South West Rail Link | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Overview | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Owner | Transport Asset Holding Entity | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Termini | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Stations | 3 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Service | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Services | T2 Inner West & Leppington T5 Cumberland | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Operator(s) | Sydney Trains | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
History | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Opened | 8 February 2015 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Technical | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Line length | 11.4 km (7.1 mi) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Track gauge | 1,435 mm (4 ft 8+1⁄2 in) standard gauge | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Electrification | Overhead 1500 V DC [1] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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The South West Rail Link is a railway line serving the developing suburbs of south-western Sydney, Australia between Glenfield and Leppington. Services form part of the Sydney Trains commuter rail network. It opened on 8 February 2015.
The line consists of a 11.4 km (7.1 mi) double-track railway, with stations in the suburbs of Leppington and Edmondson Park. The line is the major piece of public transport infrastructure for the Sydney metropolitan area's "South West Growth Centre". It connects with the rest of the Sydney rail network at Glenfield, where services can continue north on the Main South line or east on the East Hills line. Leppington station's four platforms can support frequent terminating services, even after an extension of the line. A train stabling facility to the west of the station further enhances this capability. Development of the project was managed by Transport for NSW and its predecessor, the Transport Construction Authority.
The South West Rail Link was originally part of the Metropolitan Rail Expansion Program (MREP) proposed by the Carr Government in 2005, [2] along with the North West Rail Link and the CBD rail link. The three projects were to be integrated into a single operational sector, with trains from the south-west running to the north-west via the CBD Link. The other two components of the MREP were cancelled in 2008, but the South West Rail Link remained on the government's agenda. Plans for the North West Rail Link were resurrected in 2011 and the rail link was completed in 2019, forming part of the Sydney Metro network.
In March 2008, the Iemma Government indicated that construction would begin in 2009, with completion scheduled for 2012. [3] By October of that year the government had decided that delivery of the project would be divided into two stages. Stage one would comprise preliminary work around Glenfield station, and stage two would comprise construction of the new line itself, stage two was deferred due to budget cuts. [4] On 14 November 2009, Premier Nathan Rees announced that construction of stage two of the South West Rail Link would begin in mid-2010, with completion scheduled for 2016. [5] [6]
Planning approval for stage one of the project was received in April 2009. [7] This stage involves preliminary work to support the new line. It is centred on Glenfield station and includes:
Stage two included extending the railway line westward towards Leppington. This involved: [5]
Stage two received planning approval on 18 November 2010. [7] On 7 December 2010, Premier Kristina Keneally announced that a contract for design and construction of stage two had been awarded to the John Holland Group. [12]
On 13 September 2014, the NSW Government announced that construction was complete, saying the line had come in $300 million under budget and a year ahead of schedule. [13] The line opened 8 February 2015. [14] [15] [16] [17]
Two associated projects affect the line.
The East Hills Line’s Kingsgrove to Revesby quadruplication Rail Clearways project opened in April 2013. It improved the capacity of the East Hills line by allowing the separation of express services to Leppington or Macarthur from all-stops services to Revesby. [18]
The Auburn stabling project provided additional capacity to stable trains. [19]
On 6 November 2014, the NSW Government announced that train testing had commenced on the line. [20] Passenger services began on 8 February 2015, initially as a four carriage shuttle running every 30 minutes between Leppington and Liverpool. The shuttle stopped at all stations except Casula and was also branded as the South West Rail Link. On 13 December 2015, trains operate as part of the T2 Airport, Inner West & South Line, with some services operate to the city via Granville while others continue to terminate at Liverpool. [21]
On 26 November 2017, the T2 Airport, Inner West & South Line was split into the T2 Inner West & Leppington Line. All T2 and T5 Cumberland Line services via Liverpool and Glenfield no longer operate to Campbelltown and were rerouted via South West Rail Link to start or terminate at Leppington. [22] [23]
It has been proposed that the line be extended from Leppington to the Western Sydney Airport at Badgerys Creek. [24] However, as at 16 April 2014 the Federal Government has said it had no plans to build this train line. It did indicate a provision for a train line would be included in the development, this may include preparing the tunnels under the runway as part of the runway construction and preparing the underground space for a station. [25]
In June 2015, the New South Wales government announced details for a plan to preserve corridors for extensions of the line. The government indicated it intends to preserve the corridors for the extensions but not to build them in the near future. [26] [27]
From Leppington, the line would extend to Rossmore, with a northern branch to Bringelly and a southern branch to Narellan. Proposed stations would be located at Rossmore, Bringelly, Maryland, Oran Park and Narellan. Preliminary investigations for an extension of the southern corridor from Narellan to the Main South railway line also commenced. [28]
A scoping study into rail investment to service Western Sydney and the proposed Western Sydney Airport was announced by the New South Wales and Australian governments in November 2015. [29] The study's final report was released in March 2018 and included a proposal to build a "North-South Link" from Schofields to Macarthur via the airport. The report also proposed an extension of the South West Rail Link from Leppington to the "Badgerys Creek Aerotropolis" – an area south of the airport. Passengers would need to interchange to access the airport itself. [30] The North–South Link would use a similar corridor to the one being investigated for the extension of the South West Rail Link. This resulted in the corridor investigations into the South West Rail Link extensions being put on hold. [31]
Revesby railway station is located on the East Hills line, serving the Sydney suburb of Revesby. It is served by Sydney Trains T8 Airport & South line services.
East Hills railway station is located on the East Hills line, serving the Sydney suburb of East Hills. It is served by Sydney Trains T8 Airport & South line services.
The Airport & South 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.
Campbelltown railway station is located on the Main Southern line, serving the Sydney suburb of Campbelltown. It is served by Sydney Trains T8 Airport & South line services and NSW TrainLink services to Moss Vale, Goulburn, Canberra, Griffith and Melbourne.
The Rail Clearways Programme was conceived in 2004 with the aim of easing congestion of Sydney's suburban railway network, by reducing the amount of infrastructure shared by multiple services. The disparate projects at pinch points throughout the network were designed to increase passenger capacity and improve reliability. All projects were delivered by the Transport Construction Authority until it was subsumed in November 2011 by Transport for New South Wales. A new timetable was introduced in October 2013 that realised the benefit of many of the projects, and by January 2014—the programme was complete.
Glenfield railway station is a junction station serving the Sydney suburb of Glenfield in Australia. It is served by Sydney Trains T8 Airport & South, T2 Inner West & Leppington and T5 Cumberland line services, and by limited NSW TrainLink Southern Highlands Line services.
Ingleburn railway station is located on the Main Southern line, serving the Sydney suburb of Ingleburn. It is served by Sydney Trains T8 Airport & South line services.
The Cumberland Line is a commuter rail line operated by Sydney Trains in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. It connects Schofields and Leppington stations in the western suburbs. Limited services extend from Schofields to Richmond. The line opened in 1996, following the construction of a 'Y-link' track between Harris Park and Merrylands stations. The intention of this link was to allow 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.
Macquarie Fields railway station is located on the Main Southern line, serving the Sydney suburb of Macquarie Fields. It is served by Sydney Trains T8 Airport & South line services.
Sydney, the largest city in Australia, has an extensive network of passenger and freight railways. The passenger system includes an extensive suburban railway network, operated by Sydney Trains, a metro network and a light rail network. A dedicated freight network also exists. Future expansion of the light rail network includes the Parramatta Light Rail. Existing light rail services are the Inner West Light Rail and the CBD & South East Light Rail.
Edmondson Park railway station is a station on the South West Rail Link which serves the south-western Sydney suburb of Edmondson Park. It opened on 8 February 2015. It is part of the Sydney Trains network.
Leppington railway station is the terminus of the South West Rail Link which serves the south-western Sydney suburb of Leppington. It opened on 8 February 2015. A ten road stabling facility is located to the west of the station at Rossmore. There are 850 car park spaces available.
Various railway lines have been proposed for Sydney, Australia, including both heavy rail extensions to the existing network, and more recently proposals for metro style lines–one of which was completed in 2019.
Sydney Trains is the operator and brand name of the train network serving the Greater Sydney metropolitan area in New South Wales, Australia. The network is a hybrid urban-suburban rail system with a central underground core that covers 369 km (229 mi) of route length over 813 km (505 mi) of track, with 170 stations on eight lines.
The Sydney Metro is a fully automated rapid transit system in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. The first component, the Metro North West Line, opened on 26 May 2019, running from Tallawong to Chatswood. It currently consists of 13 stations and 36 km (22.4 mi) of twin tracks, mostly underground. Work is progressing to extend this line from Chatswood to Bankstown as part of the City & Southwest project, which will run under Sydney Harbour and the Sydney Central Business District (CBD), with a scheduled 2025 completion. When completed, the entire line from Tallawong to Bankstown will have 66 km (41.0 mi) of twin tracks and 31 stations.
The Inner West & Leppington Line is a commuter rail service currently operated by Sydney Trains, serving the inner west and south-western regions of Sydney, Australia. Consisting of 37 stops, the service commences from the City Circle, then heads west to Granville. The line branches at this point; services either head northwest to Parramatta or south to Leppington. A third terminus at Homebush is used when the part-time Parramatta branch isn't operating. The line commenced operations on 26 November 2017, replacing the T2 Airport, Inner West & South Line.
Western Sydney International Airport is a new international airport currently under construction within the suburb of Badgerys Creek, New South Wales, Australia.
Sydney Metro City & Southwest is a 30-kilometre (19 mi) rapid transit project currently under-construction in Sydney, Australia. The project will extend the Metro North West Line from Chatswood on the North Shore, to Bankstown in the city's south-west via the Sydney central business district.
The 2010s saw many developments relating to transport in the Australian city of Sydney, New South Wales. The decade saw a substantial investment in infrastructure, including a new airport, motorway projects, light rail lines, Australia's first metro system, the new Waratah fleet and the demise of the non-air conditioned S sets from the rail network. Planning and branding of public transport services became substantially more centralised.
Sydney Metro Western Sydney Airport, previously known as Sydney Metro Greater West, is a rapid transit rail project currently under-construction in Greater Western Sydney. The project involves the construction of a 23-kilometre (14 mi) line as part of the Sydney Metro system. The line will operate between St Marys, where the line will connect to the Main Western railway line, and Badgerys Creek Aerotropolis via the Western Sydney Airport. It is intended to provide public transport for the upcoming Western Sydney Airport. Construction of the line started in December 2022 and is expected to be completed in late 2026 in time for the opening of the airport.
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