Leppington & Inner West Line

The Leppington & Inner West Line (numbered T2, coloured light blue) is a commuter rail service 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 is not operating. The line commenced operations on 26 November 2017, replacing the T2 Airport, Inner West & South Line.

Leppington & Inner West Line
Overview
Service typeCommuter rail service
StatusOperational
LocaleSydney, New South Wales
Predecessor
  • South (1999–2013)
  • Airport, Inner West & South (2013–2017)
  • Inner West & Leppington (2017–2024)
First service26 November 2017; 7 years ago (2017-11-26)
Current operator(s)Sydney Trains
Route
TerminiCity Circle
Leppington
Parramatta
Stops37
Average journey time1h 29m (Leppington to Museum)

59m (Parramatta to Museum)

(Weekday offpeak times, journey times vary based on stopping pattern and time)
Line(s) used
On-board services
Disabled accessYes
Technical
Rolling stockK, T, M, A and B sets
Track gaugeStandard gauge
Electrification1,500 V DC from overhead catenary[1]
Track owner(s)Transport Asset Holding Entity
Timetable number(s)T2

History

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Creation in 2013

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Following the 2011 state election, the newly elected O'Farrell government embarked on reform of transport in New South Wales, creating a new organisation, Transport for NSW, in November of that year. This was followed up with another government reform, which saw Sydney Trains take over operation of the Sydney suburban rail network from CityRail in July 2013.[2]

Transport for NSW developed a new rail timetable and branding, which was put into effect on 20 October 2013.[3] This saw three former CityRail services, the Airport & East Hills Line (Macarthur - City Circle via Sydney Airport or Sydenham), the Inner West Line (Liverpool or Bankstown - City Circle via Regents Park) and the South Line (Campbelltown - City Circle via Granville), merged to form the Airport, Inner West & South Line. A new numbering system was also introduced and the new line was given the number T2.

The 2013 timetable was designed to integrate the projects of the Rail Clearways Program, a 2004 plan to divide the network's fourteen metropolitan rail lines into five independent "clearways" by installing extra tracks, passing loops, turnouts and turnbacks at pinch points around the network, such as at Homebush and Lidcombe.[4] By 2013, the Rail Clearways Program was substantially complete. At the same time, the delivery of 78 new Waratah trains was almost complete as well.[5]

Leppington extension in 2015

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A branch of the service along the South West railway line to Leppington commenced operating on 13 December 2015, following the new rail link's completion earlier that year. T2 services replaced an earlier temporary shuttle service between Leppington and Liverpool.[6]

Split with T8 in 2017

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A new Sydney Trains timetable was introduced on 26 November 2017, in which the original T2 services were split in two. Existing services from Leppington to the City Circle via Granville, alongside newly extended all stops services from Parramatta that had previously terminated at Homebush, were rebranded as the T2 Inner West & Leppington Line.[7] This reduced T2 was recoloured light blue, harkening back to CityRail's historical colour scheme for services along this route.[8]

Meanwhile, former T2 services from Macarthur to the City Circle via East Hills were rebranded as the T8 Airport & South Line, moving to a new number but keeping the original T2's green colour, again aligning with the former CityRail colour scheme for services via East Hills.[7][9] Despite the separation in branding, the T2 and T8 remain operationally linked, with services from one generally through-running onto the other upon reaching the City Circle.[10]

Renaming in 2024

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Timetabling changes in 2024 saw the name reordered to be T2 Leppington & Inner West Line. This coincided with the redesignation of T3 services as the Liverpool & Inner West Line, following their realignment to run alongside T2 services via Strathfield rather than via Bankstown as they had previously.[11]

Route

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A route diagram of the T2

Services on the Inner West & Leppington Line commence by taking the City Circle (generally in an anti-clockwise direction) and then the Main Suburban railway line, on the local pair of tracks. At Homebush, trains on the "inner west" stopping pattern terminate. Services that proceed further west towards Parramatta to Leppington merge onto the suburban pair of tracks. At Granville, trains can take the Main Western line a short distance to Parramatta or the Old Main South railway line to a junction north of Cabramatta, then continuing onto the Main South railway line as far as Glenfield. At a junction south of Glenfield, services switch to the South West Rail Link to reach the terminus at Leppington. The following stations are served by T2 Inner West & Leppington Line trains:

Services

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The line usually runs on two stopping patterns. The first stopping pattern runs to Leppington, making limited stops between Redfern and Homebush, with the specific stopping pattern depending on the time of day. West of Homebush all trains make all stops, except for Clyde, where trains do not stop on weekends. The second stopping pattern makes all stops between Redfern and Homebush, with many weekdays trains continuing to Parramatta, making all stops. These two patterns both run at 4tph (trains per hour) during the off-peak, with additional services during the peaks. Additionally, there are express trains between Ashfield and the city during the morning peak.

 
T2 interactive map
T2 stations
Name Code Distance from
Central
[12][13][14][15][16]
Opened
[12][13][14][15][16]
Railway line Serving suburbs Other lines
City Circle – Granville
Museum MUS 4.99 km 1926 City Circle Sydney CBD
St James STJ 4.4 km 1926
Circular Quay CQY 2.97 km 1956 Sydney CBD, The Rocks
Wynyard WYN 2.05 km 1932 Sydney CBD, Barangaroo
Town Hall TWH 1.18 km 1932 Sydney CBD
Central CEN n/a 1906 Sydney CBD, Chippendale,
Strawberry Hills, Ultimo, Surry Hills
Redfern REF 1.30 km 1906 Main Suburban Redfern, Waterloo
Macdonaldtown MAC 2.48 km 1892 Macdonaldtown
Newtown NTN 3.1 km 1855 Newtown
Stanmore SMN 4.67 km 1878 Stanmore
Petersham PSM 5.50 km 1857 Petersham
Lewisham LWI 6.25 km 1886 Lewisham
Summer Hill SMH 7.03 km 1879 Summer Hill
Ashfield AFD 8.38 km 1855 Ashfield
Croydon CYD 9.42 km 1875 Croydon
Burwood BWD 10.62 km 1855 Burwood
Strathfield STR 11.81 km 1876 Strathfield
Homebush HSH 12.74 km 1855 Homebush
Flemington FMG 14.32 km 1924 Homebush West
Lidcombe LDC 16.61 km 1858 Lidcombe
Auburn AUB 18.63 km 1877 Auburn
Clyde

(weekdays only)

CYE 20.66 km 1882 Clyde
Granville GAV 21.22 km 1860 Granville
Granville – Parramatta
Harris Park

(weekdays only)

HPK 22.53 km c. 1800s Main Western Harris Park
Parramatta

(weekdays only)

PAR 23.21 km 1860 Parramatta
Granville – Leppington
Merrylands MLN 23.47 km 1889 Old Main South Merrylands
Guildford GUD 25.72 km 1876 Guildford
Yennora YNN 27.44 km 1927 Yennora
Fairfield FFL 29 km 1856 Fairfield
Canley Vale CVE 30.98 km 1878 Canley Vale
Cabramatta CAB 28.43 km 1870 Main South Cabramatta
Warwick Farm WKF 34.16 km 1889 Warwick Farm
Liverpool LPO 38.68 km 1856 Liverpool
Casula CSL 38.8 km 1894 Casula
Glenfield GFD 41.93 km 1869 Glenfield
Edmondson Park 2015 South West Edmondson Park
Leppington Leppington

Patronage

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The following table shows the patronage of Sydney Trains network for the year ending 30 June 2024.

2023–24 Sydney Trains patronage by line[n.b. 1] [17]
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
  1. ^ Figures based on Opal tap on and tap off data
  2. ^ T3 patronage from former route via Bankstown.
  3. ^ T6 services commenced on 19 October 2024.

See also

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Liverpool & Inner West Line

References

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  1. ^ 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.
  2. ^ Saulwick, Jacob (1 July 2013). "All change as RailCorp is disbanded". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 1 November 2024.
  3. ^ Transport for NSW. "October 2013 timetable changes". NSW Government. Retrieved 1 November 2024.
  4. ^ Transport for NSW (15 August 2014). "Rail Clearways Program – completed projects". NSW Government. Archived from the original on 11 July 2015.
  5. ^ Saulwick, Jacob (15 March 2013). "Commuters stuck with old trains on new rail link". The Sydney Morning Herald. Archived from the original on 18 March 2013.
  6. ^ Transport for NSW (15 October 2015). "South West Rail Link: Soon to head North and East, with more services". NSW Government. Archived from the original on 19 November 2015. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
  7. ^ a b Transport for NSW. "Changes to Sydney's train network" (PDF). NSW Government. Archived (PDF) from the original on 9 August 2017. Retrieved 9 August 2017.
  8. ^ Rail Corporation New South Wales. "CityRail network" (PDF). NSW Government. Archived from the original (PDF) on 10 May 2013.
  9. ^ Transport for NSW (27 February 2017). "More Trains, More Services for South Western Sydney" (PDF). NSW Government. Archived from the original (PDF) on 27 February 2017.
  10. ^ "T2: Inner West & Leppington line timetable". Transport for NSW.
  11. ^ Transport for NSW (14 October 2024). "2024 timetable changes". transportnsw.info. NSW Government. Retrieved 19 October 2024.
  12. ^ a b "City Circle". NSW Rail.net. Archived from the original on 30 September 2007. Retrieved 3 March 2017.
  13. ^ a b "Airport line". NSW Rail.net. Archived from the original on 1 December 2017. Retrieved 3 March 2017.
  14. ^ a b "East Hills line". NSW Rail.net. Archived from the original on 10 August 2017. Retrieved 3 March 2017.
  15. ^ a b "Main South line". NSW Rail.net. Archived from the original on 18 April 2013. Retrieved 3 March 2017.
  16. ^ a b "South West Rail Link". NSW Rail.net. Archived from the original on 3 March 2017. Retrieved 3 March 2017.
  17. ^ "Train Patronage – Monthly Figures". Transport for NSW. Retrieved 30 October 2024.