Monday 15 June 2009

Mid-month theme: Subway day


As the name suggests, Town Hall Station is in the civic centre of the city. It is the first station in the City Circle with the line heading underground about 150 metres north of Central Station. The City Circle section of the Sydney railway system was the brain child of J.J.C. Bradfield and formed an integral part of his vision for the expanding city which included the Sydney Harbour Bridge to link the northern and southern shores of the harbour.

The opening in December 1926, of the St James and Museum stations marked his plan's first result. With the addition of Town Hall and Wynyard stations in February 1932, the resulting loop enable trains to continue their journey back to Central in a forwards direction. With the completion of the Harbour bridge later in 1932, Sydney's railway system served the city well until 1956 when the Circular Quay extension linked the CBD with the civic centre.

Left: Showing the construction of the roof over the lowest platform at Town Hall.
Right: George Street looking north showing the hole for the construction of the station below. In the foreground on the left is firstly St Andrews Cathedral and then the Town Hall itself both of which stand on the site of the original town cemetery (closed for new internments about 1829). In the centre background is the Queen Victoria Building which stands on the site of the original city markets.

The mid-month Subway theme has contributions from the following cities:
Budapest - London - New York - Paris - Stockholm - Sydney

Next month's Subway post: Museum Station

12 comments:

Ann said...

Be careful taking photos in stations. I got told off for taking photos in St James. Seems its a security risk.

Julie said...

Yes, I know. I got told off at Redfern. But I will persevere ...

Jim said...

I've had the same problem a couple of times. The day I was at Wolli Creek, the stationmaster made the police come over and question me talk to me. As luck would have it, they happened to be patrolling the other platforms when I decided to take a picture of the entrance. It was a few weeks before the APEC conference came to Sydney so I could understand the extra security but it still seemed extreme that the asked for identification and took my details. I've been a bit wary since then because they warned me not to photograph at train stations without permission.
Sydney - City and Suburbs

stromsjo said...

That first stairway shot is very good. Gee, I wish we had a circle line as well. I was thrilled to find one in London when I visited some years back and I'm sure many cities have them.

Happy subway day !

PeterParis said...

I have met similar difficulties with some security rules here in Paris, leading to some "discussions"; the rules seem a bit unclear to me.

Interesting to see this documentation. The station looks quite modern and must have been extremely modern when it was created.

AB said...

The mid-month Subway theme has contributions from the following cities

So unfair! My town is not big enough for a subway!

Joan Elizabeth said...

You should get a picture of the stations on the new line out the Chatswood-Epping line, they are really swish. You might do as good a job on them as you did with the new Law building at the Uni.

Mo said...

The security arguement drives me crazy. We (photographers) are told not to take pictures but there a hundres (thousands ) of security cameras taking pictures of us.

brattcat said...

Great shots, intrepid subway photographer. Thank you, Julie, for your always insightful comments. Alas we have no subways in Vermont. Not a single one.

Lois said...

Very nice shots Julie! I really enjoy reading the history and seeing the old photographs too.

Kiwi said...

That's a very steep stairway and there's not much room on the platform for waiting people. Thanks for letting us visit your down under underground.

Kiwi said...

@Ann: It is not a security risk to take photos in the subway but it's being used as a bearing argument for stopping photographers. It's just plain silly. I've been told off in Stockholm subway as well.