New South Wales Metropolitan Rail Area
| NSW Metropolitan Rail Area | |
|---|---|
 |
|
Suburban portion of the New South Wales metropolitan rail area, showing terminal locations
|
|
| Overview | |
| Type | Commuter rail |
| Status | Active |
| Locale | |
| Termini |
Central |
| Website | RailCorp |
| Operation | |
| Opened | 1 January 2004 (as MRA) |
| Owner | RailCorp |
| Operator(s) | Sydney Trains |
| Technical | |
| Track gauge | Standard gauge |
| Electrification | Overhead 1500V DC |
The New South Wales Metropolitan Rail Area (MRA) is the government-operated railway network centred on Sydney and bounded by Hamilton in the north, Bowenfels in the west, and Glenlee and Bomaderry in the south. The MRA contains the entirety of the state's electrified rail network (save for the isolated Skitube Alpine Railway). The MRA is owned by RailCorp and maintained by Sydney Trains.
Prior to 2004, the entire NSW Government-owned rail network was operated by the then Rail Infrastructure Corporation (RIC). In preparation for the planned lease of the interstate and Hunter Valley networks to the Australian Rail Track Corporation (ARTC), the Transport Administration Act 1988 was amended in 2003 to define a "metropolitan rail area", to be managed by a new agency called RailCorp. The residual non-metropolitan, non-ARTC network remained with RIC as the Country Regional Network, and is now managed directly by Transport for New South Wales.
At its northern extent, the MRA is bounded by the former terminal station at Newcastle. Since December 2014, however, trains have only operated as far as Hamilton. The northern section of the network extends 165 kilometres from Central and is electrified for its entire length. The Main North railway continues north from Broadmeadow into the ARTC-operated Hunter Valley network.
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