Opening the ESR
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Last modified/checked: Sunday 25th December 2022 - B.Leahy

A very pleased Neville Wran stands on the gangway of the leading car of the official train at Martin Place on opening day having been the premier who finally opened a railway to Sydney's eastern suburbs. Behind him is Transport Minister Peter Cox. As Premier of NSW from 1976 to 1986 Neville Wran achieved a great deal with a strong epmphasis on the state's transport system. This edition of the PTC staff magazine 'Transport News' is a unique record of the ESR and the opening ceremony. At right is the full contents of the envelope given to invited guests. Some of the items here such as the booklet, the leaflet and the red souviner ticket would also go in to the hands of the general public at different times.


Bleahy
Bleahy
This laminated paper facsimile ticket was unique to the envelopes sent to the 750 invited guests. It was not encoded or usable through the ticket barriers but may have permitted travel to and from City stations on the 23rd June should the holder choose to travel by train rather than find other means. A cover letter in the envelope would have clarified this as well as a circular to station staff.


Bleahy
Bleahy
   An encoded souvenir ticket was also included in the guest's envelope allowing unlimited travel over the ESR for the remainder of Saturday 23rd and Sunday 24th June. These same tickets were dispensed by the PTC guides once the railway was open for inspection from 12 noon Saturday. All were supplied as pre-encoded weeklies displaying the "WKY" fare code commencing on the 18th June with the corresponding weekly numeral "818" for that week. This was the only means of providing unlimited travel with a single ticket over the two day period the railway was open for public inspection. Being encoded they also allowed the public to learn how to operate the new automatic barrier gates. It is estimated that at least 250,000 people packed the railway over the weekend of 23 - 24 June however the souvenir tickets were exhausted by Saturday afternoon with the exception of Martin Place which opened to the public at 4.30pm after the official opening ceremony and subsequent lunch for the guests had been cleared. From that time the free Central - Bondi junction shuttle trains now stopped at Martin Place. These were the only ESR magnetic strip tickets known to carry the UT 679 (UnistatTicket June 1979) designation on the rear indicated a very early batch supply to the PTC.






The railway department had issued suburban timetable booklets from at least the 1920s. This new format commenced in 1976 and ran until the system booklets ceased in 1992. The Bondi Junction - Central shuttle appeared as table 12 inside with the yet to open ESR featuring on the cover. Complimentary copies were generally supplied for departmental use but were otherwise priced at 1$ for the public. The ESR timetable was also available in condensed form as a single folded sheet by the use of 'interval' times. The rear panel highlighted the new ESR ticketing proceedures and was typical of the way the public were educated in various forms of literature relating to the new service.



rgc

Moving forward to December 1989 and we see the ESR at work after a decade. This view shows the 335 metre viaduct across the Rushcutters Bay valley to the east of Kings Cross. The 8 car train consists entirely of cars built by Commonwealth Engineering between 1972-78, the ESR being worked exclusively by double deck trains from the outset. The viaduct and the portal style overhead are asthetically pleasing for an otherwise bulky structure in full public view. The Eastern Suburbs Railway was through worked with the Illawarra line from June 1980 co-inciding with the extension of electrification from Sutherland to Waterfall, much as the railway department had quietly envisaged back in the early 1960s (photo Rod Greenwood)
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