The Liverpool & Inner West Line (numbered T3, coloured orange) is a commuter rail line operated by Sydney Trains in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. It serves the Inner West and Western Sydney. The Main Suburban railway line is the physical railway line which carries the section of the Inner West & Liverpool Line between Redfern and Lidcombe, followed by the Main South railway line between Lidcombe and Liverpool. The designation of T3 was previously for the Bankstown Line, which closed on 30 September 2024 to facilitate its conversion to be part of the Sydney Metro. The Bankstown Line previously operated between the City Circle and Lidcombe or Liverpool via Bankstown and Sydenham, using the physical Bankstown railway line.
| Liverpool & Inner West Line | |
|---|---|
 | |
 An A set at Summer Hill. | |
| Overview | |
| Service type | Commuter rail service |
| Status | Operational |
| Locale | Sydney, New South Wales |
| First service | 30 September 2024 |
| Current operator(s) | Sydney Trains |
| Route | |
| Termini | Central Liverpool |
| Stops | 30 |
| Average journey time | 1 hour |
| Line(s) used | |
| On-board services | |
| Disabled access | Yes |
| Technical | |
| Rolling stock | K, 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) | T3 |
History
editThe Liverpool & Inner West Line comprises the physical Main Suburban railway line and Old Main South railway line. The section between Lidcombe and Cabramatta via Regents Park railway station opened in 1924, and electrification to Liverpool was completed by 1929.[2]
Until 2013, the route passed through Regents Park and provided a direct link between Liverpool and the City Circle. When CityRail was the primary operator of suburban trains during this period, the Inner West Line operated in a loop with the Bankstown Line.[3]
Following the 2011 New South Wales state election, the O'Farrell government implemented significant timetable changes in 2013. These changes resulted in discontinuing the Bankstown loop services and altering most Liverpool services to no longer run via Regents Park. This restructures, aimed at improving efficiency on other parts of the network, led to increased journey times and the necessity for passengers to change trains at stations like Birrong, Lidcombe, and Strathfield.[4][5]
On 30 September 2024, coinciding with the closure of the Bankstown Line for its conversion to become part of the Sydney Metro, services to Liverpool via the Inner West Line and Regents Park were reinstated as a result of community pressure against a NSW Government decision to only provide shuttle services between Cabramatta - Bankstown and Lidcombe - Bankstown.[6] This reinstated service, designated as the T3 Liverpool & Inner West Line, operates similarly to that of its previous alignment as the Inner West Line.[7]
Description of line
editThe Liverpool & Inner West Line begins in the City Circle at Museum before heading out to the Inner West, with key stations at; Newtown, Ashfield, Burwood, Strathfield and Lidcombe, before continuing along the Main South Line towards Liverpool.
| Name | Distance from Central |
Opened |
Railway line | Serving suburbs | Other suburban lines | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Museum – Liverpool | ||||||
| Museum | 5 km
(dist via Town Hall) |
1926 | City Circle | Sydney | ||
| St James | 4.3 km
(dist via Town Hall) |
1926 | Sydney | |||
| Circular Quay | 3.0 km | 1956 | Circular Quay, Sydney The Rocks, Millers Point | |||
| Wynyard | 2.1 km | 1932 | Sydney, The Rocks, Millers Point | |||
| Town Hall | 1.2 km | 1932 | Sydney, Darling Harbour | |||
| Central | 0 km | 1855 | Central, Strawberry Hills Ultimo, Surrey Hills |
|||
| Redfern | 1.3 km | 1878 | Main Suburban | Redfern, Waterloo, Darlington The University of Sydney |
||
| Macdonaldtown | 2.5 km | 1892 | Macdonaldtown | |||
| Newtown | 3.1 km | 1855 | Newtown | |||
| Stanmore | 4.7 km | 1878 | Stanmore | |||
| Petersham | 5.5 km | 1857 | Petersham | |||
| Lewisham | 6.3 km | 1886 | Lewisham | |||
| Summer Hill | 7.0 km | 1879 | Summer Hill | |||
| Ashfield | 8.4 km | 1855 | Ashfield | |||
| Croydon | 9.4 km | 1875 | Croydon | |||
| Burwood | 10.6 km | 1855 | Burwood | |||
| Strathfield | 11.8 km | 1876 | Strathfield | |||
| Homebush | 12.7 km | 1855 | Homebush | |||
| Flemington | 14.3 km | 1855 | Homebush West | |||
| Lidcombe | 16.6 km | 1858 | Lidcombe | |||
| Berala | 18.4 km | 1912 | Main South | Berala | ||
| Regents Park | 19.9 km | 1912 | Regents Park | |||
| Sefton | 21.2 km | 1924 | Sefton | none | ||
| Chester Hill | 22.3 km | 1924 | Chester Hill | |||
| Leightonfield | 23.7 km | 1942 | Villawood | |||
| Villawood | 24.5 km | 1924 | Villawood | |||
| Carramar | 25.9 km | 1924 | Carramar | |||
| Cabramatta | 28.4 km | 1870 | Cabramatta | |||
| Warwick Farm | 34.2 km | 1889 | Warwick Farm | |||
| Liverpool | 35.7 km | 1856 | Liverpool | |||
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 |
- ^ Figures based on Opal tap on and tap off data
- ^ T3 patronage from Bankstown Line services.
- ^ T6 services commenced on 19 October 2024.
See also
edit
References
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.
- ^ "Opening of the Regents Park line, Cabramatta Railway Station". Fairfield City Heritage Collection. Retrieved 18 October 2024.
- ^ "Restore Inner West Line - About Us". Restore Inner West Line: Liverpool via Regents Park. Retrieved 18 October 2024.
- ^ Hasham, Jacob Saulwick, Nicole (16 May 2013). "Winners and losers: all change in rail revamp". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 18 October 2024.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) - ^ Bodkin, Jacob Saulwick, Lucy Carroll, Ed (21 October 2013). "New train timetable had a smooth start but not all commuters are happy". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 18 October 2024.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) - ^ Transport for NSW, Sydney Metro (February 2017). "Sydney Metro City & Southwest Project Update" (PDF). Sydney Metro. Retrieved 21 October 2024.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ^ "There are winners and losers with the T3 stations shut. This is what you need to know". ABC News. 27 September 2024. Retrieved 18 October 2024.
- ^ a b "Main South line". NSW Rail.net. Archived from the original on 18 April 2013. Retrieved 3 March 2017.
- ^ a b "NSW Rail.net City Circle". Archived from the original on 30 September 2007. Retrieved 1 July 2007.
- ^ a b "NSW Rail.net Lidcombe-Cabramatta line". Archived from the original on 8 September 2017. Retrieved 1 July 2007.
- ^ "Driver Route Knowledge Diagrams - City Circle" (PDF). Railsafe. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2 January 2019. Retrieved 2 January 2019.
- ^ "Train Patronage – Monthly Figures". Transport for NSW. Retrieved 30 October 2024.