Schofields railway station

Schofields
Station front in November 2011
Location Railway Terrace, Schofields
Coordinates 33°42′17″S 150°52′26″E / 33.704693°S 150.873886°E / -33.704693; 150.873886Coordinates: 33°42′17″S 150°52′26″E / 33.704693°S 150.873886°E / -33.704693; 150.873886
Owned by RailCorp
Operated by Sydney Trains
Line(s) Richmond
Distance 43.75 kilometres from Central
Platforms 2 (1 island)
Tracks 2
Connections Bus
Construction
Structure type Ground
Disabled access Yes
Other information
Status Staffed
Station code SFS
Website Transport for NSW
History
Opened 1870
Rebuilt 29 October 2011
Electrified Yes
Traffic
Passengers (2013) 820 (daily)[1] (Sydney Trains, NSW TrainLink)
Rank 169
Services
Preceding station   Sydney Trains   Following station
towards Richmond
T1
North Shore, Northern & Western Line
towards Berowra
late night only
towards 
T5
Cumberland Line
towards 

Schofields railway station is located on the Richmond line, serving the Sydney suburb of Schofields. It is served by Sydney Trains T1 Western and T5 Cumberland line services.

History

Eastbound view of the former station in November 2009
Eastbound view

Schofields station opened in 1870.[2] It was named after John Schofield, a local pioneer who was a former convict who later settled in the area after building a saw mill beside the railway line. The former station was originally opened as a siding stop with a platform made from railway sleepers in the early 1870s on the western side of the track, which was later rebuilt in brick in 1888 along with a goods loop after the Richmond line was upgraded by John Whitton the then Engineer-in-Chief.[3] The History of the Station and surrounding local area have been highlighted through signs placed near the entrances to both former and present station sites.

Former station

The old Schofields station consisted of a single side platform with street level access on the eastern side of the track. A pedestrian level crossing to the north of the platform allowed access to the other side of the track. An interesting feature of the station was the adjacent grain and produce facility that protruded into the railway platform. The old station closed on 3 October 2011.

Current station

Background

From 2009 to 2011, the track between Quakers Hill and Schofields was duplicated for more than three kilometres as part of the Rail Clearways Program.[4] This was intended as the first stage of a broader plan to duplicate the line as far as Vineyard. In order to be able to continue the duplication towards Richmond, it was proposed re-align a short section of track and relocate Schofields station to a site with fewer space constraints, 800 metres south of the existing station. The proposal to relocate the station was a controversial one and raised concerns amongst residents and businesses located near the former station, in relation to accessibility and urban decay.[5] Despite opposition to the plans from Blacktown City Council and the government's own local representative, John Aquilina MP, construction commenced and the station opened on 29 October 2011.[6] The new station is located in a minimally developed area foreseeing future residential development and is designed to support a dramatic increase in patronage.[7]

Design

The station features a distinctive colour scheme of maroon and cream as seen on the tin roofing, inspired by the Station Master's residence at Riverstone station and reflecting on the European heritage of the local Richmond area and consists of an island platform. The station also includes indicator screens on the platforms and network status screens indicating trackwork or service interruptions on the concourse. The station is equipped for disabled access with lifts from street level to the concourse and to the platform levels.

230 parking spaces are available at the station with 110 on the Railway Terrace side and 120 on the Bridge Street side (opened in mid December 2011), with both including disabled parking spaces. Although claimed to be three times the size of the previous station car park,[8] issues have arisen concerning the size of the area. 40 bicycle racks are available. A "Kiss-and-ride" zone is located parallel to the bus interchange.[8][9] As part of the relocation, a shared pedestrian and cycling path was built between the former station to the current site and a footbridge was constructed at the site of the former station to replace the pedestrian level crossing.

Panorama of the eastern side of station
Eastern side of the station; the bus interchange is on the left, station entrance via stairs in the centre and one of the carparks on the right

Future

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.[10] The study's final report was released in March 2018. It envisaged turning Schofields into a hub served by three rail lines. The report included a proposal to extend the Sydney Metro Northwest from Cudgegong Road to Schofields. The station would also be the northern terminus of a proposed "North-South Link" serving St Marys, the new airport and continuing on to Macarthur.[11]

Platforms & services

During weekdays the T5 Cumberland Line terminates at Schofields. Weekend services on the Cumberland Line terminate at the previous station of Quakers Hill. Late night services on both weekdays and weekends extends to Richmond, replacing T1 services at these times.

Platform Line Stopping pattern Notes
1 services to Hornsby and Berowra or Gordon via Central [12]
services to Leppington[13]
2 services to Richmond and Lindfield or North Sydney via Central [12]
services to Richmond[13]

Busways operates two route via Schofields station:

Schofields station is served by one NightRide route:

References

  1. ↑ Bureau of Transport Statistics. "Train Statistics 2014" (PDF). Transport NSW. Retrieved 13 July 2018.
  2. ↑ Schofields Station NSWrail.net
  3. ↑ Schofields History Signs Image
  4. ↑ Rail Clearways Program - Completed Projects Archived 11 July 2015 at the Wayback Machine. Transport for NSW 15 August 2014
  5. ↑ Schofields station on the move Rouse Hill Times 11 November 2009
  6. ↑ New, relocated Schofields Station is now open CityRail 29 October 2011
  7. ↑ Sydney train station's isolation earns few friends ABC News 4 November 2011
  8. 1 2 New Schofields Station and timetable adjustments to trains and Busways services from 29 October 131500 October 2011
  9. ↑ New Schofields Station opens on 29 October 2011 Transport Construction Authority October 2011
  10. ↑ "Western Sydney Airport". Transport for NSW. Retrieved 18 February 2016.
  11. ↑ "Western Sydney Rail Needs Scoping Study Outcomes Report" (PDF). Australian Government and New South Wales Government. March 2018. pp. 55–56, 59. Retrieved 7 March 2018.
  12. 1 2 "T1: Western line timetable". Transport for NSW.
  13. 1 2 "T5: Cumberland line timetable". Transport for NSW.
  14. ↑ "Busways route T74". Transport for NSW.
  15. ↑ "Busways route 751". Transport for NSW.
  16. ↑ "N71 Nightride". Transport for NSW.
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