Sydney’s Central railway station is a railway station located at the southern end of the central business district in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.

Often abbreviated as Central or Central station, the station is the largest and busiest railway station in New South Wales.

It services almost all of the lines on the Sydney Trains network, and is the major terminus for NSW TrainLink services. Actual patronage was 11.35 million passenger movements in 2013.

Added to Central Station in 1921, the 85-metre Clock Tower in the Free Classical style was part of an expansion to Central Station by its original designer, NSW Government Architect, Walter Liberty Vernon.

It first ticked into life at 10.22am on 3 March 1921. Sydney had set its time by the Central Station Clock for 89 years, until 2010 when the landmark was switched off for restoration.

Overhauling the timepiece and its tower took 17 months to complete.

So committed was the restorer, heritage architect Otto Cserhalmi, that he learnt to abseil down the tower, to examine and mark each sandstone block individually, indicating repairs and replacements.

The addition of the tower was part of the ongoing evolution of Central Station – which was partly completed in 1906 in the Federation style, and adopted other architectural styles over the decades.

Multiple entrances and suburban platforms were added from 1926 to 1932, and the Eastern Suburbs lines added in 1979.

Transported Through Time

Artist: The Electric Canvas

Making its Vivid Sydney debut this year, the Central Station Clock Tower, a railway icon, will come alive at dusk to celebrate Sydney rail’s origins and conjure the trains of the future.

Celebrating the evolution of rail transportation, this dynamic installation invites you to take a great train journey through time with us.

From the billowing steam train to the iconic red rattler, through animation of favourite historic photographs we have brought Sydney’s rail network to life.

The evolution continues and excitement builds as we catch a glimpse of the trains of the future.

As you watch the future unfold, let your imaginations go and enjoy the ride.

Through colour, animation and imagination The Electric Canvas have taken this familiar landmark and transformed it in the most unexpected way.

About Electric Canvas

The Electric Canvas is an award winning Australian company recognised internationally as a leader in large scale and architectural projections.

Established in 1997, we have worked on many prestigious projects worldwide presenting stadium field-of-play, architectural decorative, and immersive projections using both large-format filmstrip and high power digital projection techniques.

The Electric Canvas is a complete solution provider with a multi-discipline in-house art department and specialist technical staff. Our reputation for innovative solutions to challenging briefs is well known.

The company is led by Peter Milne who has more than thirty five years experience in the entertainment and event industry as a lighting designer, technical director and project manager.

This broad experience contributes to The Electric Canvas’ reputation as a low risk solution provider that can integrate seamlessly into the overall project production process.

The Electric Canvas utilises a variety of projection technologies carefully chosen for the specific application and challenges.

In a world of emerging digital projection, The Electric Canvas still chooses to mix high power digital projectors with large-format “PIGI” projectors in order to provide optimum results from realistic budgets.

Large scale image projection is a very specialised field and best results almost always involve image optimisation techniques to enhance saturation, contrast against residual light and perceived image brightness.

The Electric Canvas has the experience to realise the optimum projectable result.