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. All projects were delivered by the Transport Construction Authority until it was subsumed in November 2011 by Transport for New South Wales. 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.

The Transport Construction Authority (TCA), formerly Transport Infrastructure Development Corporation (TIDC) prior to July 2010, was an agency of the Government of New South Wales that was responsible for new railway projects in the city of Sydney, Australia. On 1 November 2011 the Transport Construction Authority was subsumed into the newly-formed Transport for NSW.