It is one of the great joys of train travel to pop up on arrival right in the city center. This is especially true compared with the taxi queues and suburban drear of arrival by air. But it brings an inevitable conundrum, since, even as it connects, any central station acts as a great blockage in the city’s heart. In Sydney, for the last century or so, this has been particularly pronounced. Now the new, $716 million adaptation of Central Station by Sydney’s Woods Bagot and London’s John McAslan + Partners (JMP), led by contractor Laing O’Rourke, is moving toward a remedy, set to open in 2024.
Inner Sydney occupies a narrow peninsula jutting into Sydney Harbor. Central Station was built quite late, in 1906, at the southern, landward end of that peninsula. This enchanting water-encircled topography ensured the city’s success yet hampered its expansion. To the north, Sydney built its famous Harbour Bridge (opened in 1932), and other bridges east and west. But the major land connection was south, and Central was in the way.
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