Wikisage, the free encyclopedia of the second generation, is digital heritage

T5 Cumberland Line

From Wikisage
Revision as of 22:09, 29 June 2019 by Twenty-four Seven (talk | contribs) (→‎History: mention introduction of T5 identifier)
Jump to navigation Jump to search

The T5 Cumberland Line is a commuter rail line serving the western suburbs in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. It connects Schofields and Leppington stations. Limited services extend from Schofields to Richmond. The line forms part of the Sydney Trains network and is coloured magenta on maps and informational material. Operations commenced in 1996, following the construction of a 'Y-link' track between Harris Park and Merrylands stations. The new link allowed direct services to operate from the south west suburbs to Parramatta and Blacktown without requiring a change of trains at Granville. The line takes its name from the Cumberland Plain on which much of Western Sydney was built.

History

Upon its opening in 1996, the line had a regular half-hourly service in each direction consisting of 38 journeys per day. Subsequent timetables saw its services significantly reduced to the point of running only during weekday peak hours, and from 2005 to 2013 the line only ran in one direction at a time: two services ran in the morning peak from Campbelltown towards Blacktown and three services ran in the opposite direction in the evening. Some services operated to or from Quakers Hill or Schofields on the Richmond line, but the line's official terminus on network maps and other material remained at Blacktown.

Prior to the Y-Link's opening, passengers travelling between the Western and South lines were required to change trains at Granville. With the reduction in services to peak hours only, this travelling strategy was resumed by most commuters.

In 2006, the then-Iemma Labor Government's NSW State Plan committed to re-introduce a regular half-hourly service to the Cumberland line during 2007 "subject to detailed timetable and train planning... and fleet delivery, availability and rostering".[1] A CityRail news release on 15 December confirmed this intention, based on the gradual introduction of the then-new OSCAR (H set) trains, which would displace outer suburban Tangara G sets; the latter trains then reassigned to suburban service.[2] This promise was not delivered, and the Cumberland Line remained a peak-hour-only service with 4 car trains.

Daytime half-hourly services were re-introduced on 21 October 2013. Services finished in the early evening and did not operate on weekends. At this time, the line was also officially extended to Schofields, where most northbound services terminated. This expansion of services formed part of a broader timetable change and network reorganisation, and the line was given the number T5 as part of a program to number all Sydney Trains lines.

As part of a major timetable change for the Sydney Trains network on 26 November 2017, Cumberland Line services were modified to no longer travel to and from Campbelltown, instead starting and terminating at Leppington. Simultaneous changes to the T2 Airport, Inner West & South Line saw that line split into the T2 Inner West & Leppington Line and T8 Airport & South Line. These changes mean the section of the network between Glenfield and Macarthur is served exclusively by services operating via the East Hills railway line.[3][4][5] The changes also saw late night and weekend services introduced on the Cumberland Line.[6] The late night services extend to Richmond, replacing T1 services at these times.[3] On weekends, trains operate between Quakers Hill and Liverpool only with early morning and late night services extending to Leppington and Richmond

Y-link

The 'Y-link' was constructed as part of the Australian Government's 'Building Better Cities' program in recognition of Parramatta's place as the 'capital' of Sydney's west.[7] It cost $80 million to build, and required the construction of a little over one kilometre of new track. This track created a triangular junction at the junction of the 'Old Main South' and the 'Main Western' lines by laying track between Merrylands and Harris Park stations. The work included a new flyover of the 'Up Old Main South' over these new tracks.

Route

The T5 Cumberland line traverses the Richmond railway line from Schofields/Richmond to Blacktown, the Main Western Line from Blacktown to Harris Park, the 'Y Link' between Harris Park and Merrylands, the "Old Main South" between Merrylands and Cabramatta, the Main South Line between Cabramatta and Glenfield, and the South West Rail Link between Glenfield and Leppington.

T5 Cumberland Line stations
Name Railway line Sydney Trains
interchanges
Other interchanges*
Richmond Richmond none none
East Richmond
Clarendon
Windsor
Mulgrave
Vineyard
Riverstone
Schofields
Quakers Hill
Marayong
Blacktown
Seven Hills Main Western none
Toongabbie
Pendle Hill
Wentworthville
Westmead
Parramatta
Harris Park none
Merrylands Old Main South
Guildford
Yennora
Fairfield
Canley Vale
Cabramatta Main South
Warwick Farm
Liverpool
Casula
Glenfield
Edmondson Park South West
Leppington

* Most stations are served by connecting bus services. Some additional stations may be served by intercity trains at certain times.

Patronage

The following table shows the patronage of Sydney Trains network for the year ending 30 June 2018.

2018-19 Sydney Trains patronage by line[n.b. 1] [8]
Line Figure
T1
106,924,000
T2
58,917,000
T3
30,578,000
T4
69,575,000
T5
7,738,000
T6
568,000
T7
1,802,000
T8
46,346,000
34,036,000


  1. Figures based on Opal tap on and tap off data.
    = T1 North Shore, Northern & Western Line was split into the T1 North Shore & Western Line and T9 Northern Line in April 2019. These figures group the T1 Northern Line with those of the T9 Northern Line instead of the T1. Additionally, the Northern Line route was changed in Septermber 2018 when the Epping to Chatswood line was closed. This resulted in a decrease in Northern Line and an increase in North Shore Line patronage from October.

References

  1. New South Wales Government (2006). NSW State Plan: Appendices. Archived from the original on 23 October 2007. Retrieved 3 November 2011.
  2. Rail Corporation New South Wales (2006). The first Oscars are out and about. Press release. Retrieved 3 November 2011.
  3. 3.0 3.1 "Changes to Sydney’s train network". Transport for NSW. https://web.archive.org/web/20170809041550/https://www.transport.nsw.gov.au/system/files/media/documents/2017/mtms-sydney-network-changes-aug-2017.pdf. 
  4. Barr, Eliza (27 February 2017). "Southwest Sydney train service to increase with new peak hour trains and north-south connection from Leppington to Parramatta and Blacktown". The Daily Telegraph. http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/newslocal/liverpool-leader/southwest-sydney-train-service-to-increase-with-new-peak-hour-trains-and-northsouth-connection-from-leppington-to-parramatta-and-blacktown/news-story/d73b929edb43d030766ef7fb36eccf92. Retrieved 27 February 2017. 
  5. O'Sullivan, Matt (27 February 2017). "Decision on rail link to new Sydney airport 'many years off', Transport Minister Andrew Constance says". Sydney Morning Herald. http://www.smh.com.au/nsw/decision-on-rail-link-to-new-sydney-airport-many-years-off-transport-minister-andrew-constance-says-20170227-gum5rs.html. Retrieved 27 February 2017. 
  6. Transport for NSW (27 February 2017), "More Trains, More Services for South Western Sydney" Retrieved 27 February 2017
  7. "CityRail: Have times changed?". Railway Digest, November 2005. ARHS NSW Division. http://www.arhsnsw.com.au/rdigest.htm. 
  8. "Train Patronage - Monthly Figures". Transport for NSW. https://www.transport.nsw.gov.au/data-and-research/passenger-travel/train-patronage/train-patronage-monthly-figures. Retrieved 23 August 2019. 


Attribution

This article incorporates text from the following revision of the English Wikipedia article "Cumberland Line": https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Cumberland_Line&oldid=895413952.