Cumberland railway line, Sydney

Public transport infrastructure in Sydney
logo=
name=Cumberland Line
transport_mode=Commuter rail
line_owner=CityRail
operation_area=
map_colour=Magenta
line_length=47 km
stations_number=23
interchange_names=Campbelltown
Blacktown
operator_names=CityRail
fleet_names=S sets
depot_names=Flemington
date_1=1996
event_1=OpenedThe Cumberland railway line connects Blacktown and Campbelltown stations in the western suburbs of Sydney, Australia and appears in magenta on the CityRail network map. The Cumberland line consists of pre-existing track on the main western and southern lines, plus a new "Y-link" track between Harris Park and Merrylands stations.

History

The line 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 [cite web | url=http://www.arhsnsw.com.au/rdigest.htm| title=CityRail: Have times changed? | publisher=Railway Digest, November 2005. ARHS NSW Division ] . 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, known as the 'Y Link' including a new flyover of the 'Up Old Main South' over these new tracks. The intention of this link was to allow direct services to operate from Liverpool and Campbelltown 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.

Description of route

Physically, the line consists of the Western Line from Blacktown station to Harris Park, the 'Y Link' as described above, the "Old Main South" (known as the South Line) between Merrylands and Cabramatta, and the Main South Line between Cabramatta and Campbelltown.

ervice Cuts

Upon its opening in 1996, the line had a regular half-hourly service in both directions consisting of 38 journeys per day. Subsequent timetables saw its services significantly reduced to the point of running weekday peak hours only services only, and in the latest CityRail timetable (from September 4, 2005), the line only runs one-way in each peak: two services run in the morning peak from Campbelltown to Blacktown (the first of which extends past Blacktown to Marayong and Quakers Hill, via the Western Line's Richmond branch), with three services returning from Blacktown to Campbelltown in the evening.

On 16 December, 2006 it was announced that a half hourly service will resume on the line in the near future with the introduction of new outer suburban trains, freeing up three suburban trains to operate the service.Fact|date=January 2008 The appendix of the NSW State Plan 2007 [http://www.stateplan.gov.au] committed the Iemma Labor Government to new train carriages to boost Cumberland Line Services by 2007.

This promise has not been delivered.

Cumberland Line stations

References