New Southern railway (airport line): a maintenance case study

The New Southern Railway (Airport Line) was constructed to link the existing East Hills Line at Turrella to the Sydney Central Railway Station via the Sydney (Kingsford Smith) Airport at Mascot. The Airport Line is a double track railway in a single tunnel that encompasses four underground railway stations (Green Square, Mascot, Domestic and International Station) and Wolli Creek Interchange Station, which is the open station at the junction of the Illawarra and Airport/ East Hills Lines. The Tunnel commences at the Prince Alfred Park Portal at 0.666 km and finishes at the Wolli Creek Portal at 9.700 km; resulting in a tunnel length of 9.034 km. The boundaries of the Projectrs track activities are 0.450 km (Up Track) and 0.366 km (Down Track) on the Sydney End and 10.432 km (both tracks) on the Country End. The new Line was constructed as the Tunnels + Tracks (T + T) Design & Construct (D&C) Contract, in a Joint Venture between Transfield Construction Pty Ltd and the French Construction Company, Bouygues SA. The Joint Venture was known as the Transfield Bouygues Joint Venture (TBJV). Construction of the Airport Line commenced in 1995 and finished in November 1999. Through great fanfare, the first train rolled through the Airport Line on 21 May 2000, months before the opening ceremony of the Sydney Olympic Games.