Rail Clearways Program

The Rail Clearways Programme was conceived in 2004 with the aim of easing congestion of Sydney's suburban railway network, by reducing the amount of infrastructure shared by multiple services.

The disparate projects at pinch points throughout the network were designed to increase passenger capacity and improve reliability.

A new timetable was introduced in October 2013 that realised the benefit of many of the projects, and by January 2014—the programme was complete.

In the mid-2000s, the Government of New South Wales suffered heavy criticism for its perceived mishandling of the Sydney rail network, which had very poor on-time performance following the January 2003 Waterfall train disaster.

St Peters and Erskineville railway stations were expected to continue to be served by the Bankstown line.

The works were cancelled in November 2008, and the plan for frequent operation of express East Hills line services via Sydenham was abandoned.

This worked in concert with the Homebush turn-back project, which provided a terminating point for all stations Inner West Line services on the Main Suburban.

This was to allow more frequent express services to the city, relieve pressure on other parts of the network and improve the distribution of passengers.

Trains from the west start from the Richmond, Penrith or Epping branches, meet up at Strathfield and travel through the city to Chatswood.