Blue Mountains Line

The Blue Mountains Line is an inter urban commuter rail service operated by NSW TrainLink serving the Blue Mountains region of New South Wales, Australia. The line travels west from Sydney to the major town of Katoomba and on to Mount Victoria, Lithgow and Bathurst. Mount Victoria is the terminus for most electric services, but some services terminate at Lithgow instead. 2 Express services per day in each direction, known as the Bathurst Bullet, extend to the regional city of Bathurst, which is supplemented by road coaches connecting Bathurst to Lithgow. Due to electrification limits at Lithgow, the Bathurst Bullet is run using the Endeavour railcars, which operate on diesel. The Blue Mountains Line operates over a mostly duplicated section of the Main Western line. As such, the tracks are also traversed by the Central West XPT, Outback Xplorer and Indian Pacific passenger services and by freight trains.

History

The Blue Mountains line is a section of the Main Western line which opened in 1868. The line was built with gradients as steep as 1 in 33 and curves as sharp as 8 chains. Most of the curves were eased to 12 chains with duplication.
The line originally ascended the eastern and descended the western sides of the Blue Mountains via a series of zig-zag track sections. The eastern zig zag was by passed by a tunnel in 1892 and the western zig zag was bypassed in 1910 with the Ten Tunnels Deviation.

Electrification and further upgrades

In the 1950s, the line was electrified primarily as a means of easing the haulage of coal freight from the western coalfields to the coastal ports, but a by-product of this programme was the introduction of electric interurban passenger services as far west as Bowenfels, later cut back to Lithgow. Goods trains are now exclusively diesel hauled. Electric passenger services were originally provided by a combination of electric locomotive hauled carriages and single deck electric multiple unit sets, both of which have now been withdrawn and replaced by more modern rolling stock.
In June 2012, New South Wales Premier Barry O'Farrell announced that services would be extended to Bathurst. The service, commonly known as the Bathurst Bullet, commenced on 21 October 2012. A second Bathurst Bullet return service was introduced on 16 September 2019.
Springwood services were previously the only services where an H set train would be scheduled. Due to the width of H sets, they risked striking platforms past Springwood with their outward opening plug doors and tunnels past Katoomba. The last H sets were removed from the line in 2017 and 2018. As the V sets are being replaced by the New Intercity Fleet, which are wider, the loading gauge of the line past Springwood will be increased. This will be done by a combination of carving notches into tunnel walls and reducing required clearances by lowering speed limits.
Station upgrades as part of the were carried out, as well as more minor upgrades. A full list of completed upgrades can be viewed at the TAP's , whilst .

Station	Upgrade details	Upgrade status	Year completed	Notes
Lapstone	New lift, new toilets, general station refresh, upgrades to footbridge and ramp, and new kiss and ride bay.	Planning	Estimated 2021
Glenbrook	New lift, new kiss and ride bay, general station refresh, and new bathrooms.	Complete	December 2019
Blaxland	N/A	N/A	N/A
Warrimoo	N/A	N/A	N/A
Valley Heights	N/A	N/A	N/A
Springwood	N/A	N/A	N/A
Faulconbridge	New lifts, new toilets, general station refresh, upgrades to ramp, accessible car space and kiss and ride bay.	Planning
Linden	N/A	N/A	N/A
Woodford	N/A	N/A	N/A
Hazelbrook	New toilet, new lift, upgrades to pathways and accessible parking spaces.	Complete	December 2019
Lawson	N/A	N/A	N/A
	New lifts, new canopies, new kiss and ride bays, improved forecourt, improvements to toilets and waiting areas.	Complete	December 2017
Leura	New lift and stairs, new canopy, new taxi rank, new pathway, general station refresh, new kiss and ride bay, and new bicycle facilities.	Complete	February 2018
Katoomba
Medlow Bath	N/A	N/A	N/A
Blackheath	New lifts, upgrades to taxi rank, kiss and ride bay, accessible parking spaces, general station and platform refresh, new water fountain, removal of pedestrian level crossing, and new bicycle hoops.	Planning	Estimated around 2023
Mount Victoria	Platform extension as part of new fleet program, as well as modifications to canopies and platform edges.	Complete	July 2020
Bell	N/A	N/A	N/A
Zig Zag	N/A	N/A	N/A
Lithgow	Platform extension as part of new fleet program, as well as modifications to canopies and platform edges.	Complete	July 2020
Rydal	N/A	N/A	N/A
Tarana	N/A	N/A	N/A
Bathurst	N/A	N/A	N/A

Services

The line is operated entirely by NSW TrainLink V sets. As the electric overhead wiring ends at Lithgow, diesel-electric Endeavour railcars operate the services to and from Bathurst.
All electric Blue Mountains line services start and terminate from the intercity platforms of Central station. During the weekday off-peak, they operate hourly, alternating between services to Mount Victoria and Lithgow. During the morning and afternoon peaks, some express services operate, together with short workings to Springwood and Katoomba.
There are two services each way from Bathurst to Central, known as the Bathurst bullet, mainly catering for commuters working in Sydney. Two services run toward Central in the morning and return in the afternoon. Two shuttle services operate from Lithgow to Bathurst in the early morning and return to Lithgow late at night. Some of these diesel services operate to different times on Wednesdays to allow for the Indian Pacific.
Some off-peak electric interurban services on the line only consist of four carriages, with peak hour services usually consisting of eight carriages. Regional diesel services on the line consist of two carriages.