The Bankstown railway line opened between Sydenham on the Illawarra railway line and Belmore in 1895.[1] This was the second solely suburban line to open in Sydney, following the North Shore railway line in 1890–all other rail lines were mainlines carrying traffic into and out of Sydney. In 1909, the line was extended to Bankstown, with intermediate stations at Lakemba and Punchbowl. In 1916, the Metropolitan Goods Line was constructed, running parallel to the Bankstown Line between Marrickville and Campsie. A second extension, from Bankstown to Birrong, opened in 1928. This provided connections to the main suburban railway at Lidcombe and the main south line to Liverpool. A new station between Lakemba and Punchbowl at Wiley Park opened in 1938.
In 1926 the Bankstown Line became the second line in Sydney to be electrified and a maintenance depot was constructed at Punchbowl. Electrification was extended from Bankstown to Regents Park in 1939.[2] The Punchbowl Maintenance Depot closed in 1994.
In January 2006 a four-year project to upgrade the line was completed.[citation needed] The work included the resleepering of the entire line, replacing the former wooden sleepers with the more durable concrete ones, replacement and upgrade of the signalling, and also replacement of the ageing catenary, mostly with the more modern double contact wire variety. The lengthy upgrade process was noted for its "January Closedowns", in which the entire line was closed in January for the bulk of the upgrade work to take place.
Commuter line history
Electric passenger services operated along the 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 Erskinevile 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[3] before being changed to a purple colour around 2000,[4] before it became the current orange colour. From 2013 to 2019 the line was depicted in the same red colour as the T9.
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, it was confirmed that 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.
Description of line
The Bankstown line begins at Sydenham railway station on the Illawarra line. The line branches at Sydenham Junction and passes in a westwards direction to Bankstown, where it heads north to Birrong. Between Marrickville and Campsie, the Metropolitan Goods line runs in parallel. At Birrong, the line meets the Main South Line which runs from Lidcombe to Cabramatta via Regents Park.
Commuter line route
Passenger services begin at Town Hall station on the City Circle. Most services operate around the City Circle in a clockwise direction to Central, then through Redfern. However both inbound and outbound trains can also travel in the counterclockwise direction around the City Circle, as of the November 2017 timetable. After Central, trains enter the Illawara railway line, using the local (western pair) tracks, stopping at St Peters and Erskineville stations. Just south of Sydenham, all trains take the turnout onto the Bankstown railway line. At Sefton Park Junction (west of Birrong), trains can turn onto both directions of the Main Southern railway line, running to Liverpool or Lidcombe.
The line serves two major centres in Western Sydney, namely Bankstown and Liverpool.
^Sydney Metro. "Sydenham to Bankstown". Sydney Metro City & Southwest.
^"Sydenham-Bankstown Line conversion". parliament.nsw.gov.au. Retrieved 29 July 2020.
^NSW Government response Inquiry into the Sydenham-Bankstown line conversion 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. Retrieved 9 December 2020.
^ ab"NSW Rail.net Bankstown line". Retrieved 1 July 2007.
^ ab"NSW Rail.net South Coast line". Retrieved 1 July 2007.
^ ab"NSW Rail.net City Circle". Retrieved 1 July 2007.
^ ab"NSW Rail.net Lidcombe-Cabramatta line". Retrieved 1 July 2007.
^"Driver Route Knowledge Diagrams - City Circle" (PDF). Railsafe. Retrieved 2 January 2019.
^"Train Patronage - Monthly Figures". Transport for NSW. Retrieved 20 August 2022.
External links
"T3: Bankstown line timetable". Transport for NSW.
- Completion of the Bankstown line upgrade
- History of the Bankstown line
January 09, 2023
bankstown, line, this, article, about, sydney, trains, service, that, operates, line, physical, railway, line, bankstown, railway, line, numbered, coloured, orange, commuter, rail, line, operated, sydney, trains, sydney, south, wales, australia, serves, canter. This article is about the Sydney Trains service that operates on the line For the physical railway line see Bankstown railway line The Bankstown Line numbered T3 coloured orange is a commuter rail line operated by Sydney Trains in Sydney New South Wales Australia It serves Canterbury Bankstown and parts of the Inner West and Western Sydney The Bankstown railway line is the physical railway line which carries the section of the Bankstown Line between Sydenham and Birrong Bankstown LineA B set at Wiley ParkOverviewOwnerTransport Asset Holding EntityLocaleSydney New South WalesTerminiCentralLiverpool LidcombeStations33ServiceTypeCommuter railOperator s Sydney TrainsDepot s FlemingtonRolling stockK M A and B setsHistoryOpened1 February 1895 1895 02 01 TechnicalTrack gauge1 435 mm 4 ft 8 1 2 in standard gaugeSydney Trains servicesMetro North WestNorth Shore amp WesternInner West amp LeppingtonBankstownEastern Suburbs amp IllawarraCumberlandOlympic ParkAirport amp SouthNorthernvte vteT3 route diagramLegendKm3 0 Circular Quay 4 4 St James 2 1 Wynyard 5 0 Museum 1 2 Town Hall0 0 CentralAirport line1 3 RedfernMain Suburban line2 9 Erskineville3 8 St Peters5 3 SydenhamMetropolitan Goods lineIllawarra line6 6 Marrickville7 9 Dulwich Hill8 8 Hurlstone Park10 2 CanterburyCooks River11 7 CampsieMetropolitan Goods line13 3 Belmore14 5 Lakemba15 4 Wiley Park16 5 Punchbowl18 7 Bankstown18 9 Bankstown Turnback Loop Line 20 2 Yagoona22 1 BirrongMetropolitan Goods lineMain Suburban line16 6 Lidcombe19 9 Regents Park18 4 BeralaMain Suburban line21 2 Sefton22 3 Chester Hill23 7 Leightonfield24 5 Villawood25 9 CarramarProspect CreekOld Main South line28 4 Cabramatta34 2 Warwick Farm35 7 LiverpoolMain South lineContents 1 History 1 1 Railway line history 1 2 Commuter line history 1 3 Future projects 2 Description of line 3 Commuter line route 3 1 Patronage 4 References 5 External linksHistory EditRailway line history Edit The Bankstown railway line opened between Sydenham on the Illawarra railway line and Belmore in 1895 1 This was the second solely suburban line to open in Sydney following the North Shore railway line in 1890 all other rail lines were mainlines carrying traffic into and out of Sydney In 1909 the line was extended to Bankstown with intermediate stations at Lakemba and Punchbowl In 1916 the Metropolitan Goods Line was constructed running parallel to the Bankstown Line between Marrickville and Campsie A second extension from Bankstown to Birrong opened in 1928 This provided connections to the main suburban railway at Lidcombe and the main south line to Liverpool A new station between Lakemba and Punchbowl at Wiley Park opened in 1938 In 1926 the Bankstown Line became the second line in Sydney to be electrified and a maintenance depot was constructed at Punchbowl Electrification was extended from Bankstown to Regents Park in 1939 2 The Punchbowl Maintenance Depot closed in 1994 In January 2006 a four year project to upgrade the line was completed citation needed The work included the resleepering of the entire line replacing the former wooden sleepers with the more durable concrete ones replacement and upgrade of the signalling and also replacement of the ageing catenary mostly with the more modern double contact wire variety The lengthy upgrade process was noted for its January Closedowns in which the entire line was closed in January for the bulk of the upgrade work to take place Commuter line history Edit Electric passenger services operated along the 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 Erskinevile 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 3 before being changed to a purple colour around 2000 4 before it became the current orange colour From 2013 to 2019 the line was depicted in the same red colour as the T9 Future projects Edit Main article Sydney Metro City amp Southwest Sydney Metro City amp 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 it was confirmed that 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 Description of line EditThe Bankstown line begins at Sydenham railway station on the Illawarra line The line branches at Sydenham Junction and passes in a westwards direction to Bankstown where it heads north to Birrong Between Marrickville and Campsie the Metropolitan Goods line runs in parallel At Birrong the line meets the Main South Line which runs from Lidcombe to Cabramatta via Regents Park Commuter line route EditPassenger services begin at Town Hall station on the City Circle Most services operate around the City Circle in a clockwise direction to Central then through Redfern However both inbound and outbound trains can also travel in the counterclockwise direction around the City Circle as of the November 2017 timetable After Central trains enter the Illawara railway line using the local western pair tracks stopping at St Peters and Erskineville stations Just south of Sydenham all trains take the turnout onto the Bankstown railway line At Sefton Park Junction west of Birrong trains can turn onto both directions of the Main Southern railway line running to Liverpool or Lidcombe The line serves two major centres in Western Sydney namely Bankstown and Liverpool T3 interactive map T3 stations Name Distance fromCentral 9 10 11 12 13 Opened 9 10 11 12 Railway line Serving suburbs Other linesTown Hall BirrongTown Hall 1 2 km 1932 City Circle Sydney Darling Harbour T1T2T4T8T9Wynyard 2 1 km 1932 Sydney The Rocks Millers Point T1T2T8T9Circular Quay 3 0 km 1956 Circular Quay SydneyThe Rocks Millers Point T2T8St James 4 3 km dist viaTown Hall 1926 Sydney T2T8Museum 5 km dist viaTown Hall 1926 Sydney T2T8Central 0 km 1855 Central Strawberry HillsUltimo Surrey Hills T1T2T4T8T9Redfern 1 3 km 1878 Illawarra Redfern Waterloo DarlingtonThe University of Sydney T1T2T4T8T9 T8 peak hours only Erskineville 2 9 km 1884 Erskineville Macdonaldtown Newtown noneSt Peters 3 8 km 1884 St Peters Alexandria Erskineville Newtown T8 T8 peak hours only Sydenham 5 3 km 1884 Sydenham Marrickville St Peters T4T8 T8 peak hours only Marrickville 6 6 km 1895 Bankstown Marrickville Marrickville South noneDulwich Hill 7 9 km 1895 Dulwich Hill Marrickville Hurlstone ParkHurlstone Park 8 8 km 1895 Hurlstone Park CanterburyCanterbury 10 2 km 1895 CanterburyCampsie 11 7 km 1895 CampsieBelmore 13 3 km 1895 BelmoreLakemba 14 5 km 1909 LakembaWiley Park 15 4 km 1938 Wiley Park Lakemba PunchbowlPunchbowl 16 5 km 1909 PunchbowlBankstown 18 7 km 1909 BankstownYagoona 20 6 km 1928 YagoonaBirrong 22 1 km 1928 BirrongBirrong LidcombeRegents Park 19 9 km 1912 Main South Regents Park noneBerala 18 4 km 1912 BeralaLidcombe 16 6 km 1858 Lidcombe T1T2T7Birrong LiverpoolSefton 21 2 km 1924 Main South Sefton noneChester Hill 22 3 km 1924 Chester HillLeightonfield 23 7 km 1942 VillawoodVillawood 24 5 km 1924 VillawoodCarramar 25 9 km 1924 CarramarCabramatta 28 4 km 1870 Cabramatta T2T5Warwick Farm 34 2 km 1889 Warwick Farm T2T5Liverpool 35 7 km 1856 Liverpool T2T5Patronage 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 14 T1 41 980 000T2 23 077 000T3 11 198 000T4 27 775 000T5 3 503 000T7 605 000T8 16 879 000T9 10 415 000 Figures based on Opal tap on and tap off data References Edit NSW Railway Passenger Services 1880 1905 Australian Railway History April 2005 ARHS NSW Division Archived from the original on 3 August 2020 Retrieved 19 May 2021 Brady I Sydney Electric Trains From 1926 to 1960 Australian Railway Historical Society Bulletin Vol 52 no 762 April 2001 NSWrail map 1992 Sydney Suburban Network map 2000 Sydney Metro Sydenham to Bankstown Sydney Metro City amp Southwest Sydenham Bankstown Line conversion parliament nsw gov au Retrieved 29 July 2020 NSW Government response Inquiry into the Sydenham Bankstown line conversion Andrew Constance Minister for Roads amp Transport 7 October 2020 Rail options for west of Bankstown station in 2024 now confirmed Transport for NSW 8 December 2020 Retrieved 9 December 2020 a b NSW Rail net Bankstown line Retrieved 1 July 2007 a b NSW Rail net South Coast line Retrieved 1 July 2007 a b NSW Rail net City Circle Retrieved 1 July 2007 a b NSW Rail net Lidcombe Cabramatta line Retrieved 1 July 2007 Driver Route Knowledge Diagrams City Circle PDF Railsafe 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 Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Bankstown Line amp oldid 1113622650, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
