Bankstown Line
Inner West & Liverpool Line | |
---|---|
Overview | |
Owner | Transport Asset Holding Entity |
Locale | Sydney, New South Wales |
Termini | |
Stations | 30 |
Service | |
Type | Commuter rail |
Operator(s) | Sydney Trains |
Depot(s) | Flemington |
Rolling stock | K, M, A and B sets |
History | |
Opened | 1 February 1895 |
Technical | |
Track gauge | 1,435 mm (4 ft 8+1⁄2 in) standard gauge |
The Inner West & Liverpool (numbered T3, coloured orange) is a commuter rail line operated by Sydney Trains in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. It serves the Inner West and Western Sydney. The Inner West railway line is the physical railway line which carries the section of the Inner West & Liverpool Line between Redfern and Lidcombe.
Due to the conversion of the now closed Bankstown-to-Sydenham line to a Sydney Metro line, in October 2024 the part of the line between Liverpool and Lidcombe (which runs on the Main South Line) will be rebranded to form part of the Liverpool & Inner West Line, retaining the T3 numbering. The part of the line between Bankstown and Lidcombe will operate as a short shuttle line, to be known as the Lidcombe & Bankstown Line, numbered T6.[1]
T3 route diagram | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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History
[edit]Commuter line history
[edit]Electric passenger services operated along the now closed Bankstown Line to Wynyard station until the 1956 opening of Circular Quay station and the completion of the City Circle. In 1979 with the opening of the Eastern Suburbs line the direction around the City Circle reversed with trips from Bankstown going to St James first and vice versa.
Operation of the Bankstown Line had been tied to the operation of all stations services on the Main Suburban railway line between Lidcombe and the city (marketed as the Inner West Line). Services consisted of a mixture of "Bankstown loop" trains (City - Sydenham - Bankstown - Lidcombe - Strathfield - City) and trains from both sides of the loop (Birrong or Regents Park) heading to Sefton and then further west. Until the early 2000s, a number of Bankstown trains continued via the Western Line to Blacktown via Granville and Parramatta.
A new timetable released in October 2013 broke the loop between the two lines. As part of the Rail Clearways Program, new turnbacks were constructed at Lidcombe and Homebush to allow the separation of both lines and increase their reliability and frequency. Services were also changed to operate mostly around the City Circle via Town Hall on weekdays (rather than via Museum). As part of the timetable change, a new numbering system was also introduced and the line was given the number T3. A sextuplication project between Erskineville and Sydenham was also proposed as part of the Rail Clearways Program, but was cancelled in 2011. It was intended to separate Bankstown line services from those operating towards East Hills. The 2013 timetable sees most East Hills line trains using the Airport line to access the city.
The line was depicted in a brown colour in the early 1990s[2] before being changed to a purple colour around 2000,[3] before it became the current orange colour.
On the 30th of September 2024, the original T3 Bankstown Line was closed between Sydenham and Bankstown permanently to allow for the line to be converted to Sydney Metro services. [4]
Future projects
[edit]Sydney Metro City & Southwest is a plan to convert the Sydenham to Bankstown section of the line to use single deck metro trains. A new tunnel will be constructed between Sydenham and Chatswood, for access to the city. The stations of St Peters, Erskineville and the stations west of Bankstown towards Lidcombe / Liverpool will not be served by the metro.[5] The NSW Legislative Council Inquiry into the Sydenham-Bankstown line conversion recommended that the direct train to City via Lidcombe be restored for commuters west of Bankstown.[6] The NSW Government rejected most recommendations from this report.[7]
In December 2020, Transport for NSW announced it was considering when the Bankstown Line closes for conversion to metro in 2024, the Liverpool to city service via Regents Park and Lidcombe will be reinstated and a shuttle branch service will run between Lidcombe and Bankstown.[8] Regents Park will be the main interchange point between both lines as the direct train between Bankstown and Liverpool will be withdrawn.
In November 2022, Transport for NSW released plans to consider closing Birrong, Yagoona, and other stations in the West of Bankstown after the opening of Sydney Metro City & Southwest. Buses would replace trains in the West of Bankstown towards Lidcombe and Liverpool, however this no longer appears part of revised planning for opening of Sydney Metro City & Southwest.[9]
In April 2023, the NSW Government announced an independent review into the Sydney Metro project.[10]
In August 2023, the NSW Government in response to the recommendation of the Sydney Metro Review Interim Report, announced the continuation of the Sydney Metro Southwest project with the downgrade of the Sydenham to Bankstown line including a 12 month temporary closure from September 2024 onwards.[11] The proposal will see Bankstown line services replaced with Southwest Link bus replacement services with the section between Lidcombe and Bankstown to be re-numbered as the T6 service (formerly used by the Carlingford Line).[12]
Description of line
[edit]The Inner West & Liverpool line begins it's journey on the City Circle before heading out to the Inner West, stopping at key stations such as; Newtown, Ashfield, Burwood, Strathfield and Lidcombe, before continuing along the Main South Line towards Liverpool.
This map shows all stations along the Inner West & Liverpool Line, valid until September 2024, where it will then begin running via the Inner West line towards Liverpool.
Name | Distance from Central |
Opened |
Railway line | Serving suburbs | Other lines | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Town Hall – Birrong | ||||||
Town Hall | 1.2 km | 1932 | City Circle | Sydney, Darling Harbour | ||
Wynyard | 2.1 km | 1932 | Sydney, The Rocks, Millers Point | |||
Circular Quay | 3.0 km | 1956 | Circular Quay, Sydney The Rocks, Millers Point |
|||
St James | 4.3 km
(dist via Town Hall) |
1926 | Sydney | |||
Museum | 5 km
(dist via Town Hall) |
1926 | Sydney | |||
Central | 0 km | 1855 | Central, Strawberry Hills Ultimo, Surrey Hills |
|||
Redfern | 1.3 km | 1878 | Illawarra | Redfern, Waterloo, Darlington The University of Sydney |
(T8 peak hours only) | |
Erskineville | 2.9 km | 1884 | Erskineville, Macdonaldtown, Newtown | none | ||
St Peters | 3.8 km | 1884 | St Peters, Alexandria, Erskineville, Newtown | (T8 peak hours only) | ||
Sydenham | 5.3 km | 1884 | Sydenham, Marrickville, St Peters | (T8 peak hours only) | ||
Marrickville | 6.6 km | 1895 | Bankstown | Marrickville, Marrickville South | none | |
Dulwich Hill | 7.9 km | 1895 | Dulwich Hill, Marrickville, Hurlstone Park | |||
Hurlstone Park | 8.8 km | 1895 | Hurlstone Park, Canterbury | |||
Canterbury | 10.2 km | 1895 | Canterbury | |||
Campsie | 11.7 km | 1895 | Campsie | |||
Belmore | 13.3 km | 1895 | Belmore | |||
Lakemba | 14.5 km | 1909 | Lakemba | |||
Wiley Park | 15.4 km | 1938 | Wiley Park, Lakemba, Punchbowl | |||
Punchbowl | 16.5 km | 1909 | Punchbowl | |||
Bankstown | 18.7 km | 1909 | Bankstown | |||
Yagoona | 20.6 km | 1928 | Yagoona | |||
Birrong | 22.1 km | 1928 | Birrong | |||
Birrong – Lidcombe | ||||||
Regents Park | 19.9 km | 1912 | Main South | Regents Park | none | |
Berala | 18.4 km | 1912 | Berala | |||
Lidcombe | 16.6 km | 1858 | Lidcombe | |||
Birrong – Liverpool | ||||||
Sefton | 21.2 km | 1924 | Main South | Sefton | none | |
Chester Hill | 22.3 km | 1924 | Chester Hill | |||
Leightonfield | 23.7 km | 1942 | Villawood | |||
Villawood | 24.5 km | 1924 | Villawood | |||
Carramar | 25.9 km | 1924 | Carramar | |||
Cabramatta | 28.4 km | 1870 | Cabramatta | |||
Warwick Farm | 34.2 km | 1889 | Warwick Farm | |||
Liverpool | 35.7 km | 1856 | Liverpool |
Patronage
[edit]The following table shows the patronage of Sydney Trains network for the year ending 30 June 2022.
41,980,000 | |
23,077,000 | |
11,198,000 | |
27,775,000 | |
3,503,000 | |
605,000 | |
16,879,000 | |
10,415,000 |
- ^ Figures based on Opal tap on and tap off data.
References
[edit]- ^ Southwest Link Archived 30 April 2024 at the Wayback Machine - Transport for NSW
- ^ NSWrail map 1992
- ^ Sydney Suburban Network map, 2000
- ^ "Sydenham to Bankstown | Sydney Metro". www.sydneymetro.info. Retrieved 29 September 2024.
- ^ Sydney Metro. "Sydenham to Bankstown". Sydney Metro City & Southwest. Archived from the original on 14 December 2022. Retrieved 12 February 2019.
- ^ "Sydenham-Bankstown Line conversion". parliament.nsw.gov.au. Archived from the original on 22 September 2019. Retrieved 29 July 2020.
- ^ NSW Government response Inquiry into the Sydenham-Bankstown line conversion Archived 24 June 2021 at the Wayback Machine Andrew Constance, Minister for Roads & Transport 7 October 2020
- ^ "Rail options for west of Bankstown station in 2024 now confirmed". Transport for NSW. 8 December 2020. Archived from the original on 8 December 2020. Retrieved 9 December 2020.
- ^ Vella, Joanne (6 September 2023). "Sydney Metro proposed plan to shut nine train stations permanently after Bankstown-Sydenham Metro lines opens". The Daily Telegraph. Archived from the original on 7 January 2024. Retrieved 7 January 2024.
- ^ "Sydney Metro Review announced". Transport for NSW. 13 April 2023. Retrieved 7 August 2023.
- ^ Parkes-Hupton, Heath (31 July 2023). "NSW government commits to converting south-west Sydney rail line to metro". ABC News. Archived from the original on 3 August 2023. Retrieved 3 August 2023.
- ^ "Southwest Link for T3 passengers during difficult 12-month Metro conversion". NSW Government. 30 April 2024. Archived from the original on 30 April 2024. Retrieved 30 April 2024.
- ^ a b "NSW Rail.net Bankstown line". Archived from the original on 8 September 2017. Retrieved 1 July 2007.
- ^ a b "NSW Rail.net South Coast line". Archived from the original on 6 November 2015. Retrieved 1 July 2007.
- ^ a b "NSW Rail.net City Circle". Archived from the original on 30 September 2007. Retrieved 1 July 2007.
- ^ a b "NSW Rail.net Lidcombe-Cabramatta line". Archived from the original on 8 September 2017. Retrieved 1 July 2007.
- ^ "Driver Route Knowledge Diagrams - City Circle" (PDF). Railsafe. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2 January 2019. Retrieved 2 January 2019.
- ^ "Train Patronage – Monthly Figures". Transport for NSW. Retrieved 20 August 2022.
External links
[edit]- "T3: Bankstown line timetable". Transport for NSW.
- CityRail News and Media - Completion of the Bankstown line upgrade
- CityRail News and Media - History of the Bankstown line