Wolli Creek Station
Wolli Creek StationWolli Creek railway station is in the Sydney suburb of Wolli Creek, on the Sydney CityRail network serves two lines, the Illawarra Line and Airport and East Hills Line. The two lines intersect at almost right angles with the Illawarra line on the surface, and the Airport-East Hills line below ground level. There is one island platform on the four track Illawarra line (platforms 3 and 4) and two platforms below grade on the Airport line (Platforms 1 and 2). Initially the Airport line platforms were built open to the air but they are currently being covered over as part of a housing development. Immediately south of the station on the Illawarra line, a set of points allow trains to cross-over from the 'Illawarra local' tracks to the 'Illawarra' tracks to access platforms 3 and 4. Lifts and stairs connect the platforms and the station entrance, as this is an Easy Access station.
HistoryThe station was built on a former industrial site and siding as part of the new Airport link, which opened in 2000. The name derives from a local creek branching from the Cooks River, and Wolli Junction is the name of the original junction point for the East Hills line from the Illawarra line at this site. In the initial concept for the Airport Line, no station was to be provided at this site, however the State Rail Authority (now RailCorp) decided to construct a station here as an interchange point with the new Airport line and the Illawarra line. The station, unlike the others built on the line, was constructed with government finance and hence is owned by RailCorp. In the initial concept and design phase, the station was designated as 'North Arncliffe', however this was changed to Wolli Creek in 1998 before it opened in 2000. During construction, a set of points allowing the cross-over of trains from the 'Illawarra local' lines to the 'Illawarra main' lines was moved further south. The Airport line tracks are designated as the 'New Southern Railway', this was the original name for the Airport line, and is still the technical name for it. A perceived deficiency of the station is that there is only one island platform on the four track section of the Illawarra line, meaning that peak hour services using the 'Illawarra local' tracks have no means to stop at Wolli Creek. Also, trains from the East Hills line travelling on to Tempe and Sydenham have no platforms at which to stop at Wolli Creek. This deficiency has been identified by Railcorp, and there are long term plans to construct additional platforms at Wolli Creek to enable better interchange of services.
Platforms/ServiceAll trains via the Airport stop at Wolli Creek. These depart on Platform 1 to City and Platform 2 to Macarthur. All trains from Wolli Creek towards the Airport and City are all-stop trains, and almost all trains terminating at East Hills are also all-stop services. Trains terminating at Campbelltown and Macarthur are typically limited-stop services, most stopping at Kingsgrove, Riverwood, Padstow, East Hills then all stations to Campbelltown or Macarthur railway stations. All off-peak South Coast Line and Illawarra Line trains stop at Wolli Creek. Some peak hour services from both of these lines bypass the station as they utilise the 'Illawarra Local' tracks.
Platform 1:
Airport & East Hills Line - all stations services around the City Circle (anticlockwise) via the Airport.
Platform 2:
Airport & East Hills Line - all stations and limited stops services to Kingsgrove, East Hills, Glenfield, Campbelltown and Macarthur.
Platform 3:
Eastern Suburbs & Illawarra Line - all stations services to Bondi Junction.
South Coast Line - intercity services to Central; peak hour intercity services to Bondi Junction.
Platform 4:
Eastern Suburbs & Illawarra Line - all stations and limited stops services to Hurstville, Mortdale, Sutherland, Cronulla and Waterfall.
South Coast Line - intercity services to Thirroul, Wollongong, Port Kembla, Dapto and Kiama.
2008 Wolli Creek Train FireOn April 9 2008, a train caught on fire at Wolli Creek station. Approximately 900-1000 commuters had to be evacuated as an air-conditioning unit of a train began to catch on fire. Passengers were asked to change trains at Wolli Creek station. This event caused train delays of up to 40 minutes. The fire was contained at 8:30am local time.