Trains @ North Strathfield, 5 Years On
I videoed at North Strathfield on 25 April 2013 & then again this year. 25 April is the ANZAC Day public holiday in Australia (& New Zealand).
There have been many changes in the interveening 5 years. The biggest being the opening of the North Strathfield Rail Underpass (NSRU) on the eastern side of the station. In the 2013 video, building was about to commence, with concrete barriers placed to keep the construction workers off the active railway.
Less obvious is the change in the station footbridge. The eastern pylon was in the path of the NSRU, so was replaced with a cantilever abutment added before the pylon was removed, all done without taking the bridge out of action.
The station itself has been sympathetically renovated including the re-point tucking of the brickwork & the windows reglazed back to the original style.
From a train point of view, many changes too. Whilst Pacific National is still the major freight hauler, the QR National/Aurizon interstate intermodal services are no more.
SCT Logistics, whose wagons in 2013 were often on the front of Aurizon services, is now an operator in its own right, with almost daily services passing, often with Aurizon containers onboard!
The Crawford’s export container service between Botany & Sandgate still operates, but now with its own locos. The C & RL locos used in 2013, are now more likely to be seen on SSR grain services.
On the passenger side, much less change. Some minor rebranding on the longer distance services, whilst on the suburban services to Epping, the A class Waratah sets being introduced in 2013, are now the mainstay of the services.
