The Goods Line is an

linear park A linear park is a type of park that is significantly longer than it is wide. These linear parks are strips of public land running along canals, rivers, streams, defensive walls, electrical lines, or highways and Esplanade, shorelines. Examples o ...

and shared pedestrian pathway and cycleway in the suburb of Ultimo, in the

City of Sydney The City of Sydney is the Local government in Australia, local government area covering the Sydney central business district and surrounding inner city suburbs of the Greater Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Established by Act of Parliament ...

New South Wales New South Wales (commonly abbreviated as NSW) is a States and territories of Australia, state on the Eastern states of Australia, east coast of :Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria (state), Victoria to the south, and South ...

, Australia. The corridor connects Railway Square to

Darling Harbour Darling Harbour is a harbour and neighborhood adjacent to the city centre of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, that is made up of a large recreational and pedestrian precinct that is situated on western outskirts of the Sydney central busines ...

in the south and passes both the

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campus and the

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Sydney head office. The Goods Line terminates in the north at the corner of

Sussex Sussex (Help:IPA/English, /ˈsʌsɪks/; from the Old English ''Sūþseaxe''; lit. 'South Saxons'; 'Sussex') is an area within South East England that was historically a kingdom of Sussex, kingdom and, later, a Historic counties of England, ...

and

Hay Hay is grass, legumes, or other herbaceous plants that have been cut and dried to be stored for use as animal fodder, either for large grazing animals raised as livestock, such as cattle, horses, goats, and sheep, or for smaller domesticate ...

Streets, in the

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Description

From the southern end, the Goods Line walkway commences at the southern end of

Central station Central stations or central railway stations emerged in the second half of the nineteenth century as railway stations that had initially been built on the edge of city centres were enveloped by urban expansion and became an integral part of the ...

at the beginning of the Devonshire Street Tunnel. The tunnel is a pedestrian tunnel that was opened in 1906, joining Devonshire Street with Lee Street. From the exit of the tunnel one enters Henry Deane Plaza, which sits slightly below the level of Lee Street and descends a ramp at the other end of the Plaza to enter the extension tunnel beneath Lee Street. The extension tunnel continues under Lee Street, Railway Square and George Street and, at each of these points, the extension tunnel can be exited or entered by stairs and escalators; there are no entry/exit points to the tunnel via any buildings. The extension tunnel then continues under the TAFE Marcus Clark Building. The Marcus Clark Building was formerly owned by Marcus Clark & Co., a nine-storey department store was constructed in 1913 at 827–837 George Street, Railway Square. Marcus Clark & Co. originally served as a furniture showroom and an extension of the flagship store located at the corner of Pitt and George Streets. This building was remodelled in 1928 to become the company’s main store. The store ceased operations in 1965, and the building was acquired by the Sydney Institute of Technology the following year, in 1966. The extension tunnel opens behind the Wembley House at 841 George Street. To the west of the end of the extension tunnel, two steel rails appear from under a pair of large gates. The gates block entry to the northern end of the

Railway Square road overbridge The Railway Square road overbridge is a heritage-listed Bridge, road overbridge carrying George Street, Sydney, George Street over the former Rozelle–Darling Harbour Goods Line at Railway Square in the Sydney central business district, Austra ...

, which in the past provided access for trains using the railway line to Darling Harbour. From this point, the Goods Line walkway makes use of the former railway's infrastructure, including the Ultimo Road railway underbridge. The walkway exits the rail corridor near the

Powerhouse Museum The Powerhouse Museum, formerly known as the Museum of Applied Arts & Sciences (MAAS), is a collection of 4 museums in Sydney, owned by the Government of New South Wales. Powerhouse is a contemporary museum of applied arts and sciences, explori ...

, crosses Darling Drive and terminates at the corner of

and

Streets.

Background

The Goods Line uses the route of a former freight railway line that connected Sydney Yard and the Sydney–Parramatta railway line to the shipping port of

Historical background

The railway line opened in 1855 and was extended to Dulwich Hill in 1922, providing a way for freight trains to access Darling Harbour without interfering with passenger trains.Forsyth, J.H. (ed.) (1988–93), Stations & Tracks; Vol. 1: "Main Suburban & Branches – Illawarra & Branches". State Rail Authority of New South Wales: Sydney, p. 97. A short branch from Lilyfield to

Rozelle Rozelle is a suburb in the inner west of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. It is located 4 kilometres west of the Sydney central business district, in the local government area of the Inner West Council. Location Rozelle s ...

served another goods terminal.

Transition and decline of freight use (1980s)

The port facilities at Darling Harbour closed down and the precinct was extensively redeveloped in the 1980s. In the following years, the Lilyfield – Sydney Yard section became disused and with the

Inner West Light Rail The Inner West Light Rail is a light rail line in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, running from Central railway station, Sydney, Central railway station through the Inner West to Dulwich Hill railway station, Dulwich Hill and serving 23 sto ...

that opened between Pyrmont and Central station in 1997 using part of its alignment."Sydney's new light rail system" ''

Railway Digest ''Railway Digest'' is a monthly magazine, published in Sydney, covering contemporary railways in Australia. Overview The magazine is published by the Australian Railway Historical Society (ARHS), NSW Division. The first issue was in March 1 ...

'' September 1997 page 14 The light rail leaves the former railway corridor at Hay Street, leaving a short section of the corridor disused.

Redevelopment into The Goods Line (2012)

The section of the former goods line corridor from the northern end of the Devonshire Street Tunnel to Ultimo Road was converted into a pedestrian pathway and was originally called the Ultimo Pedestrian Network until it was renamed The Goods Line in 2012. Plans were then announced to expand the pathway through to Hay Street; this second section opened on 30 August 2015. The adjacent Dr Chau Chak Wing Building opened earlier in 2015; an entrance to the building is provided from The Goods Line.

Design

The Goods Line was designed by ASPECT Studios and CHROFI. Design features include grassy lawns, dining tables, table tennis tables, study pods and a children's water play area with a sand pit. The design choices also took cues from the railways, and the designers suggested that instead of transporting materials and produce, the corridor now transports commodities of the modern economy: ideas, people, social and cultural interactions. Several rail artefacts have been preserved, including the Ultimo Road railway underbridge, built in 1879, and a

lever frame Mechanical railway signalling installations rely on lever frames for their operation to interlock the Railway signal, signals, track locks and Railroad switch, points to allow the safe operation of trains in the area the signals control. Usuall ...

from the Ultimo Street Signal Box. The design won a 2014 Australia Award for Urban Design in the Policies, Programs and Concepts – Small Scale category.

Future

The original section, from Railway Square to Ultimo Road, will be upgraded.

Transport for NSW Transport for NSW (TfNSW) is a Government of New South Wales, New South Wales Government transport services and roads List of New South Wales government agencies, agency established on 1 November 2011. The agency is a different entity to the NSW ...

is conducting a feasibility study on an extension towards the disused Regent Street railway station using the rail tunnel under Railway Square. Railway Square road overbridge 03

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Goods Line 2012 establishments in Australia Linear parks Closed railway lines in Sydney Parks in Sydney Urban public parks Ultimo, New South Wales Buildings and structures completed in 2012 Parks established in the 2010s Protected areas established in 2012