Airport and East Hills Line

This article is about the CityRail service that operated from 2000 to 2013. For the current Sydney Trains service that operates the Airport and East Hills lines, see Airport, Inner West & South Line.
Airport & East Hills Line
Overview
Service type Commuter rail
Locale Sydney, New South Wales
First service 21 May 2000 (2000-05-21)
Last service 20 October 2013 (2013-10-20)
Successor Airport, Inner West & South Line
Current operator(s) CityRail
Airport Link Company
Route
Start Central
Stops 32
End Macarthur
Line used Airport and East Hills railway line
Main Southern railway line
Technical
Rolling stock S, K, C, M and A sets
Track gauge 1,435 mm (4 ft 8 1⁄2 in) standard gauge
Track owner(s) RailCorp
Map of line in green

The Airport & East Hills Railway Line, in Sydney, Australia, connects the Sydney Central Business District with Glenfield and then Campbelltown via Sydney Airport and East Hills. Part of Sydney's Sydney Trains network, the line is made up of two separate lines, the East Hills Line, originally constructed in 1931, and the Airport Line (or Airport Link) (opened in 2000), as well as a portion of the Main South Line between Glenfield and Campbelltown; although since the opening of the Airport Line, the two lines have operated essentially as a single line. Operationally, however, the lines are quite different, with the Airport Line stations being operated by a private company, the Airport Link Company, as part of a public private partnership (PPP). This gives them the right to charge a surcharge on top of the normal fare.

The first section of the line, connecting Tempe and East Hills, opened in 1931. The line was connected to the main south line at Glenfield, via Holsworthy, in 1987. The line joined with the new Airport Link in 2000, with the Airport Link Company taking full control over the whole line (but not stations) in association with Westpac.

In 2013, the line become part of the T2 line. (Please refer to that page for information later than 2013)

East Hills Line

Further information: East Hills railway line

Alignment

A Tangara train crosses the Cooks River on the East Hills line between Tempe and Wolli Creek stations.

The East Hills line runs along the alignment of the Illawarra line between the City Circle and Tempe Railway Station – this route is used during peak hour by express services. From Wolli Creek, the line heads west towards East Hills, where the alignment is within 2 km of the since-constructed M5 South Western Motorway between Wolli Creek and East Hills. It then turns south-west through the new suburbs of Voyager Point and Wattle Grove to meet the main south line at Glenfield Junction, where services proceed to Campbelltown and Macarthur. The line is four tracks between Wolli Creek junction and just past Kingsgrove Station, then two tracks to Glenfield junction, Campbelltown and Macarthur, except for several stations with three platforms at Revesby, East Hills, Glenfield, Campbelltown and Macarthur. The line parallels the Southern Sydney Freight Line between Macarthur and Ingleburn stations.

History

State Rail East Hills Line timetable from 1987, prior to the Glenfield extension. Prior to the opening of the Holsworthy and Airport extensions, the line was marketed simply as the "East Hills Line".
Timetable (2006)

The New South Wales Public Works Committee approved of construction of a railway from Tempe to East Hills in August 1924.[1] A ceremony at Padstow Park commemorating the turning of the first sod by the then-Premier of New South Wales Jack Lang was held in September 1927.[2][3][4] Construction commenced in April 1928 with the employment of 400 workers.[5] Station names were announced in November 1929. They were largely the same as those used today with the exception of Dumbleton (present-day Beverly Hills) and Herne Bay (present-day Riverwood).[6]

The first section of the East Hills line was opened on 21 September 1931 as an electrified double track line from Wolli Creek Junction (between the present-day Tempe Station and Wolli Creek) to Kingsgrove. The second section, a single-track non-electrified extension to East Hills with a passing loop at Riverwood (Herne Bay) station, was opened on 19 December 1931 by the then-Minister for Local Government James McGirr in a ceremony at East Hills.[7][8] Services on this section were by CPH railmotor, supplemented by through steam trains from Central in peak hours.[9] The single line between Kingsgrove and East Hills was opened for electric services on 17 December 1939.[10] The event was marred by the suicide in front of a crowd of 1000 people at East Hills station of a man who shot himself through the heart with a pea rifle.[11][12]

The line was duplicated between Kingsgrove and Riverwood in 1948, with points for terminating trains provided at both stations, and a passing loop at Revesby was opened in 1956. Services generally ran all stations from East Hills via Tempe and Sydenham, to the City Circle. Occasional services terminated at Riverwood, Kingsgrove and Padstow. Most trains use to stop at Erskineville and St Peters, but now they are only served by the Bankstown line.

Glenfield extension

In 1985, the line was duplicated through to East Hills and on 21 December 1987 extended to Glenfield to connect with the Main South Line, allowing through services to and from Campbelltown. A new station was provided at Holsworthy, and East Hills station was rebuilt with the addition of a third platform. When services commenced,[13] there were only limited services from Campbelltown via East Hills during peak hours only; however, in 1988 an all day half-hourly service was provided. Local (all stations) services generally ran every 15 minutes from East Hills.[14]

Airport Line

Alignment

An Airport Link Ticket
Map of the Airport Line and other lines in the Inner City.

The Airport Link includes a 4 km rock tunnel and a 6 km soft ground tunnel.

For most of its length, the line is in tunnel. The Airport Link runs south from platform 23 at Central station across a viaduct to the tunnel portal beneath Prince Alfred Park near Chalmers Street. The tunnel roughly follows George Street underneath the suburbs of Redfern and Waterloo. At Green Square station, beneath the intersection of Botany Road, Bourke Road and O'Riordan Street, the line continues beneath Bourke Road to Mascot station, a block south of Gardeners Road.

From Mascot, the line roughly follows O'Riordan Street before turning sharply to the west once underneath Kingsford Smith Airport. The line runs westward under the Domestic terminal and the International terminal before continuing north-west underneath the Cooks River to reach the surface at Wolli Creek. At Wolli Creek, the Airport Link joins the East Hills line. The line is two tracks for its entire length.

The two new stations which were built for the airport's International and Domestic Terminals, feature larger lifts and wider ticket barriers to cater for passengers with baggage.[15] Three new suburban stations were built – one each for the residential development areas of Mascot and Green Square, and an interchange station with the Illawarra Line at Wolli Creek.

Construction

The underground platforms for Wolli Creek station, constructed for the Airport Link in 2000

Faced with the significant costs of building Olympic venues, the Fahey Liberal government sought to reduce the costs of the new railway by entering into a public private partnership to build the line. Under the deal, a private company, Airport Link, would cover the costs of building four of the stations. In return they would operate those stations for 30 years and have the right to impose a surcharge on fares for their use.[16] The company's involvement was predicated on passenger estimates and train reliability guarantees that later proved to be optimistic. The NSW Government would fund (and own) the railway itself and Wolli Creek station.[16]

Construction on the Airport Rail Link (or the New Southern Railway, as it is officially called) began in 1995 with a view to improving facilities for air travellers ahead of the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney. At the time, the main public transport link between the city and its airport was two express bus services, the route 300 & route 350 "Airport Express" bus.[17]

A Tunnel boring machine was used for the construction.[18] Manufactured by the German firm, Herrenknecht, it arrived in Australia in October 1996.[19] While the use of a Tunnel boring machine relieved the need for large numbers of workers at increased pressure, a caisson system is formed at the cutting head.[18][20] Workers entering this space for inspection, maintenance and repair had to be trained.[18] Medical direction was utilized for planning compression and decompression, assessment of fitness to dive, training of workers and lock operators, health monitoring of workers and treatment of related injuries.[20] This project was the first time oxygen decompression tables were used for caisson work in Australia.[20] The incidence of decompression illness was 1 case in every 286 pressurizations (0.35%) and this problem affected 5.9% of the workers.[20]

The line opened on 21 May 2000, three months ahead of the Olympic Games,[13] after the State Government had spent around $700 million on the project and the Airport Link Company over $200 million. In conjunction with the construction of the new line, the section of the East Hills Line between Wolli Creek Junction and Kingsgrove was quadruplified. Once this was opened, the running patterns of the trains on the lines changed. The "flying junctions" interchange near Central Station was altered to give the Airport Line its own platforms (21 & 23) at Central. Local (all stations) trains generally were timetabled to run from East Hills via the airport, peak hour express trains from Campbelltown run along the original route via Sydenham, taking the express tracks between Kingsgrove and Wolli Creek Junction.

Operation

From the beginning, a major criticism of the line was that it is not served by dedicated rolling stock, as has occurred elsewhere such as in the Hong Kong MTR's dedicated Airport Express line. Travellers entering the line at Domestic and International must compete for space with commuters from the East Hills line, and find that the trains have no special provision for their luggage.

Despite the cancellation of the rival Airport Express bus service, taxi surcharges and expensive airport parking, the Airport Link consistently failed to meet patronage targets. Less than a year after the line opened, the State Rail Authority stated that "patronage has been lower than expected to date", but they remained optimistic, believing "that as airport users become more familiar with this facility and the ingrained habits of many years gradually alter, patronage will continue to increase,"[21] In 2000, the Airport Link Company went into receivership, exposing the government to costs of around $800 million; it was put up for sale in early 2006.[22] State Rail blamed "lower than expected patronage" and stated it was working with the company to increase it.[23]

In October 2005, the Government and the company signed a revised agreement on revenue and patronage, settling the latter's claims against the former. The Government paid $34 million to the company, with another $73 million due as CityRail earns revenue from Airport Line business.[24]

Together with the Cross City Tunnel, the Airport Link served to dampen government and business enthusiasm for further public private partnerships in transport in New South Wales.[25]

Westpac

The stations were purchased by Westpac. In 2009 the business made a profit of A$5.8 million. In 2010 it increased to A$9.3 million.[26]

In March 2011 it was announced that the NSW Government would cover the cost of the station access fee at Green Square and Mascot stations, meaning that passengers no longer need to pay a surcharge to access these stations. A fee remains in place for Domestic and International stations.[27] Patronage on the link had been growing at 20% per year, but between March and June 2011 patronage increased by 70% as a result of the reduced fares.[28]

Operations and stations

Apart from the Airport Line's troubles, the line as a whole also suffered a substantial loss in patronage when the M5 East Tunnel opened in 2001. The tunnel joined the Eastern Distributor and M5 South Western Motorway, shortening road travel times between the city and the south west. The line was estimated to have lost 384,450 commuters over 12 months after the tunnel opened.[29] Since that time, however, the line appears to have gained commuters again, with a reported 3.5% increase in patronage up to early 2006.[30]

Trains on the line generally run every 15 minutes during weekdays, with more services in peak hours. Services are run using S, K, C, A, and M sets.[31] 95.6% of all services from the Airport and East Hills line ran on time ranking 6 out of all lines.[32]

Name Code
[33]		 Distance from
Central (km)		 Opened
[13][34][35][36]		 MyMulti
Zone[37]		 Serving Suburbs Pattern stops at this station[38] Connections
through service continues from ■ South Line
Airport and East Hills Line
Town Hall THL 1.21 1932 One Sydney, Darling Harbour ■ Eastern Suburbs & Illawarra Line
■ Bankstown Line   ■ Inner West Line
■ South Line  ■ North Shore Line   ■ Northern Line
■ South Coast Line (peak hours only)
Wynyard WYD 1932 One Sydney, The Rocks, Millers Point, Barangaroo ■ Bankstown Line   ■ Inner West Line
■ South Line   ■ North Shore Line   ■ Northern Line
Circular Quay CQY 1956 One Circular Quay, Sydney
The Rocks, Millers Point, Barangaroo		 ■ Bankstown Line   ■ Inner West Line   ■ South Line
St James SAJ 1926 One Sydney ■ Bankstown Line   ■ Inner West Line   ■ South Line
Museum MSM 1926 One Sydney ■ Bankstown Line   ■ Inner West Line   ■ South Line
Central SBO - 1855 One Central, Strawberry Hills
Ultimo, Surry Hills		 ■ Eastern Suburbs & Illawarra Line
■ Bankstown Line   ■ Inner West Line
■ North Shore Line   ■ Western Line
■ South Line   ■ Northern Line
■ South Coast Line
■ Southern Highlands Line
(limited services only)
■ Blue Mountains Line
■ Central Coast & Newcastle Line
At Central the line branches. The south western branch runs via Sydenham (peak hours only), and the southern branch runs via the airport.
Via Sydenham
Redfern

(peak hours only)

 RDF 1.30 1878 One Redfern, Waterloo, Darlington
The University
of Sydney		 ■ Eastern Suburbs & Illawarra Line
■ Bankstown Line   ■ Inner West Line
■ South Line   ■ Western Line   ■ Northern Line
■ South Coast Line (peak hours only)
■ Blue Mountains Line(peak hours only)
■ Central Coast & Newcastle Line (peak hours only)
Sydenham

(peak hours only)

 SDN 5.31 1884 One Sydenham, Marrickville ■ Eastern Suburbs & Illawarra Line
■ Bankstown Line
Via the airport
Green Square GQE 2.71 2000 One Zetland, Beaconsfield, Waterloo
Mascot MCO 5.19 2000 One Mascot, Rosebery
Domestic DOM 6.74 2000 One with fee Sydney Airport, Mascot
International INT 8.27 2000 One with fee Sydney Airport, Mascot
Wolli Creek WOC 7.31 2000 One Wolli Creek, Arncliffe ■ Eastern Suburbs & Illawarra Line
■ South Coast Line
Both branches rejoin.
Turrella TLL 8.66 1931 One Turrella
Bardwell Park BWP 10.10 1931 One Bardwell Park, Bardwell Valley, Earlwood
Bexley North BXN 11.37 1931 Two Bexley North
Kingsgrove KGV 12.62 1931 Two Kingsgrove
Beverly Hills BVH 14.65 1931 Two Beverly Hills
Narwee NWE 15.78 1931 Two Narwee
Riverwood RVD 17.50 1931 Two Riverwood
Padstow PDW 19.34 1931 Two Padstow
Revesby RSV 20.96 1931 Two Revesby, Revesby North
Panania PNA 22.55 1931 Two Panania
East Hills EHS 24.03 1931 Two East Hills, Voyager Point, Pleasure Point
Holsworthy HSW 26.76 1987 Two Holsworthy, Hammondville, Wattle Grove
Glenfield GFD 33.03 1869 Three Glenfield ■ South Line   ■ Cumberland Line
■ Southern Highlands Line
(limited services only)
Macquarie Fields MQF 43.80 1888 Three Macquarie Fields, Macquarie Links ■ South Line   ■ Cumberland Line
Ingleburn IGB 45.65 1869 Three Ingleburn, Denham Court ■ South Line   ■ Cumberland Line
Minto MIO 49.67 1874 Three Minto, Bow Bowing, St Andrews ■ South Line   ■ Cumberland Line
Leumeah LUM 52.63 1886 Three Leumeah, Woodbine, Claymore, ■ South Line   ■ Cumberland Line
Campbelltown CAM 54.71 1858 Three Campbelltown
Campbelltown North
Blair Athol		 ■ South Line (limited services)   ■ Cumberland Line
■ Southern Highlands Line
Macarthur MCU 56.73 1985 Three Ambarvale, Englorie Park, Bradbury, Glen Alpine ■ Southern Highlands Line

Stopping Patterns

Note: means that not all services on this pattern service this station:

* Some services on this route may operate either from Macarthur or Campbelltown

† Some services on this route do not stop at Riverwood or Padstow (morning peak and off peak)

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

Future

Macarthur station upgrade

Macarthur station is being upgraded with an extra platform as part of the Rail Clearways Program. This will enable additional trains to terminate there, instead of at Campbelltown. The Southern Sydney Freight Line will enable freight trains to bypass Macarthur station, which will also improve the terminating capacity of the station.

Split into two lines

Revesby station with a single turnback

Sydney Trains Rail Clearways Program includes two construction projects for the East Hills line, to expand its capacity. Firstly, the side turnback with one platform at East Hills will be replaced by a centre turnback with two platforms at Revesby.[39] One of the turnbacks came into broad use in October 2009.

Secondly, the four track section between Wolli Creek and Kingsgrove will be extended to Revesby, and the second turnback will open. These projects will allow all stations services originating from Revesby to be segregated from the limited stop service originating from Campbelltown and Macarthur.[40] At Wolli Creek, Revesby services will use the Airport line while Campbelltown/Macarthur services will run via Sydenham. This will effectively form two separate lines; an all stations line and a Campbelltown Express line.

South West Rail Link

The South West Rail Link will be built by Transport for New South Wales from Glenfield to Leppington, New South Wales, with two new stations at Edmondson Park and Leppington itself, serving the new town centres to be built there. The line will be fed by East Hills, South and possibly Cumberland line trains. In conjunction with the new line, Wolli Creek Station is expected to have two extra platforms constructed to service passengers on the future Campbelltown Express line. These projects were expected to be finished by 2012.[41] The project has been split into two stages. Stage one includes an upgrade of Glenfield station with a new platform and a flyover at Glenfield North Junction to take East Hills line trains over the Main South line. This is expected to be complete in 2014. Stage two is the new line itself, which has a 2016 completion date.

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Tempe to East Hills. Railway recommended". The Sydney Morning Herald. 7 August 1924. Retrieved 4 November 2011.
  2. ↑ "Tempe to East Hills railway". The Sydney Morning Herald. 27 August 1927. Retrieved 2 November 2011.
  3. ↑ "Tempe–East Hills railway". The Sydney Morning Herald. 5 September 1927. Retrieved 2 November 2011.
  4. ↑ "New Railway. Tempe-East Hills". The Sydney Morning Herald. 3 September 1927. Retrieved 4 November 2011.
  5. ↑ "Construction of new suburban line". Northern Standard. 17 April 1928. Retrieved 6 November 2011.
  6. ↑ "Tempe-East Hills Line. Railway stations named". The Sydney Morning Herald. 21 November 1929. Retrieved 3 November 2011.
  7. ↑ "New railway. Tempe to East Hills". The Sydney Morning Herald. 19 December 1931. Retrieved 4 November 2011.
  8. ↑ "Kingsgrove-East Hills. Railway officially opened". The Sydney Morning Herald. 21 December 1931. Retrieved 4 November 2011.
  9. ↑ Salt Pan via Dumbleton – The Story of the East Hills Line Oakes, John Australian Railway Historical Society Bulletin, September 2001 pp323-346
  10. ↑ Mok, Danny "FordGhia's Railway & Transport in Australia Page: East Hills Line Information & Photos". Retrieved 3 February 2003.
  11. ↑ "Sydney tragedy. Shot with pearifle". Cairns Post. 18 December 1939. Retrieved 6 November 2011.
  12. ↑ "Crowd saw suicide". The Argus. 18 December 1939. Retrieved 6 November 2011.
  13. 1 2 3 Bozier, Rolfe, "New South Wales Railways: East Hills Line: History". Retrieved 30 December 2006.
  14. ↑ "NSW Rail Historical Timetables: Pre CityRail". Retrieved 30 December 2006. Archived 24 October 2009.
  15. ↑ Airport Link Company, "Airport Link: How to get from the Airport to the City". Retrieved 30 December 2006.
  16. 1 2 The Opening of Sydney's New Southern Railway, Transit Australia, Vol 55 no 7, July 2000.
  17. ↑ "Bus Australia: STA Withdrawn Fleet List". Retrieved 30 December 2006.
  18. 1 2 3 Walters, D. "Sydney Airport Link Rail Tunnel Project, Des Walters: Under Pressure Underground". Descend Underwater Training Centre. Retrieved 8 October 2008.
  19. ↑ The Tunnel Boring Machine Australian Railway Historical Society Bulletin, January 1997 p23
  20. 1 2 3 4 Bennett, MH; Lehm, J; Barr, P. "Medical support for the sydney airport link tunnel project.". Journal of the South Pacific Underwater Medicine Society. 32 (2). Retrieved 8 October 2008.
  21. ↑ State Rail Authority Annual Report 1999-2000 page 4
  22. ↑ Baker, Jordan & Nixon, Sherrill, "For sale: ghost train to Sydney Airport", Sydney Morning Herald, 11 March 2006. Retrieved 30 December 2006.
  23. ↑ State Rail Authority Annual Report 2000–2001 p?
  24. ↑ Rail Corporation New South Wales, Annual Report 2005–6, pp. 59 & 81.
  25. ↑ Moore, Matthew, "Open Secrets", Sydney Morning Herald, 31 October 2005. Retrieved 7 January 2007.
  26. ↑ Saulwick, Jacob; Besser, Linton (19 February 2011). "Cheaper for some on airport rail link". The Sydney Morning Herald.
  27. ↑ Green Square and Mascot commuters to save $17 a week Archived 21 July 2011 at the Wayback Machine. CityRail. 2 March 2011.
  28. ↑ Saulwick, Jacob (9 June 2011). "Tickets sales rocket on airport line as prices plunge". The Sydney Morning Herald.
  29. ↑ Kerr, Joseph, "Motorway takes toll on rail trips", Sydney Morning Herald, 2 April 2003. Retrieved 30 December 2006.
  30. ↑ Pearlman, Jonothan, "Passengers crowd onto fewer trains", Sydney Morning Herald, 3 March 2006. Retrieved 30 December 2006.
  31. ↑ http://www.sydneytrains.info/about/fleet/
  32. ↑ "RailCorp_performance_2009-10" (PDF). RailCorp. Retrieved 2 September 2011.
  33. ↑ Bozier, Rolfe, "New South Wales Railways: NSW Station Codes". Retrieved 19 June 2002.
  34. ↑ Bozier, Rolfe, "New South Wales Railways: Main South Line". Retrieved 10 July 2007.
  35. ↑ Bozier, Rolfe, "New South Wales Railways: South Coast Line". Retrieved 10 July 2007.
  36. ↑ Bozier, Rolfe, "New South Wales Railways: City Circle". Retrieved 1 July 2007.
  37. ↑ Transport InfoLine, "Fares & Passes: Travelpass: CityRail Map". Retrieved 30 December 2006.
  38. ↑ Sydney Trains, "Sydney Trains Timetables: Airport & East Hills Line". Retrieved 30 December 2006.
  39. ↑ Transport Infrastructure Development Corporation, "Revesby Turnback: Project Profile" Archived 5 June 2009 at the Wayback Machine.. Retrieved 30 December 2006.
  40. ↑ Transport Infrastructure Development Corporation, "Kingsgrove to Revesby Quadruplication: Project Profile" Archived 5 June 2009 at the Wayback Machine.. Retrieved 30 December 2006.
  41. ↑ New South Wales State Government, "New South Wales State Plan", 2006, Appendix, p. 5. Retrieved 30 December 2006.

External links

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