Sydney Trains
Sydney Trains is the suburban passenger rail network serving the city of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. The network is a hybrid suburban-commuter rail system with a central underground core that covers over 815 km of track and 178 stations over eight lines, it has metro-equivalent train frequencies of every three minutes or better in the underground core, 5–10 minutes at most major stations all day and 15 minutes at most minor stations all day. During weekend services trains are less frequent with headways of upwards of a half-hour on outer stations with frequencies of less than 10 minutes in the underground core; the network is controlled by the New South Wales Government's transport authority, Transport for NSW, is part of the authority's Opal ticketing system. In 2017-18, 359.2 million passenger journeys were made on the network. In May 2012 the Minister for Transport announced a restructure of RailCorp, the organisation that owned and managed the metropolitan rail network and operated passenger services throughout the New South Wales.
Two new organisations were created to take over operation of the services from 1 July 2013. Sydney Trains acquired all suburban services in the Sydney metropolitan area bounded by Berowra, Emu Plains and Waterfall from RailCorp's CityRail division. Intercity and Hunter Line services operated by CityRail were taken over by NSW Trains. RailCorp remained as the owner of the network infrastructure; when first created as subsidiaries of RailCorp, Sydney Trains and NSW Trains were not controlled entities of RailCorp, but were instead controlled by Transport for NSW. In July, they ceased to be subsidiaries of RailCorp and became independent standalone agencies in July 2017; the first expansion of the Sydney suburban network during the Sydney Trains era occurred in 2015 when the South West Rail Link opened between Glenfield and Leppington. Beginning in 2018, some sections of the network are being transferred to the city’s metro and light rail networks; the line between Chatswood and Epping will form part of Sydney Metro Northwest and closed for conversion in September 2018.
The section of line between Sydenham and Bankstown will form part of Sydney Metro Southwest. This is due to open in 2024; the section of line between Camellia and Carlingford will form part of the Parramatta Light Rail network. The adjacent section of track between Clyde and Camellia, including Rosehill railway station, will become disused; the light rail is expected to open in 2023. A new rail link has been announced to serve the under-construction Western Sydney Airport; the line will link with the Western Line at St Marys station. The line is the first stage of a proposed "North-South Link" between Macarthur. However, this line is to be delivered using metro or light metro technology. In addition, a proposed extension to the South West Rail Link would connect Leppington to the Badgerys Creek Aerotropolis interchange south of the Western Sydney Airport. In July 2013 Howard Collins, the former Chief Operating Officer of London Underground, was appointed as Chief Executive of Sydney Trains. In addition to operating suburban train services, Sydney Trains maintains the New South Wales Metropolitan Rail Area, maintains all but a handful of operational railway stations in the state.
Sydney Trains operates eight suburban lines across metropolitan Sydney. In conjunction with a new timetable released on 20 October 2013, the Sydney Trains network was reorganised with a new numbering system; the number of lines was reduced from eleven to seven by merging several lines together. An eighth line was created on 26 November 2017 by splitting the T2 line into two separate lines. T5 services were modified to no longer travel to and from Campbelltown, instead starting and terminating at Leppington. From 28 April 2019, the T1 line from Gordon to Hornsby via Strathfield will be renumbered T9, whilst the portion from Berowra to Richmond & Emu Plains via Chatswood and Parramatta will remain T1; the new line will be red in colour. The main hub of the Sydney Trains system is Central station. Central is the terminus of most NSW TrainLink lines. After leaving Central, trains coming from the T2 Inner West & Leppington Line, T3 Bankstown Line and T8 Airport & South Line travel through the City Circle - a ring line beneath the Sydney central business district.
After completing the City Circle, these trains pass through Central for a second time and return to the suburbs. The T1 North Shore, Northern & Western Line and T4 Eastern Suburbs & Illawarra Line pass through the central business district and continue on to other areas of Sydney; the T5 Cumberland Line serves Western Sydney and provides access to the major centre of Parramatta from the south west of the city without requiring a change of trains at Granville. The T6 Carlingford Line and T7 Olympic Park Line are suburban shuttle services. NightRide bus services established in 1989, replace trains between midnight and 4:30am, leaving the tracks clear of trains for maintenance work; such bus services stop near stations operating at hourly intervals. Many services depart the city from bus stops near Town Hall station. NightRide services are contracted to external bus operators and are identified by route numbers beginning with "N". Sydney Trains operates a fleet of double deck electric multiple units.
The trainsets are divided into the following classes: Though operated by NSW TrainLink, some H sets are used on suburban services. Sydney Trains is taking delivery of 24 eight-carriage series 2 Waratah trains, which are similar to the original A sets, it maintains intercity trains for NSW TrainLink. The Sydney Trains network is divided into
NSW TrainLink
NSW TrainLink is an Australian brand for the medium and long distance passenger rail and coach services in New South Wales. It operates services throughout New South Wales and into the neighbouring states and territories of Victoria and the Australian Capital Territory. Train services are operated by the government's NSW Trains. Coach services are contracted to private operators, it is an agency of Transport for NSW. In May 2012, the Minister for Transport announced a restructure of RailCorp. On 1 July 2013 NSW TrainLink took over the operation of regional rail and coach services operated by CountryLink, non-metropolitan Sydney services operated by CityRail and responsibility for granting access to and maintaining the Main Northern line from Berowra to Newcastle, the Main Western line from Emu Plains to Bowenfels and the Illawarra line from Waterfall to Bomaderry; the NSW TrainLink network is divided into two tiers, branded as Regional. Intercity services operate commuter style services to and from Sydney with limited stops within the metropolitan area.
The Intercity network is part of Transport for NSW's Opal ticketing system. Seats on Intercity services are available on a first-served basis. Regional services operate in areas of lower population density, providing passenger transport between regional NSW and Sydney. Regional services use a ticketing system. Intercity services operate to a distance 200 kilometres from Sydney, bounded by Dungog in the north, Scone in the north-west, Bathurst to the west, Goulburn in the south-west and Bomaderry to the south. Electric services extend from Sydney north to Newcastle, west to Lithgow and south to Port Kembla and Kiama. Most electric services terminate at Central. Diesel trains serve the less populated parts of the Intercity network. Hunter Line services operate from Newcastle to Telarah with some extending to Scone. Southern Highlands Line services operate between Campbelltown and Moss Vale with a limited number extending to Sydney and Goulburn. Diesel services operate on the South Coast Line between Kiama and Bomaderry.
The Bathurst Bullet provides a limited stop service between Sydney and Bathurst. The Opal fare system for Intercity services is integrated with the Sydney Trains network - trips involving both Intercity and Sydney suburban services are calculated as a single fare and there is no interchange penalty. Opal is valid on bus and light rail services in the Greater Sydney region but separate fares apply for these modes; the following table lists Opal fares for reusable smartcards and single trip tickets as of 2 July 2018: ^ = $2.50 for Senior/Pensioner cardholders NSW TrainLink operates several bus routes along corridors where the railway line has been closed to passengers or as a supplement to rail services. These bus services are operated by private sector bus companies contracted by NSW TrainLink. Wollongong to Moss Vale/Bundanoon Moss Vale to Goulburn Picton to Bowral via Picton-Mittagong loop line on weekdays only NSW TrainLink operates passenger services throughout New South Wales and interstate to Brisbane and Melbourne.
All rail services feature diesel rolling stock. For more details of each train line see List of NSW TrainLink train routes; the North Coast services operate through the Mid North Coast, Northern Rivers and South East Queensland regions. The Government of Queensland makes a financial contribution to the provision of these services. Services operate on the Main North and North Coast lines from Sydney Central station to Roma Street station in Brisbane. Principal stations served by XPT trains are: Taree Kempsey Coffs Harbour Grafton Casino BrisbaneCities and towns served by NSW TrainLink coaches connecting off North Coast services include: Tea Gardens, Port Macquarie, Moree, Lismore, Byron Bay, Tweed Heads and Surfers Paradise; the North Western region services operate through the Hunter, New England and North West Slopes & Plains regions. Services operate on the Main North line from Sydney Central station to Werris Creek. Where the service divides for Armidale and Moree. Principal stations served by Xplorer trains are: Singleton Scone Tamworth Armidale Gunnedah Narrabri MoreeCities and towns served by NSW TrainLink coaches connecting off North Western services include: Wee Waa, Grafton, Glen Innes and Tenterfield.
The Western region services operate through the Central Tablelands and Far West regions. Services operate on the Main Western line from Sydney Central station to Dubbo and the Broken Hill line to Broken Hill. Principal stations served by XPT trains are: Bathurst Orange DubboPrincipal stations served by Xplorer trains are: Bathurst Orange Parkes Broken HillCities and towns served by NSW TrainLink coaches connecting off Western services include: Oberon, Baradine, Grenfell, Parkes, Lightning Ridge Brewarrina, Bourke and Broken Hill; the Southern region services operate through the Illawarra, South Coast, South West Slopes, Southern Tablelands and Sunraysia regions, plus the Australian Capital Territory and parts of Victoria. The Government of Victoria contributes financially to the provision of the interstate services; the ACT Government does not make a financial contribution. Services operate on the: Main South line from Sydney Central station to Albury continue on the North East line to Southern Cross station in Melbourne Bombala line from south of Goulburn to Queanbeyan where services join the Canberra line to terminate inside the Australian Capital Territory at Canberra Hay
The Sydney Morning Herald
The Sydney Morning Herald is a daily compact newspaper owned by Nine in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Founded in 1831 as the Sydney Herald, the SMH is the oldest continuously published newspaper in Australia and a national online news brand; the print version of the newspaper is published six days a week. The Sydney Morning Herald includes a variety including the magazines Good Weekend. There are a variety of lift-outs, some of them co-branded with online classified advertising sites: The Guide on Monday Good Food and Domain on Tuesday Money on Wednesday Drive, Shortlist on Friday News Review, Domain, Drive and MyCareer on SaturdayAs of February 2016, average week-day print circulation of the paper was 104,000; the editor is Lisa Davies. Former editors include Darren Goodsir, Judith Whelan, Sean Aylmer, Peter Fray, Meryl Constance, Amanda Wilson, William Curnow, Andrew Garran, Frederick William Ward, Charles Brunsdon Fletcher, Colin Bingham, Max Prisk, John Alexander, Paul McGeough, Alan Revell and Alan Oakley.
The February 2016 average circulation of the paper was 104,000. In December 2013, the Audit Bureau of Circulations's audit on newspaper circulation states a monthly average of 132,000 copies were sold, Monday to Friday, 228,000 copies on Saturday, both having declined 16% in 12 months. According to Roy Morgan Research Readership Surveys, in the twelve months to March 2011, the paper was read 766,000 times on Monday to Friday, read 1,014,000 times on Saturdays; the newspaper's website smh.com.au was rated by third-party web analytics providers Alexa and SimilarWeb as the 17th and 32nd most visited website in Australia as of July 2015. SimilarWeb rates the site as the fifth most visited news website in Australia and as the 42nd newspaper's website globally, attracting more than 15 million visitors per month, it is available nationally except in the Northern Territory. Limited copies of the newspaper are available at newsagents in New Zealand and at the High Commission of Australia, London. In 1831 three employees of the now-defunct Sydney Gazette, Ward Stephens, Frederick Stokes and William McGarvie, founded The Sydney Herald.
In 1931 a Centenary Supplement was published. The original four-page weekly had a print run of 750. In 1840, the newspaper began to publish daily. In 1841, an Englishman named John Fairfax purchased the operation, renaming it The Sydney Morning Herald the following year. Fairfax, whose family were to control the newspaper for 150 years, based his editorial policies "upon principles of candour and honour. We have no wish to mislead. During the decade 1890, Donald Murray worked there; the SMH was late to the trend of printing news rather than just advertising on the front page, doing so from 15 April 1944. Of the country's metropolitan dailies, only The West Australian was in making the switch. In 1949, the newspaper launched The Sunday Herald. Four years this was merged with the newly acquired Sun newspaper to create The Sun-Herald, which continues to this day. In 1995, the company launched the newspaper's web edition smh.com.au. The site has since grown to include interactive and multimedia features beyond the content in the print edition.
Around the same time, the organisation moved from Jones Street to new offices at Darling Park and built a new printing press at Chullora, in the city's west. The SMH has since moved with other Sydney Fairfax divisions to a building at Darling Island. In May 2007, Fairfax Media announced it would be moving from a broadsheet format to the smaller compact or tabloid-size, in the footsteps of The Times, for both The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age. Fairfax Media dumped these plans in the year. However, in June 2012, Fairfax Media again announced it planned to shift both broadsheet newspapers to tabloid size, in March 2013. Fairfax announced it would cut staff across the entire group by 1,900 over three years and erect paywalls around the papers' websites; the subscription type is to be a freemium model, limiting readers to a number of free stories per month, with a payment required for further access. The announcement was part of an overall "digital first" strategy of digital or on-line content over printed delivery, to "increase sharing of editorial content", to assist the management's wish for "full integration of its online and mobile platforms".
In July 2013 it was announced that the SMH's news director, Darren Goodsir, would become Editor-in-Chief, replacing Sean Aylmer. On 22 February 2014, the final Saturday edition was produced in broadsheet format with this too converted to compact format on 1 March 2014, ahead of the decommissioning of the printing plant at Chullora in June 2014. According to Irial Glynn, the newspaper's editorial stance is centrist, it is seen as the most centrist among the three major Australian non-tabloids. In 2004, the newspaper's editorial page stated: "market libertarianism and social liberalism" were the two "broad themes" that guided the Herald's editorial stance. During the 1999 referendum on whether Australia should become a republic, the Herald supported a "yes" vote; the newspaper did not endorse the Labor Party for federal office in the first six decades of Federation, but did endorse the party in 1961, 1984, 1987. During the 2004 Australian federal election, the Herald annou
Granville railway station
Granville railway station is an Australian train station located on the Main Suburban line, serving the Sydney suburb of Granville. It is served by Sydney Trains T1 Western T2 Inner West & Leppington Line services, it is the junction for the Main South line. Granville station opened on 2 July 1860 as Parramatta Junction, is close to the original terminus of the first railway line in New South Wales, completed in 1855. On 1 September 1880 it was renamed Granville. Granville Junction lies to the west of the station and is the junction point of the Main Western and the original Main South lines, now referred to as the Old Main South after the opening of the Lidcombe to Cabramatta bypass; as part of the quadruplication of the Main Suburban line from Lidcombe, the station was rebuilt in the 1950s. On 18 January 1977, the Granville railway disaster, Australia's worst rail disaster, occurred resulting in the death of 83 people, about 200 metres west of the station. On the station's northern side lay a parcel's dock and siding.
This was removed in August 1990. Granville has traditionally served as a transfer station, a role, diluted since the construction of a'Y-link' track between the neighbouring Harris Park and Merrylands stations. Since 1996, this track has allowed direct travel between the Main Western and Main South lines via the Cumberland Line. Transdev NSW operates three routes via Granville railway station: 906: Parramatta station to Fairfield station M91: Parramatta station to Hurstville S2: to SeftonGranville station is served by one NightRide route: N60: Fairfield station to City Media related to Granville railway station at Wikimedia Commons Granville station details Transport for New South Wales Granville Station Public Transport Map Transport for NSW
The Daily Telegraph (Sydney)
The Daily Telegraph is an Australian daily tabloid newspaper published in Sydney, New South Wales, by Nationwide News Limited, a division of News Corp Australia News Limited. The Daily Telegraph is published Monday through Saturday and is available throughout Sydney, across most of regional and remote New South Wales, the Australian Capital Territory and South East Queensland. Amongst those ranked by Nielsen, the Telegraph's website is the 6th most popular Australian news website, the most popular paid-subscription Australian news website. With a unique monthly audience of 2,841,381 readers; the Tele, as it is known, was founded in 1879. From 1936 to 1972, it was owned by Sir Frank Packer's Australian Consolidated Press; that year it was sold to News Limited. The paper ran as a broadsheet until 1927, when it switched to a tabloid format; the paper returned to a broadsheet format in 1931, but wartime paper restrictions saw it return to tabloid format in 1942. In February 1957 the Australian Prime Minister, Robert Menzies, barred correspondents of The Daily Telegraph from his press conferences because the paper had been critical of his policies.
In October 1990, it merged with its afternoon sister paper The Daily Mirror to form The Daily Telegraph-Mirror with morning and afternoon editions. The new paper continued in this vein until January 1996 when the paper name reverted to The Daily Telegraph, in the process, removing the last vestige of the old Daily Mirror, although the paper continued morning and afternoon editions until January 2002, when the afternoon edition was discontinued; the circulation of the newspaper during the June quarter 2013 was 310,724 on weekdays, the largest of a Sydney newspaper. In the 2013-14 financial year it decreased 9.65% to 280,731. A 2013 poll conducted by Essential Research found that the Telegraph was Australia's least-trusted major newspaper, with 41% of respondents citing trust in the paper. On 30th November 2017, the Daily Telegraph published a front page article, headlined "King Leer", alleging that actor Geoffrey Rush had acted inappropriately towards a female actor during rehearsals for the Sydney Theatre Company's 2015-2016 production of "King Lear".
The article featured an image of Rush shirtless and in white makeup. Rush denied the incidents, said his career had been "irreparably damaged" by the newspaper's untrue reports, it subsequently came to light that the Daily Telegraph did not interview the female actor concerned and provided only a few hours for Rush to respond to the serious allegations. Rush filed proceedings on 8th December 2017 in the Federal Court of Australia for defamation against the publisher of the Daily Telegraph, saying the publisher "made false and demeaning claims, splattering them with unrelenting bombast on its front pages"; the defamation claim was upheld on 11th April 2019. Justice Michael Wigney found that the Daily Telegraph's report was "in all the circumstances, a recklessly irresponsible and sensationalist journalism of the worst kind." He found that the publisher had been unable to prove that the allegations were true. He awarded $0.85m, with further damages for the actor’s economic losses to be determined later.
He said that the female actor was needlessly “dragged into the spotlight by the actions" of the Daily Telegraph. In January 2017, the Daily Telegraph published an article concerning a transgender woman subsequently convicted of a violent axe attack in a Sydney suburb. Although her transgender status was irrelevant to the incident at the time, The Daily Telegraph used derogatory slurs and made repeated references to the attacker's history of sex reassignment surgery, calling the woman a "tranny" who "had chopped herself"; the following week, SBS published an article expressing concern about how journalists "appear to enjoy treating transgender people as the punchline to a joke," singling out the Daily Telegraph's journalist. In September 2018, the NSW Civil and Administrative Tribunal considered whether the article constituted unlawful vilification through its "gratuitous references to", "ridicule of" the woman's transgender status; the Tribunal found that the Daily Telegraph published the article with "apparent disregard for the injurious effect it might have on transgender people."
The Tribunal held that, "it is evident, seeking to make fun of Ms Amati and transgender people more generally," and that the "attempt at humour was in poor taste and devoid of empathy or sensitivity." Continuing, the Tribunal held that the article "contributes to the perpetration and perpetuation of demeaning negative stereotypes and a lack of acceptance of transgender people within the community." The Tribunal concluded that, whilst "close to the line", the article did not reach the threshold for vilification. Lawyer Michael Bradley wrote an analysis of the case for political news website Crikey, arguing that the publication of such articles should not be unlawful, but instead that the Daily Telegraph should have sufficient social responsibility to cease publishing the author's "recklessly hurtful attempts at wit — because he did, does, harm."As of September 2018, the article has been removed from the website of the Daily Telegraph and replaced with a notice stating "This article is no longer available."
On 12 July 2017, the Daily Telegraph published an article headlined "Fat Chance Of Being Healthy” in print. The article was syndicated online under the headline "Junk food and drugs are fuelling health crisis in young adults"; the article contained an infographic that canvassed social health concerns, such as alcohol usage and drug dependency, for which "Young Aussies have only themselves to blame". The infographic included "same sex attraction" amon
State Rail Authority
The State Rail Authority, a former statutory authority of the Government of New South Wales, was responsible for the operation and maintenance of railways in the Australian state of New South Wales from July 1980 until December 2003. The State Rail Authority was established pursuant to the Transport Authorities Act 1980 that separated the functions of the Public Transport Commission with the State Rail Authority taking responsibility for trains, the Urban Transit Authority responsibility for buses and ferries. In July 1982 a new colour scheme developed by Phil Belbin of red, yellow and white was unveiled; this was referred to as the candy colours. The L7 logo used by the Public Transport Commission was retained, albeit with the dark and light blue replaced with red and orange. During its tenure the State Rail Authority completed a number of electrification projects: Gosford – Wyong April 1982 Wyong – Newcastle June 1984 Waterfall – Port Kembla February 1986 Riverstone – Richmond August 1991 Coniston – Dapto January 1993 The State Rail Authority introduced new 80 Class, 81 Class and 86 Class locomotives used on both freight and country passenger services, K set, C set, Millennium and V set double deck electric passenger trains and the XPT.
It placed an order for the 82 Class and 90 Class locomotives that were delivered to FreightRail in 1994. A fleet of Denning and Scania coaches was purchased to replace withdrawn country rail services. Following the election of the Greiner State Government in March 1988, consultants Booz Allen Hamilton were commissioned to prepare a report into NSW rail services. In November 1988, before the report was complete, the North Coast Overnight Express to Grafton, the Northern Mail to Moree and Tenterfield, the Bathurst day train, the Western Mail to Dubbo and the Canberra Monaro Express to Cooma all ceased. After receiving the Booz Allen Hamilton report, the government released its response in July 1989 under the title CountryLink 2000, it was announced the number of staff employed on country rail operations would fall from 18,000 to 10,000, including the withdrawal of staff from 94 country railway stations and the Nyngan – Bourke, Queanbeyan – Cooma and Glen Innes – Wallangarra lines would close.
Several country passenger services ceased over the next few years including the Silver City Comet, Northern Tablelands Express, Canberra XPT, Brisbane Limited, Pacific Coast Motorail, South Coast Daylight Express, Intercapital Daylight and Sydney/Melbourne Express These were replaced either by XPT sets, EMU/DMU sets or coaches. Coach services, operated by the State Rail Authority's own fleet were contracted out to private operators; the report had recommended closing all country passenger services as they were judged unviable, however this was not politically acceptable. The State Rail Authority was divided into business units: CityRail: responsible for suburban and interurban passenger services CountryLink: responsible for country passenger services FreightRail: responsible for freight services Rail Estate: responsible for rail propertyCityRail adopted a blue and yellow colour scheme including L7 logo, CountryLink a blue and grey scheme and FreightRail a blue and yellow scheme. On 1 July 1996, the State Rail Authority was restructured into four distinct entities by the Transport Administration Amendment Act 1996 to separate infrastructure from operations as required by the Competition Policy Reform Act 1995.
This was part of the process of moving to an open access regime. The entities were: Freight Rail Corporation: responsible for freight services Rail Access Corporation: responsible for managing track and providing access to public and private operators Railway Services Authority: responsible for track and rolling stock maintenance State Rail Authority: passenger service operator consisting of CityRail and CountryLink Another restructure in February 1998 saw the State Rail Authority split into four operating divisions: CityRail Stations CountryLink Operations Passenger Fleet Maintenance In January 2001, the Rail Access Corporation and Railway Services Authority were merged into the Rail Infrastructure Corporation that took responsibility for ownership and maintenance of the infrastructure. In January 2004, after much criticism and public perceptions of blame shifting between units for operational failings, RailCorp was formed taking over the passenger train operations from the residual State Rail Authority and responsibility for maintaining the greater metropolitan network from the Rail Infrastructure Corporation.
By June 2006 much of the operational function had been transferred with the State Rail Authority in the process of being wound down. RailCorp
Transport for NSW
Transport for NSW, sometimes abbreviated to TfNSW, pronounced as Transport for New South Wales, is a statutory authority of the New South Wales Government, created on 1 November 2011 to manage the transport services in the state of New South Wales, Australia. It is the leading transport agency of the state; the authority is a separate entity from the New South Wales Department of Transport, the ultimate parent entity of Transport for NSWThe chief executive officer, called Secretary, for the agency is Rodd Staples. The authority reports to the New South Wales Minister for Transport and Roads, presently Andrew Constance and the Minister for Regional Transport and Roads, presently Paul Toole; the ministers are responsible to the Parliament of New South Wales. Prior to April 2011, the main transport department/agency/ministry in New South Wales had multiple names during the Labor government; the names were: Department of Transport Transport Co-Ordination Authority Ministry of Transport Department of Transport and Infrastructure.
That year, in November 2011, the Transport for NSW was formed and subsumed the Transport Construction Authority and the Country Rail Infrastructure Authority, plans and coordinates the functions of RailCorp, the State Transit Authority and Roads & Maritime Services. These functions were transferred from the Department of Transport upon creation of Transport for NSW, but the Department of Transport still exists as of April 2019, as the ultimate parent entity of Transport for NSW and its entitles or divisions. Transport for NSW absorbed the functions, assets and/or liabilities of Sydney Metro Authority, Public Transport Ticketing Corporation as well as some functions from the NSW Department of Planning & Infrastructure; the entities that were under Transport for NSW upon its creation, as underlined in the Transport Legislation Amendment Act 2011, were: Roads and Maritime Services Sydney Ferries State Transit Authority Rail Corporation of New South Wales Transport for NSW contracted the Sydney ferry services to Harbour City Ferries in 2011, who started operations in 2012.
Transport for NSW continues to own the ferry fleet and the Balmain shipyard through its division "Sydney Ferries". This division is not to be confused with the branding of ferries in Sydney, which uses the brand "Sydney Ferries". Transport for NSW established the "MTS Holding Company" on 12 March 2012, through the holding company, purchased Metro Transport Sydney, the owner of the Sydney Light Rail and the Sydney Monorail, on 23 March 2012 for $19.8 million. The company, light rail and the monorail became under control of Transport for NSW and the government; the Sydney Monorail was closed down on 1 July 2013, on the same day, the Metro Light Rail brand was phased out as part of a broader rebranding and reorganisation of public transport services in New South Wales. The light rail became under direct ownership of Transport for NSW; the process of shutting down Metro Transport Sydney and transferring assets to Transport for NSW was completed in September 2014 with the deregistration of MTS Holding Company.
Operation and maintenance functions of RailCorp were passed on to two newly-formed government agencies, Sydney Trains and NSW Trains in July 2013 as subsidiaries of RailCorp. However, Sydney Trains and NSW Trains are not controlled entities of Railcorp, but are instead controlled by Transport for NSW; the suburban services of CityRail were transferred to Sydney Trains, while CountryLink and the intercity services of CityRail were passed on to NSW Trains, trading as NSW TrainLink. As a result, CityRail and CountryLink were abolished. In July 2017, Sydney Trains and NSW Trains became independent and standalone agencies under Transport for NSW, ceased to be subsidiaries of RailCorp. At the same time, the Residual Transport Corporation was formed. RailCorp continues to exist as the railway asset owner, but it will be converted into a state-owned corporation and renamed "Transport Asset Holding Entity" on 1 July 2019; the RTC will own assets that are not suitable for TAHE ownership. In July 2018, the Sydney Metro Delivery Office, formed in 2011, was converted into a standalone Sydney Metro operating agency under Transport for NSW, similar to Sydney Trains and NSW Trains.
The authority develops regulations and legislation to ensure that transport is delivered to a high standard, meets community needs, protects assets and public money, minimises environmental impact, ensures the community is safe. The authority manages an annual multibillion-dollar transport budget and in partnership with the transport operating agencies manages more than A$106 billion in property and equipment assets. Funding is provided for bus, light rail, roads and community transport services and related infrastructure; the authority funds concession schemes such as the School Student Transport Scheme, the Private Vehicle Conveyance Scheme and the Taxi Transport Subsidy Scheme. The authority was created as an integrated transport authority with six divisions, each headed by a deputy director general: Customer experience – to ensure journeys are as simple and seamless as possible.
