The Leppington & Inner West Line (numbered T2, coloured light blue) is a commuter rail service operated by Sydney Trains, serving the inner west and south-western suburbs of Sydney, Australia. The service commences from the City Circle, heading west to Granville where the line branches; services either head northwest to Parramatta or south to Leppington. A third terminus at Homebush is also used when the part-time Parramatta branch is not operating.
Leppington & Inner West Line | |
---|---|
Overview | |
Service type | Commuter rail service |
Status | Operational |
Locale | Sydney, New South Wales |
Predecessor |
|
First service | 26 November 2017 |
Current operator(s) | Sydney Trains |
Route | |
Termini | City Circle Leppington Parramatta |
Stops | 37 |
Average journey time | 1h 29m (Leppington to Museum) 59m (Parramatta to Museum) |
Line(s) used | |
On-board services | |
Disabled access | Yes |
Technical | |
Rolling stock | K, T, M, A and B sets |
Track gauge | Standard gauge |
Electrification | 1,500 V DC from overhead catenary[1] |
Track owner(s) | Transport Asset Holding Entity |
Timetable number(s) | T2 |
History
editCreation in 2013
editFollowing the 2011 state election, the newly elected O'Farrell government embarked on reform of transport in New South Wales, creating a new organisation, Transport for NSW, in November of that year. This was followed up with another government reform, which saw Sydney Trains take over operation of the Sydney suburban rail network from CityRail in July 2013.[2]
Transport for NSW developed a new rail timetable and branding, which was put into effect on 20 October 2013.[3] This saw three former CityRail services, the Airport & East Hills Line (Macarthur - City Circle via Sydney Airport or Sydenham), the Inner West Line (Liverpool or Bankstown - City Circle via Regents Park) and the South Line (Campbelltown - City Circle via Granville), merged to form the Airport, Inner West & South Line. A new numbering system was also introduced and the new line was given the number T2.
The 2013 timetable was designed to integrate the projects of the Rail Clearways Program, a 2004 plan to divide the network's fourteen metropolitan rail lines into five independent "clearways" by installing extra tracks, passing loops, turnouts and turnbacks at pinch points around the network, such as at Homebush and Lidcombe.[4] By 2013, the Rail Clearways Program was substantially complete. At the same time, the delivery of 78 new Waratah trains was almost complete as well.[5]
Leppington extension in 2015
editA branch of the service along the South West railway line to Leppington commenced operating on 13 December 2015, following the new rail link's completion earlier that year. T2 services replaced an earlier temporary shuttle service between Leppington and Liverpool.[6]
Split with T8 in 2017
editA new Sydney Trains timetable was introduced on 26 November 2017, in which the original T2 services were split in two. Existing services from Leppington to the City Circle via Granville, alongside newly extended all stops services from Parramatta that had previously terminated at Homebush, were rebranded as the T2 Inner West & Leppington Line.[7] This reduced T2 was recoloured light blue, harkening back to CityRail's historical colour scheme for services along this route.[8]
Meanwhile, former T2 services from Macarthur to the City Circle via East Hills were rebranded as the T8 Airport & South Line, moving to a new number but keeping the original T2's green colour, again aligning with the former CityRail colour scheme for services via East Hills.[7][9] Despite the separation in branding, the T2 and T8 remain operationally linked, with services from one generally through-running onto the other upon reaching the City Circle.[10]
Renaming in 2024
editTimetabling changes in 2024 saw the name reordered to be T2 Leppington & Inner West Line. This coincided with the redesignation of T3 services as the Liverpool & Inner West Line, following their realignment to run alongside T2 services via Strathfield rather than via Bankstown as they had previously.[11]
Route
editT2 Leppington & Inner West Line | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Services on the Inner West & Leppington Line commence by taking the City Circle (generally in an anti-clockwise direction) and then the Main Suburban railway line, on the local pair of tracks. At Homebush, trains on the "inner west" stopping pattern terminate. Services that proceed further west towards Parramatta to Leppington merge onto the suburban pair of tracks. At Granville, trains can take the Main Western line a short distance to Parramatta or the Old Main South railway line to a junction north of Cabramatta, then continuing onto the Main South railway line as far as Glenfield. At a junction south of Glenfield, services switch to the South West Rail Link to reach the terminus at Leppington. The following stations are served by T2 Inner West & Leppington Line trains:
- Museum, St James, Circular Quay, Wynyard, Town Hall and Central on the City Circle
- Redfern, Macdonaldtown, Newtown, Stanmore, Petersham, Lewisham, Summer Hill, Ashfield, Croydon, Burwood, Strathfield, Homebush, Flemington, Lidcombe, Auburn and Granville on the Main Suburban line
- Harris Park and Parramatta on the Main Western line
- Merrylands, Guildford, Yennora, Fairfield, Canley Vale, Cabramatta, Warwick Farm, Liverpool, Casula and Glenfield on the Old Main South and Main South lines.
- Edmondson Park and Leppington on the South West Rail Link
Services
editThe line usually runs on two stopping patterns. The first stopping pattern runs to Leppington, making limited stops between Redfern and Homebush, with the specific stopping pattern depending on the time of day. West of Homebush all trains make all stops, except for Clyde, where trains do not stop on weekends. The second stopping pattern makes all stops between Redfern and Homebush, with many weekdays trains continuing to Parramatta, making all stops. These two patterns both run at 4tph (trains per hour) during the off-peak, with additional services during the peaks. Additionally, there are express trains between Ashfield and the city during the morning peak.
Name | Code | Distance from Central [12][13][14][15][16] |
Opened [12][13][14][15][16] |
Railway line | Serving suburbs | Other lines |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
City Circle – Granville | ||||||
Museum | MUS | 4.99 km | 1926 | City Circle | Sydney CBD | |
St James | STJ | 4.4 km | 1926 | |||
Circular Quay | CQY | 2.97 km | 1956 | Sydney CBD, The Rocks | ||
Wynyard | WYN | 2.05 km | 1932 | Sydney CBD, Barangaroo | ||
Town Hall | TWH | 1.18 km | 1932 | Sydney CBD | ||
Central | CEN | n/a | 1906 | Sydney CBD, Chippendale, Strawberry Hills, Ultimo, Surry Hills |
||
Redfern | REF | 1.30 km | 1906 | Main Suburban | Redfern, Waterloo | |
Macdonaldtown | MAC | 2.48 km | 1892 | Macdonaldtown | ||
Newtown | NTN | 3.1 km | 1855 | Newtown | ||
Stanmore | SMN | 4.67 km | 1878 | Stanmore | ||
Petersham | PSM | 5.50 km | 1857 | Petersham | ||
Lewisham | LWI | 6.25 km | 1886 | Lewisham | ||
Summer Hill | SMH | 7.03 km | 1879 | Summer Hill | ||
Ashfield | AFD | 8.38 km | 1855 | Ashfield | ||
Croydon | CYD | 9.42 km | 1875 | Croydon | ||
Burwood | BWD | 10.62 km | 1855 | Burwood | ||
Strathfield | STR | 11.81 km | 1876 | Strathfield | ||
Homebush | HSH | 12.74 km | 1855 | Homebush | ||
Flemington | FMG | 14.32 km | 1924 | Homebush West | ||
Lidcombe | LDC | 16.61 km | 1858 | Lidcombe | ||
Auburn | AUB | 18.63 km | 1877 | Auburn | ||
Clyde
(weekdays only) |
CYE | 20.66 km | 1882 | Clyde | ||
Granville | GAV | 21.22 km | 1860 | Granville | ||
Granville – Parramatta | ||||||
Harris Park
(weekdays only) |
HPK | 22.53 km | c. 1800s | Main Western | Harris Park | |
Parramatta
(weekdays only) |
PAR | 23.21 km | 1860 | Parramatta | ||
Granville – Leppington | ||||||
Merrylands | MLN | 23.47 km | 1889 | Old Main South | Merrylands | |
Guildford | GUD | 25.72 km | 1876 | Guildford | ||
Yennora | YNN | 27.44 km | 1927 | Yennora | ||
Fairfield | FFL | 29 km | 1856 | Fairfield | ||
Canley Vale | CVE | 30.98 km | 1878 | Canley Vale | ||
Cabramatta | CAB | 28.43 km | 1870 | Main South | Cabramatta | |
Warwick Farm | WKF | 34.16 km | 1889 | Warwick Farm | ||
Liverpool | LPO | 38.68 km | 1856 | Liverpool | ||
Casula | CSL | 38.8 km | 1894 | Casula | ||
Glenfield | GFD | 41.93 km | 1869 | Glenfield | ||
Edmondson Park | 2015 | South West | Edmondson Park | |||
Leppington | Leppington |
Patronage
editThe following table shows the patronage of Sydney Trains network for the year ending 30 June 2024.
86,736,689 | ||
47,048,199 | ||
20,178,194 | [n.b. 2] | |
54,802,802 | ||
8,028,853 | ||
– | [n.b. 3] | |
1,345,017 | ||
37,691,564 | ||
22,303,028 |
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ Asset Standards Authority (19 March 2014). RailCorp electrical system general description, version 1.0 (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 23 June 2015. Retrieved 22 August 2015.
- ^ Saulwick, Jacob (1 July 2013). "All change as RailCorp is disbanded". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 1 November 2024.
- ^ Transport for NSW. "October 2013 timetable changes". NSW Government. Retrieved 1 November 2024.
- ^ Transport for NSW (15 August 2014). "Rail Clearways Program – completed projects". NSW Government. Archived from the original on 11 July 2015.
- ^ Saulwick, Jacob (15 March 2013). "Commuters stuck with old trains on new rail link". The Sydney Morning Herald. Archived from the original on 18 March 2013.
- ^ Transport for NSW (15 October 2015). "South West Rail Link: Soon to head North and East, with more services". NSW Government. Archived from the original on 19 November 2015. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
- ^ a b Transport for NSW. "Changes to Sydney's train network" (PDF). NSW Government. Archived (PDF) from the original on 9 August 2017. Retrieved 9 August 2017.
- ^ Rail Corporation New South Wales. "CityRail network" (PDF). NSW Government. Archived from the original (PDF) on 10 May 2013.
- ^ Transport for NSW (27 February 2017). "More Trains, More Services for South Western Sydney" (PDF). NSW Government. Archived from the original (PDF) on 27 February 2017.
- ^ "T2: Inner West & Leppington line timetable". Transport for NSW.
- ^ Transport for NSW (14 October 2024). "2024 timetable changes". transportnsw.info. NSW Government. Retrieved 19 October 2024.
- ^ a b "City Circle". NSW Rail.net. Archived from the original on 30 September 2007. Retrieved 3 March 2017.
- ^ a b "Airport line". NSW Rail.net. Archived from the original on 1 December 2017. Retrieved 3 March 2017.
- ^ a b "East Hills line". NSW Rail.net. Archived from the original on 10 August 2017. Retrieved 3 March 2017.
- ^ a b "Main South line". NSW Rail.net. Archived from the original on 18 April 2013. Retrieved 3 March 2017.
- ^ a b "South West Rail Link". NSW Rail.net. Archived from the original on 3 March 2017. Retrieved 3 March 2017.
- ^ "Train Patronage – Monthly Figures". Transport for NSW. Retrieved 30 October 2024.