Lidcombe to Cabramatta Railway Extension (Inner West Line – Liverpool via Regents Park) Opening Ceremony at Lidcombe 14 October 1924 (Photo: Sydney Morning Herald)
This week marks 95 years since the opening of the Lidcombe to Cabramatta rail link and also 6 years since the direct train along this route was unfairly abolished by the NSW Government
The Lidcombe to Cabramatta link which became part of the Inner West Line to Liverpool (via Regents Park) on the Sydney Trains network was opened with much fanfare on 14 October 1924
The opening of the Inner West Line from City to Liverpool allowed for reduced travel times from southwest Sydney as the line via Regents Park is the shortest route to Sydney CBD
The Liverpool via Regents Park train which used the Lidcombe to Cabramatta link also helped to reduce overcrowding on the Western Line at Lidcombe – Auburn – Granville
“The decision to construct a railway from Regent’s Park west to Cabramatta and to direct all southbound traffic by this route to avoid the congestion of the Lidcombe-Granville section of the Main Western Line”
As part of original plans to introduce Sydney Metro on the Inner West Line (from Central to Homebush) and on the Bankstown Line (from Sydenham to Lidcombe and Cabramatta), the NSW Government abolished the Liverpool via Regents Park train service on 20 October 2013
Stations including Berala, Regents Park and Chester Hill lost its direct train to City via Inner West Line in 2013 and will lose the final train to City Circle via Bankstown Line once Metro Southwest is built between Sydenham and Bankstown
Overcrowding has worsened at Lidcombe, Auburn, Granville since the removal of the Inner West Line (Liverpool via Regents Park) and will only increase with up to an additional 19,000 Bankstown Line commuters interchanging at Lidcombe for direct trains to City once Sydenham to Bankstown is downgraded into Metro Southwest
The NSW Government’s claims of a lack of track capacity between Homebush and Lidcombe as the reason for abolishing the Inner West Line’s Liverpool via Regents Park service have been proven false by the Sydney Trains timetable introduced in 2017 with services extended from Homebush through to Parramatta
With a growing population in Southwest Sydney, we call upon the NSW Government to reverse its reckless decision to abolish the Liverpool via Regents Park service
Restoring the Inner West Line’s Liverpool (& Bankstown) via Regents Park service will reduce travel times, reduce interchanges and reduce overcrowding for tens of thousands of Sydney commuters
The Lidcombe to Cabramatta rail link opened on 14 October 1924 to form the Inner West Line’s City to Liverpool via Regents Park train service
Note: Some sources indicate that the Lidcombe to Cabramatta rail link opened on 19 October 1924. The Sydney Morning Herald’s story about the opening ceremony on 14 October 1924 is the earliest date of the rail link’s commencement
