Plan your public transport trip to the Sydney Marathon

Sydney is preparing for a history-making marathon on Sunday 15 September, with over 40,000 participants across three events to pound the pavement on one of the world’s most scenic marathon courses.

Sydney’s new Metro and other public transport services are set to carry thousands of participants to the North Sydney start line, close to both Victoria Cross and Crows Nest Metro Stations. Public transport is included in the cost of race entry.

Major road closures and detours will be in place from North Sydney and the City to Kingsford between 3:30am and 3pm as the 42km,10km and the mini marathon are run across the Sydney Harbour Bridge and beyond.

Transport for NSW Acting Coordinator-General Craig Moran said there will also be significant impacts to bus and light rail services, so Sydneysiders are being reminded to plan their trip.

“The best way to travel is by public transport, not just for those competing or cheering runners on, but for anyone looking to get around the city, especially with our new Metro City Line up and running,” Mr Moran said.

“For those heading from the north, you might consider catching the new Metro line from one of the new stations between Chatswood and Victoria Cross.”

Extra early-morning transport services will be operating to get participants to the new start line at North Sydney Oval: 

• Those in starting groups A, B, E or F should arrive via the new Victoria Cross Metro Station or North Sydney Train Station.
• Those starting in group C or D should arrive via the new Crows Nest Metro Station.

There will be disruption across the rail network this weekend due to Planned Industrial Action however Sydney Trains is working hard to minimise the impacts on passengers.

While normal timetabled services will be reduced, up to 20 special event trains already planned for the Marathon are organised to help participants and spectators get to the start line early on Sunday morning. They will be running on the Northern, Inner West, Eastern Suburbs and Illawarra, as well as Airport and South train lines.

Sydney Trains will run an amended timetable with 50 per cent fewer rail services across the weekend, across all city and suburban rail lines, compared with a normal weekend.

We appreciate the inconvenience this Industrial Action will cause to passengers and ask people to plan their trip, leave extra time, and consider their connections to North Sydney.

On the roads, the Sydney Harbour Bridge, Cahill Expressway and Western Distributor will close from 4am to 10am to make way for runners. The Sydney Harbour Tunnel will remain open but motorists should expect extensive delays.

Other major road closures along the race route from the city to Kingsford, include:

• College Street, Park Street, and parts of Oxford Street and Flinders Street between 4am and 2pm.
• Macquarie Street until 3pm.
• Anzac Parade from Moore Park to Kingsford from 5am to 11.30am.

Widespread special event clearway parking restrictions will also be in effect along and surrounding the courses from 12.01am until 3pm in some areas. Motorists and residents should check signs carefully on the day and night before as vehicles left in clearways will be towed and a fee applies.

We are urging everybody, particularly motorists, to avoid non-essential travel in and around the course precinct on Sunday.

If you must drive, be aware that significant detours will be in place and expect long delays. Please leave plenty of extra time to reach your destination, particularly when driving between the Sydney CBD and Eastern Suburbs.

Motorists will only be able to travel east/west across the course via Gardeners Road or the Cross City Tunnel, which will be toll-free from 5am to 3pm on the day, however, lengthy delays are still expected.

Regular Opal fares apply to those who plan to watch or have plans outside of the event and will be required to tap on and off.

For more details on public transport, including trip planning and travel alerts, visit transportnsw.info and for real-time updates on traffic conditions, including road closures and special event clearways, visit livetraffic.com

For more information on the Sydney Marathon, visit sydneymarathon.com and visit the detours map: here.