Gus (@unspecificocean.bsky.social)

The ventilation towers of the Rozelle Interchange.

19 Sept

A strange place in Sydney I recently visited: the foreshore path along the northern side of Botany Bay, close to Port Botany.

31 Aug

I have made these diagrams of the Sydney suburban rail network that show each service pattern that runs every 30 minutes as a separate line. There are separate diagrams for weekday off-peak services and weekend services.

19 Aug

Simplified cross-sectional diagrams of train stations with platforms on multiple levels in Sydney, showing the general layout of platforms, concourses, and stairs/escalators.

12 July

Western Sydney Airport hasn't opened yet, but bus routes to it have recently started operating, so it's possible to go there by bus and see the outside of the unopened terminal.

docs.google.comJune 2026 station distance changes

26 June

From 29 June 2026, the way distances between Sydney railway stations are calculated for the purpose of fare calculation is changing. I made a spreadsheet showing the distances between stations before and after this change and the difference between them. docs.google.com/spreadsheets...

transportnsw.infoYou may see changes to your trip fare from 29 JuneFrom Monday 29 June, some customers may notice small changes to Opal fares.

26 June

Official news about the upcoming change: transportnsw.info/news/2026/yo...

26 June

For context, fares for heavy rail trips in Sydney are calculated based on the track distance between the origin and destination stations, and there are 5 distance bands that each cover a range of distances, each with a different fare.

25 June

The Woronora Bridge in southern Sydney has a very cool walkway underneath the level of the road, with great views over the Woronora River. This bridge opened in 2001, replacing a smaller bridge just above the level of the river, which still carries local traffic.

On New Year's Eve 2024, Sydney Metro services didn't stop at Barangaroo between 17:00 and 23:45 due to large crowds. During this period, there were some changes to passenger information displays, since trains were skipping a station they'd normally stop at.

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The line diagrams on trains still showed Barangaroo. But between arriving at the station before Barangaroo and arriving at the station after it, the station icon for Barangaroo was replaced with a different icon with an exclamation mark.

The regular announcements on trains still said "This is an all stops service" even though the train was skipping a stop, and the displays between the doors still said "All stops to [destination]", but there were special announcements about how trains were skipping Barangaroo.

Next-train indicators didn't list Barangaroo as a stop and said the service was "Limited Stops" instead of "All Stops", though they weren't doing this at all stations, as at Sydenham I saw they were still showing the service as stopping at all stops.

In the past, I thought the idea of building a rail tunnel from Merrylands to Epping via Parramatta and Carlingford (an idea implied in the Future Transport Strategy 2056 document) wasn't a very good one. However, over the first half of this year, I changed my mind on this.

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However, branching also complicates services, and limits the frequency of each type of service. While diverting South Line services into a new tunnel would require changing trains on many trips, it would increase the overall capacity of the network.

While extending the Parramatta Light Rail line from Carlingford to Epping would probably be possible, it would be difficult due to the steep topography in Carlingford and the width of Carlingford Road. And an underground rail line would be faster than a light rail line.

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But I've changed my mind on this, as diverting South Line services into a tunnel to Epping would allow significant simplification of services on the Western Line, and more services on the South Line as well.

Currently, South Line services join the Western Line north of Merrylands, branching in both directions. Branching like this allows the Western Line's capacity to be used for multiple types of services, allowing many kinds of trips to be made on a single train.

I thought this idea wasn't very good because I thought it wouldn't improve services on the South Line much, and I thought a Parramatta Light Rail extension would be a better way of creating a rail link between Parramatta and Epping.

youtube.comExploring ComoYouTube video by Exploring Sydney's Railways

23 Dec 2025

New Exploring Sydney's Railways video! In this one I visit Como Station on the Illawarra Line, which has a beautiful station entrance. www.youtube.com/watch?v=eSpu...

24 Oct 2025

I'm back in Sydney now, after getting the train back from Canberra. The train might not be the fastest way to get between Sydney and Canberra, but it's a nice way to do it.

24 Oct 2025

City Hill, at one of the corners of Canberra's Parliamentary Triangle.

23 Oct 2025

The Butters Bridge, a pedestrian bridge over the Molonglo River which opened in 2016.

23 Oct 2025

The under-construction Molonglo River Bridge.

22 Oct 2025

The Kingston Foreshore area, close to Canberra Station.

22 Oct 2025

I'm in Canberra now, after taking the train from Sydney. This was my first time on an Xplorer train.

21 Oct 2025

On the weekend, due to trackwork, trains on the Metro North West & Bankstown Line were running between Castle Hill and Sydenham. This is the view from the front of a train using the crossover east of Castle Hill to terminate there. This crossover isn't used by normal services.

5 Oct 2025

The Oxford Street cycleway in Sydney opened recently. This cycleway on a major road links multiple other cycleways, making the cycling network more connected.

youtube.comExploring Wiley ParkYouTube video by Exploring Sydney's Railways

25 Sept 2025

New Exploring Sydney's Railways video! In this one, filmed in June 2024 before the closure of the Bankstown Line, I visit Wiley Park. www.youtube.com/watch?v=dTzj...

18 Sept 2025

The Woolwich Dock in Woolwich, Sydney. It originally opened in 1901, and an expansion was completed in 1918. It was formerly a dry dock.

16 Aug 2025

A week ago I visited another Sydney Metro West open day at the site of the future Parramatta metro station. The main focus of this open day was seeing one of the tunnel boring machines, as it was in the station box on the day. bsky.app/profile/unsp...

Gus@unspecificocean.bsky.social

Today I visited a special Sydney Metro West open day at the site of the future Parramatta metro station. Currently it's just a construction site, but in the future this will be a major underground train station.

16 Aug 2025

The other tunnel boring machine tunneling this section had already started tunneling west beyond the station. There has been a lot of progress since the previous open day, and the eastern part of the station box has reached its full depth.

The reason why I haven't posted for several months before today is because I wanted my next post to be about the Riverstone video, but I kept on putting off finishing the video, so I didn't make other posts until the video was done.

This was also the reason for the gap between posts between May and August 2024, but I decided to return to posting because the Sydney Metro extension was about to open. After a few months I decided to return to not posting until I finished the video.

youtube.comExploring RiverstoneYouTube video by Exploring Sydney's Railways

New Exploring Sydney's Railways video! In this one I visit Riverstone, an unusual station on the Sydney rail network as it has a level crossing next to it. www.youtube.com/watch?v=waQv...