Restore Inner West Line exposes Transport for NSW’s “More Trains More Services” project in South West Sydney.
Transport for NSW has promised 6 trains between Liverpool and Sydney CBD via Bankstown in the morning peak period.
However the new Sydney Trains timetable indicates that there will only be 9 trains from Liverpool to Central on T3 Bankstown Line between 7am to 9am
The T3 Bankstown Line will become the fastest way to reach the Sydney CBD starting November 26, 2017 with travel times increasing on the T2 Inner West and Leppington Line for commuters travelling from South West Sydney.
Currently there are 13 Liverpool to Central services (54 minutes) departing during the weekday morning peak, running on the T2 South Line.
However the new timetable to be introduced in late November reduces the number of “54 minute” trains to only 9, which will be running on the T3 Bankstown Line.
The new 2017 timetable reduces fast train services from Liverpool to City by 30%.
The new Bankstown Station including terminals for Sydney Trains and the Sydney Metro will be approximately 467m long.
Commuters interchanging at Bankstown once the Metro opens should also allow at least 2-3 minutes walking time to interchange between Sydney Trains and the Sydney Metro.
The cumulative effect of the Bankstown Line being cut in half forcing commuters from Liverpool and Lidcombe to interchange at Bankstown to continue towards the City results in no travel time improvements for South West Sydney.
The Sydney Metro from 2024 promises 15 trains per hour from Bankstown to Central in the morning peak (approximately equivalent to 1 train every 4 minutes) , according to the Sydenham to Bankstown Environmental Impact Statement Overview.
Example: Liverpool to Central via Bankstown and Sydney Metro – approximately 56 minutes
Liverpool – 7:04am SYDNEY TRAINS
Bankstown – 7:27am INTERCHANGE (up to a 4 minute wait for a Metro train and including time taken to interchange/walk between Sydney Trains platforms and Sydney Metro platforms)
Bankstown – 7:32am SYDNEY METRO
Central – 8:00am (approximate)
NB: As Sydney Metro timetables have not been released, the best case scenario allows for a 53 minute Liverpool to Central via Bankstown and Sydney Metro journey if the interchange at Bankstown is able to be completed in 1 minute.
The Sydney Metro’s Sydenham to Bankstown line does not improve travel times for Liverpool in South West Sydney.
Sydney Metro platforms at Central station will also be underground thus increasing the time taken to leave the train station further eliminating any time savings from the train journey.
Vote for your preferred Bansktown Line replacement transport option:
