Blue Mountains Line

Climbs from near sea level to 1,017 m at Katoomba through a UNESCO-listed maze of sandstone cliffs and eucalypt canyons.

Sydney’s most spectacular commute climbs nearly a kilometre on ridge-top alignments surveyed in the 1860s. Beyond Springwood the double-deckers thread a chain of cliff-edge towns (Wentworth Falls, Leura, Katoomba), each a trailhead into the Jamison Valley’s sandstone amphitheatres. After Mount Victoria the line slips off the plateau through the 1910 Ten Tunnels Deviation and coasts into coal-country Lithgow. Box-fresh Mariyung sets displaced the beloved 1970s V sets here in 2025.

Stations

1. 0 kmCentral
2. 12 kmStrathfield
3. 23 kmParramatta
4. 35 kmBlacktown
5. 55 kmPenrith
6. 109 kmKatoomba
7. 154 kmLithgow Station

The stations OpenStreetMap lists for this service, in order, with the distance along the line as drawn here. A train may skip some of them.

Along the way

• Nepean River at Penrith
• Glenbrook Gorge climb
• Wentworth Falls and Leura clifftops
• Katoomba, gateway to the Three Sisters
• Ten Tunnels Deviation
• Lithgow’s coal valley

How this line was checked

• Line drawn from OpenStreetMap relation 8406940 — the same nodes OpenStreetMap holds for this railway, thinned to within 37 m of them
• Checked against OpenStreetMap: the whole line lies on real track, a median 11 m from it
• The operator publishes this line's timetable: NSW TrainLink — a place to look it up, not a check of our drawing
• Wikipedia has an article for this line
• See for yourself: open this line on the map with OpenStreetMap's own railway drawn underneath it

Questions and answers

How long is the Blue Mountains Line?

The Blue Mountains Line runs 156 km from Sydney to Lithgow.

How long does the Blue Mountains Line take?

The fastest scheduled journey is 2 h 45 min for the 156 km. That is an average of 57 km/h end to end. The line's top service speed is 130 km/h.

Who runs the Blue Mountains Line?

NSW TrainLink, with Mariyung (D set) double-deck EMU.

How old is the Blue Mountains Line?

The line has been in service since 1869. That is the year the atlas dates it from: for a modern brand running over an older railway, it is the railway's date, not the brand's.

How high does the Blue Mountains Line climb?

1,067 m above sea level at its highest point.

View on the world railway map →

Read more on Wikipedia ↗