Cumberland Line

Cumberland Line

A Sydney Trains S set at Glenfield bound for Blacktown.
Overview
Service type	Commuter rail
Locale	Sydney, New South Wales
First service	1996 (1996)
Current operator(s)	Sydney Trains
Route
Start	Richmond
Stops	30
End	Leppington
Line(s) used	Richmond railway line Main Western railway line Main Southern railway line South West Rail Link
Technical
Rolling stock	M and A
Track gauge	1,435 mm (4 ft 8 1⁄2 in) standard gauge
Track owner(s)	RailCorp
Sydney Trains services North Shore, Northern & Western Inner West & Leppington Bankstown Eastern Suburbs & Illawarra Cumberland Carlingford Olympic Park Airport & South

The Cumberland Line (numbered T5, coloured magenta) 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.

History

Cumberland Line history
	Pre-2013 route (Blacktown to Campbelltown) 2013-17 route (Schofields to Campbelltown)

Upon its opening in 1996, the line had a regular half-hourly service in each direction consisting of 38 journeys per day. Subsequent timetables saw its services significantly reduced to the point of running only during weekday peak hours, and from 2005 to 2013 the line only ran in one direction at a time: two services ran in the morning peak from Campbelltown towards Blacktown and three services ran in the opposite direction in the evening. Some services operated to or from Quakers Hill or Schofields on the Richmond line, but the line's official terminus on network maps and other material remained at Blacktown.

Prior to the Y-Link's opening, passengers travelling between the Western and South lines were required to change trains at Granville. With the reduction in services to peak hours only, this travelling strategy was resumed by most commuters.

In 2006, the then-Iemma Labor Government's NSW State Plan committed to re-introduce a regular half-hourly service to the Cumberland line during 2007 "subject to detailed timetable and train planning... and fleet delivery, availability and rostering".^[1] A CityRail news release on 15 December confirmed this intention, based on the gradual introduction of the then-new OSCAR (H set) trains, which would displace outer suburban Tangara G sets; the latter trains then reassigned to suburban service.^[2] This promise was not delivered, and the Cumberland Line remained a peak-hour-only service with 4 car trains.

Daytime half-hourly services were re-introduced on 21 October 2013. Services finished in the early evening and did not operate on weekends. At this time, the line was also officially extended to Schofields, where most northbound services terminated.

As part of a major timetable change for the Sydney Trains network on 26 November 2017, Cumberland Line services were modified to no longer travel to and from Campbelltown, instead starting and terminating at Leppington. Simultaneous changes to the Airport, Inner West & South Line saw that line split into the Inner West & Leppington Line and Airport & South Line. These changes mean the section of the network between Glenfield and Macarthur is served exclusively by services operating via the East Hills railway line.^[3][4][5] The changes also saw late night and weekend services introduced on the Cumberland Line.^[6] The late night services extend to Richmond, replacing T1 services at these times.^[3] On Weekends, trains operate between Quakers Hill and Liverpool only with early morning and late night services extending to Leppington and Richmond

Description of route

Physically, the line consists of the Richmond railway line from Schofields/Richmond to Blacktown, the Main Western Line from Blacktown station to Harris Park, the 'Y Link' as described below, the "Old Main South" between Merrylands and Cabramatta, the Main South Line between Cabramatta and Glenfield, and the South West Rail Link between Edmondson Park and Leppington.

Trains and Services

During the week, the Cumberland Line usually has two services an hour in each direction between Schofields and Leppington. In the peak, the services usually only run till Blacktown due to other services. On the weekend, this line holds two services an hour in both directions between Quakers Hill and Liverpool. The line is usually service by 4 Car Milleniums, though sometimes being serviced by the new waratahs and the K Sets.

Y-link

Track arrangement at the Y Link

The 'Y-link' was opened in 1996 as part of former Prime Minister Paul Keating's 'Building Better Cities' programme in recognition of Parramatta's place as the capital of Sydney's west.^[7] It cost $80 million to construct, and required the construction of a little over one kilometre of new track and no new stations. This track consists of the creation of a triangular junction at the junction of the 'Old Main South' and the 'Main Western Line by laying track between Merrylands and Harris Park stations. The work included a new flyover of the 'Up Old Main South' over these new tracks.

Cumberland Line stations

Cumberland Line
Richmond (late night) East Richmond (late night) Clarendon (late night) Windsor (late night) Mulgrave (late night) Vineyard (late night) Riverstone (late night) Schofields Quakers Hill Westlink M7 Marayong Main Western line Blacktown Seven Hills Toongabbie Pendle Hill Wentworthville Westmead Parramatta Harris Park M4 Motorway Main Suburban line to City Merrylands Guildford Yennora Distribution Centre Prospect Creek Yennora Fairfield Canley Vale Main South line Cabramatta Cabramatta Creek Warwick Farm Liverpool M5 Motorway Casula East Hills line to City Glenfield Main South line to Macarthur M31 Hume Motorway Edmondson Park Leppington

Patronage

The following table shows the patronage of Sydney Trains network for the year ending 30 June 2018.

2017-18 Sydney Trains patronage by line^{[n.b. 1] [8]}

T1	142 853 000
† T2 (new)	33 301 000
T3	28 178 000
T4	67 935 000
T5	6 677 000
T6	529 000
T7	1 664 000
† T8	26 415 000
† T2 (old)	37 891 000

References

External links

• Cumberland Line timetable Transport for NSW