Rail service in Sydney, New South Wales
The
Airport & South Line
(numbered
T8
, coloured green; commonly called the East Hills Line) is a suburban
commuter rail
line in Sydney, Australia. It connects the
Sydney central business district
with the southwestern suburbs via
Sydney Airport
. The line is part of the
Sydney Trains
network. The line began operating on 26 November 2017, when the T2 Airport, Inner West & South Line was split in two. Sydney Trains' predecessor
CityRail
operated the
Airport & East Hills Line
over an identical route between 2000 and 2013.
T8 interactive map
History
[
edit
]
The T8 traverses several railway lines; the
City Circle
,
Airport Link
,
East Hills
and
Main South
Lines. The origins of the current train service can be traced back to the opening of the East Hills Line in 1931. The East Hills line was extended to Glenfield in 1987, where it joins the Main South Line. The Airport Line opened in 2000, providing an additional pair of tracks into the city.
The East Hills line was opened in 1931. Electrification only extended as far as
Kingsgrove
.
[1]
[2]
Services on the non-electrified section were by
CPH railmotor
, supplemented by through steam trains from
Central
in peak hours.
[3]
The section between Kingsgrove and East Hills was opened for electric services on 17 December 1939.
[4]
Services generally ran all stations from East Hills via Tempe and
Sydenham
, to the city. Occasional services terminated at Riverwood, Kingsgrove, and Padstow. Most trains used to stop at
Erskineville
and
St Peters
, now only served by the
T3 line
.
When services on the Glenfield extension commenced,
[5]
there were only limited services from
Campbelltown
via East Hills during peak hours only; however, in 1988 an all-day half-hourly service was provided. Local (all stations) services generally ran every 15 minutes from
East Hills
.
[6]
Once the Airport Line opened, the running patterns of trains changed. The "
flying junctions
" near
Central Station
were altered to give the Airport line its own platforms (21 & 23) at Central. Local (all stations) trains generally were timetabled to run from East Hills via the airport, peak hour express trains from
Campbelltown
run along the original route via
Sydenham
, taking newly built express tracks between Kingsgrove and Wolli Creek Junction.
The Airport Line stations (except Wolli Creek) are operated by a private company, the
Airport Link Company
, as part of a
public private partnership
(PPP). Under the deal, the private company would cover the costs of building four of the stations. In return, they would operate those stations for 30 years and have the right to impose a surcharge on fares for their use.
[7]
The company's involvement was predicated on passenger estimates and train reliability guarantees that later proved to be optimistic. The
NSW Government
would fund (and own) the railway itself and Wolli Creek station.
[7]
The Airport Link consistently failed to meet patronage targets. In 2000, the Airport Link Company went into receivership, exposing the government to costs of around $800 million; it was put up for sale in early 2006.
[8]
State Rail blamed "lower than expected patronage" and stated it was working with the company to increase it.
[9]
In October 2005, the government and the company signed a revised agreement on revenue and patronage, settling the latter's claims against the former.
[10]
The stations were purchased by
Westpac
. In 2009 the business made a profit of A$5.8 million. In 2010 it increased to A$9.3 million.
[11]
In March 2011 it was announced that the government would cover the cost of the station access fee at Green Square and Mascot stations, meaning that passengers no longer need to pay a surcharge to access these stations. A fee remains in place for Domestic and International stations.
[12]
Patronage on the link had been growing at 20% per year, but between March and June 2011 patronage increased by 70% as a result of the reduced fares.
[13]
The early 2010s saw a shift in how public transport services are delivered in New South Wales. The state government created a new transport authority,
Transport for NSW
, in 2011. Sydney Trains replaced CityRail as the operator of Sydney's commuter rail services in 2013. These changes saw Transport for NSW take control of the timetabling and branding of services. Transport for NSW introduced a new timetable in late 2013 that saw the Airport and East Hills Line replaced by the T2 Airport, Inner West & South Line. This new line was created by combining three of CityRail's lines. Operationally, the services between Macarthur and the city via the East Hills and Airport Lines remained much the same as before.
The 2017 timetable saw the 2013 branding changes partially wound back. The T2 line was split in two. The new T2 consists of services from Leppington to the city via Granville, with a branch to Parramatta being added. Services from Macarthur to the city via Sydney Airport or Sydenham were transferred to the new T8 line. The T8 inherited the green colour of the old T2 and the Airport and East Hills Line.
[14]
T5 services were also modified to no longer travel to and from Campbelltown, instead starting and terminating at Leppington.
[15]
These changes mean the section of the network between Glenfield and Macarthur is served exclusively by services operating via the
East Hills railway line
for the first time.
[15]
Operations and stations
[
edit
]
Apart from the Airport Line's troubles, the line as a whole also suffered a substantial loss in patronage when the
M5 East Tunnel
opened in 2001. The tunnel joined the
Eastern Distributor
and
M5 South Western Motorway
, shortening road travel times between the city and the south-west. The line was estimated to have lost 384,450 commuters over 12 months after the tunnel opened.
[16]
Since that time, however, the line appears to have gained commuters again, with a reported 3.5% increase in patronage up to early 2006.
[17]
Under the current (2020) timetable, there are generally two stopping patterns on the Airport & South Line:
[
citation needed
]
- Express service: from Macarthur, stopping all stations to Revesby, then express to Wolli Creek, then all stations to the City via the Airport.
- Local service: starting at Revesby and running all stops to the City via the Airport. Some times services start at East Hills.
During peak hours, there are additional express services, which skip some stops between Macquarie Fields and Revesby, but some also make additional stops at Padstow and Riverwood. Some express services also operate via Sydenham instead of the Airport. There are also a few services terminating at Turrella.
[
clarification needed
]
Occasionally during trackwork on the City Circle, all services will be switched to run via Sydenham in one direction only, with the other direction running via the Airport, due to limitations of the track design at Central. Alternatively services will completely avoid the City Circle, terminating at Central platform 23. When there is trackwork on other lines, there will also occasionally be shuttle services running express to Kingsgrove via Sydenham.
T8 stations
Name
|
Distance from
Central
(km)
|
Opened
[5]
[18]
[19]
[20]
|
Railway line
|
Serving suburbs
|
Other lines
|
Town Hall
|
1.21
|
1932
|
City Circle
|
Sydney
|
|
Wynyard
|
2.1
|
1932
|
Sydney, The Rocks, Millers Point, Barangaroo
|
|
Circular Quay
|
3.0
|
1956
|
Sydney
The Rocks, Millers Point
|
|
St James
|
4.3 km
(dist via
Town Hall)
|
1926
|
Sydney
|
Museum
|
5 km
(dist via
Town Hall)
|
1926
|
Central
|
N/A
|
1855
|
Haymarket, Ultimo, Surry Hills
|
|
At Central the line branches. The south western branch runs via Sydenham, and the southern branch runs via the airport.
|
Via Sydenham
|
Redfern
(peak hours only)
|
1.30
|
1878
|
Illawarra
|
Redfern, Waterloo, Darlington
|
|
St Peters
(peak hours only)
|
3.81
|
1884
|
St Peters
|
|
Sydenham
(peak hours only)
|
5.31
|
1884
|
Sydenham, Marrickville
|
|
Via the Airport
|
Green Square
|
2.71
|
2000
|
Airport
|
Zetland, Beaconsfield, Waterloo
|
none
|
Mascot
|
5.19
|
2000
|
Mascot, Rosebery
|
Domestic Airport
|
6.74
|
2000
|
Sydney Airport, Mascot
|
International Airport
|
8.27
|
2000
|
Wolli Creek
|
7.31
|
2000
|
Wolli Creek, Arncliffe
|
|
Both branches rejoin.
|
Turrella
|
8.66
|
1931
|
East Hills
|
Turrella
|
none
|
Bardwell Park
|
10.10
|
1931
|
Bardwell Park, Bardwell Valley, Earlwood
|
Bexley North
|
11.37
|
1931
|
Bexley North
|
Kingsgrove
|
12.62
|
1931
|
Kingsgrove
|
Beverly Hills
|
14.65
|
1931
|
Beverly Hills
|
Narwee
|
15.78
|
1931
|
Narwee
|
Riverwood
|
17.50
|
1931
|
Riverwood
|
Padstow
|
19.34
|
1931
|
Padstow
|
Revesby
|
20.96
|
1931
|
Revesby, Revesby North
|
Panania
|
22.55
|
1931
|
Panania
|
East Hills
|
24.03
|
1931
|
East Hills, Voyager Point, Pleasure Point
|
Holsworthy
|
26.76
|
1987
|
Holsworthy, Hammondville, Wattle Grove, Pleasure Point
|
Glenfield
|
33.03
|
1869
|
Main South
|
Glenfield
|
|
Macquarie Fields
|
43.80
|
1888
|
Macquarie Fields, Macquarie Links
|
none
|
Ingleburn
|
45.65
|
1869
|
Ingleburn, Denham Court
|
Minto
|
49.67
|
1874
|
Minto, Bow Bowing, St Andrews
|
Leumeah
|
52.63
|
1886
|
Leumeah, Woodbine, Claymore,
|
Campbelltown
|
54.71
|
1858
|
Campbelltown, Campbelltown North, Blair Athol
|
Macarthur
|
56.73
|
1985
|
Ambarvale, Englorie Park, Bradbury, Glen Alpine
|
Patronage
[
edit
]
The following table shows the patronage of Sydney Trains network for the year ending 30 June 2022.
2021?22 Sydney Trains patronage by line
[n.b. 1]
[21]
|
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
]
- ^
"New railway. Tempe to East Hills"
.
The Sydney Morning Herald
. 19 December 1931
. Retrieved
4 November
2011
.
- ^
"Kingsgrove-East Hills. Railway officially opened"
.
The Sydney Morning Herald
. 21 December 1931
. Retrieved
4 November
2011
.
- ^
Salt Pan via Dumbleton ? The Story of the East Hills Line
Oakes, John
Australian Railway Historical Society Bulletin
, September 2001 pp. 323?346
- ^
Mok, Danny
"FordGhia's Railway & Transport in Australia Page: East Hills Line Information & Photos"
. Retrieved 3 February 2003.
- ^
a
b
Bozier, Rolfe,
"New South Wales Railways: East Hills Line: History"
Archived
10 August 2017 at the
Wayback Machine
. Retrieved 30 December 2006.
- ^
"NSW Rail Historical Timetables: Pre CityRail"
. Retrieved 30 December 2006.
Archived
24 October 2009.
- ^
a
b
The Opening of Sydney's New Southern Railway
, Transit Australia, Vol 55 no 7, July 2000.
- ^
Baker, Jordan & Nixon, Sherrill,
"For sale: ghost train to Sydney Airport"
Archived
28 January 2007 at the
Wayback Machine
,
Sydney Morning Herald
, 11 March 2006. Retrieved 30 December 2006.
- ^
State Rail Authority Annual Report 2000?2001 p?
- ^
Rail Corporation New South Wales
,
Annual Report 2005?6
, pp. 59 & 81.
- ^
Saulwick, Jacob; Besser, Linton (19 February 2011).
"Cheaper for some on airport rail link"
.
The Sydney Morning Herald
.
Archived
from the original on 24 September 2015
. Retrieved
18 February
2011
.
- ^
Green Square and Mascot commuters to save $17 a week
Archived
21 July 2011 at the
Wayback Machine
CityRail. 2 March 2011.
- ^
Saulwick, Jacob (9 June 2011).
"Tickets sales rocket on airport line as prices plunge"
.
The Sydney Morning Herald
.
Archived
from the original on 2 January 2016
. Retrieved
10 June
2011
.
- ^
"Changes to Sydney's train network"
(PDF)
. Transport for NSW.
Archived
(PDF)
from the original on 9 August 2017
. Retrieved
9 August
2017
.
- ^
a
b
"More Trains, More Services for South Western Sydney"
(PDF)
.
Transport for New South Wales
. Government of New South Wales. 27 February 2017.
Archived
(PDF)
from the original on 27 February 2017
. Retrieved
27 February
2017
.
- ^
Kerr, Joseph,
"Motorway takes toll on rail trips"
Archived
25 July 2008 at the
Wayback Machine
,
Sydney Morning Herald
, 2 April 2003. Retrieved 30 December 2006.
- ^
Pearlman, Jonothan,
"Passengers crowd onto fewer trains"
Archived
19 October 2012 at the
Wayback Machine
,
Sydney Morning Herald
, 3 March 2006. Retrieved 30 December 2006.
- ^
Bozier, Rolfe,
"New South Wales Railways: Main South Line"
Archived
18 April 2013 at the
Wayback Machine
. Retrieved 10 July 2007.
- ^
Bozier, Rolfe,
"New South Wales Railways: South Coast Line"
Archived
6 November 2015 at the
Wayback Machine
. Retrieved 10 July 2007.
- ^
Bozier, Rolfe,
"New South Wales Railways: City Circle"
Archived
30 September 2007 at the
Wayback Machine
. Retrieved 1 July 2007.
- ^
"Train Patronage ? Monthly Figures"
. Transport for NSW
. Retrieved
20 August
2022
.
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Italics
denotes services yet to commence
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