Hill Tunnel Stanwell Park Stanwell Park (1st site - closed) Stanwell Park Tunnel Stanwell Park Viaduct Stanwell Creek Tunnel Coalcliff Coalcliff Colliery sidings Coal Cliff South Clifton Tunnel Clifton Scarborough Wombarra Coledale Austinmer 70 Thirroul Bulli Coal siding Bulli Colliery Bulli Woonona Bellambi Corrimal Towradgi Fairy Meadow North Wollongong 83 Wollongong Coniston Port Kembla Inner Harbour lines Port Kembla Line to Port Kembla Dendrobium Colliery siding Port Kembla Outer Harbour lines Unanderra Unanderra- Moss Vale line to Moss Vale Kembla Grange Racecourse Wongawilli Colliery siding Dapto Yallah Tallwarra Power Station siding Albion Park Oak Flats Croom Tunnel Dunmore (Shellharbour) Dunmore Quarry siding Minnamurra Bombo Quarry siding Bombo Kiama Tunnel 119 Kiama Omega Tunnels (x4) Omega Gerringong Toolijooa Berry Jaspers Brush Manildra starch mill siding 153 Bomaderry (Nowra)

The Illawarra Line branched off the Main Suburban Railway south of Redfern, at Eveleigh (Illawarra Junction) reaching Hurstville in 1884, Sutherland in 1885, Waterfall in 1886, Bulli, Wollongong, Unanderra and Bombo in 1887 and Kiama and Bomaderry, across the Shoalhaven River from the town of Nowra in 1893.^[5] In 1886, a branch line was opened to the Royal National Park, which was closed in 1991. Electrification was completed in stages from Sydney to Loftus (1926), Waterfall (1980), Wollongong (1985), Dapto (1993) and Kiama (November 2001). The Kiama-Nowra section remains unelectrified. In 1924, work began on a 57 km line connecting Unanderra with Moss Vale on the Great Southern line, which was opened in 1932. It enabled the transportation of limestone from the Southern Highlands to the coast at Port Kembla. See: Unanderra - Moss Vale railway line

On 31st of January 2003, a Tangara passenger train derailed at high speed south of Waterfall sation after its driver suffered a heart attack. The Waterfall train disaster resulted in seven fatalities and multiple injuries.

The South Coast line passenger services currently consist of electric double deck multiple unit trains that operate between Bondi Junction or Central and either Wollongong, Kiama or Port Kembla. Diesel shuttle trains connect at Wollongong or Kiama and operate to Nowra. Although electrified to Wollongong in 1985, several diesel trains operated between Sydney and Nowra until 1991, one of which was the South Coast Daylight Express, operated as a locomotive hauled train of Budd and Tulloch type passenger cars which included catering facilities.^[6]

v • d • e Railway Lines in New South Wales

Main lines Broken Hill Line · Main North Line · Main South Line · Main West Line · North Coast Line · South Coast Line Country Branch lines  Berrima Line • Binnaway-Werris Creek Line • Blayney- Demondrille Line • Boggabilla Branch • Bombala Line • Canberra Branch • Cobar Branch • Coonamble Branch • Grenfell Branch • Gwabegar Line • Hay Branch • Lake Cargelligo Branch • Medway Quarry Branch • Mungindi Line • Naradhan Branch • Newcastle branch • Oaklands Branch • Parkes to Narromine Line • Picton Loop Line • Pokataroo Branch • Sandy Hollow - Gulgong Line • South Maitland Railway • Stockinbingal - Parkes Line • Temora to Roto Line • Tottenham Branch • Troy Junction - Merrygoen Line • Unanderra - Moss Vale Line • Walgett Branch • Warren Branch • Yanco - Griffith Line Closed: Ballina line • Barraba line • Belmont line • Boorowa branch • Brewarrina Line • Burcher Branch • Camden Branch • Corowa Branch • Crookwell line • Dorrigo Line • Holbrook Branch • Kunama (Batlow) Branch • Kywong Branch • Merriwa line • Molong to Dubbo line • Murwillumbah Branch • Newnes line • Oberon Line • Rand Branch • Rankins Springs Branch • Richmond Vale Railway • Taralga Branch • Toronto Line • Tumbarumba Line • Tumut Branch • Westby Branch Sydney Suburban lines  Airport & East Hills Line • Bankstown Line • Carlingford Line • City Circle • Cumberland Line • Eastern Suburbs & Illawarra Line (Cronulla Line, Eastern Suburbs Line) • Inner West Line • North Shore Line • Northern Line • Olympic Park Line • South Line • Western Line (Richmond Line) Closed: Camden Line • Ropes Creek Line • Royal National Park Line • Rogans Hill Line InterCity and Regional Passenger Services  Blue Mountains Line • Hunter Lines • Newcastle & Central Coast Line • South Coast Line • Southern Highlands Line Proposed or Under Construction  CBD Rail Link • Epping to Chatswood Line • North West Rail Link • South West Rail Link Tourist railways  Richmond Vale Railway • Skitube • Zig Zag Railway Sydney goods lines  Metropolitan Goods Line • Sandown Line • Southern Sydney Freight Line