Western railway line, Sydney

The Western Line is part of the CityRail metropolitan rail network in Sydney, and is the suburban section of the Main West line which connects Sydney with the west of New South Wales. It connects the Sydney CBD to the employment centre of Parramatta and the outer western suburbs, terminating at Emu Plains at the foot of the Blue Mountains. The line physically continues over the mountains but this is known as the Blue Mountains Line. Passengers are able to travel beyond this into western New South Wales via CountryLink as well as interstate to Adelaide, South Australia and Perth, Western Australia with the Indian Pacific. A north-westerly branch also operates to Richmond. Western Line trains are usually fed by the North Shore Line.

History

The Western Line opened to Penrith in 1863 as a double track branch from the junction with the Main South line at Granville.^[1] Electrification reached Parramatta in 1928 and Penrith in 1955.^[2] In 1980, quadruplication of the track between Blacktown and St Marys was completed.^[3]

The branch line from Blacktown to Windsor, Richmond and the Hawkesbury River opened in 1864 (known locally as the Richmond Line). In 1926, an extension was opened to Kurrajong, closing in 1952.^[4] The line was electrified to Riverstone in 1975.^[2] Electrifiction from Riverstone to Richmond commenced in 1987 but was suspended in 1988 due to lack of funds, restarting in 1990 and opening in August 1991.^[5] Initially electric trains operated as 2-car shuttles between Riverstone to Richmond until the electric power supply was upgraded to allow through running to and from Sydney in 1992. As part of the Clearways Project, there are currently plans to duplicate the track between Quakers Hill and Schofields to expand capacity. On 20 November 2006, Railcorp announced plans to extend duplication further along the line to Vineyard station.^[6] There are also long term plans to link the proposed North Western railway line to join the Richmond line at Vineyard.

Proposed Fast Rail Link

First introduced in 2004 by a consortium of Dutch bank ABN AMRO and developer Leighton Holdings, the project dubbed the Penrith High Speed Link, known officially as Western FastRail, was reproposed in December 2006 and received approving comments by the NSW State Government, and was offered funding by Federal Opposition Leader Kevin Rudd should the Australian Labor Party win the 2007 Federal Election.^[7]

The $2 billion Western FastRail project will involve a tunnel being built between Parramatta and the Sydney CBD. It will shrink times from Penrith to the city to 28 minutes (presently over 55 minutes), Parramatta to City to 11 minutes (presently over 30 minutes) and Blacktown to City to 17 minutes (presently over 40 minutes). The plan would assist the entire Western Suburbs of Sydney (40% of Sydney's population), which as an area, is accursed with longer commute times than any other part of Sydney. It would also reduce the car dependency that is characteristic of this region.

The Western FastRail project was rejected twice after government advisers estimated the project would cost $4.5 billion: $2 billion more than the proponents claimed. It was not clear where $600 million worth of single-deck rolling stock would come from; Penrith commuters would have to pay an extra $40 a week, and those who could not afford such a steep tariff would have to travel 84 minutes to the city for work due to the services cut to free tracks for the fast trains. Central, Parramatta and Wynyard would all need multimillion-dollar upgrades. Commuter car parks and feeder services would be needed. And none of these central concerns had been modelled or costed; a senior member of the Government's appraisal team said: "The construction cost estimates were entirely fanciful at $2 [billion] to $2.5 billion. That is just bollocks". Michael Easson, a former NSW Union Leader who had since become a prominent developer was central to the project and its strongest promoter. Concerns were raised that Easson would use inside knowledge to buy up adjacement property in Parramatta and Penrith, realising considerable profits through his companies EG Property Group and EG Property Consulting. Easson has however consistently denied these allegations. ^[8]

Western Line stations

Stopping patterns

• Pattern 1: Central, Redfern, Strathfield, Lidcombe, Auburn, Clyde, Granville, Parramatta, Westmead, Seven Hills, Blacktown, all stations to Penrith (& vice-versa) (off-peak hours and weekends)
• Pattern 2: Central, Redfern, Burwood, Strathfield, Lidcombe, Granville, Harris Park, Parramatta, Westmead, all stations to Blacktown, all stations to Richmond (& vice-versa) (off-peak hours and weekends)

The current off-peak service pattern is as follows: (includes continuations onto North Shore Line)

• • 2tph Penrith all stations to Seven Hills, Westmead, Parramatta, Granville, Clyde, Auburn, Lidcombe, Strathfield, Redfern, and then all stations to Berowra.
  • 2tph Richmond all stations to Granville, Lidcombe, Strathfield, Burwood and then all stations to Hornsby

See also

• Main Western Line
• Richmond Line

External links

• Western Fastrail

Notes and references

Further reading

• Centenary of the Opening of the Western Line to Penrith Singleton, C.C. Australian Railway Historical Society Bulletin, January, 1963