Transport for NSW will separate the running of the T4 Eastern Suburbs and Illawarra lines from the rest of Sydney’s rail system, government documents show, creating opportunities for private companies to run more of the city’s transport network.

Handing the Eastern Suburbs and Illawarra Line to a private operator has long been a goal of transport bureaucrats, with the line already operating relatively independently from the rest of Sydney’s complicated rail system.

Handing the Eastern Suburbs and Illawarra Line to a private operator has long been a goal of transport bureaucrats. Credit:Dominic Lorrimer

But Infrastructure NSW documents confirm that Transport for NSW has started work on a plan to further extricate the line, which runs from Bondi Junction to Waterfall and Cronulla, as part of a decade-long program of improvements called SmartRail.

The privatisation of other sections of Sydney’s rail system will begin within months. The Epping to Chatswood line, opened as part of Sydney’s regular rail system in 2009, will soon be closed so stations and systems can be retrofitted to run automated and driverless trains by the private operator of the metro rail extension to Rouse Hill.