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Airport & South Line
An A set at Domestic Airport station
Overview
Service type	Commuter rail
Locale	Sydney, Australia
Predecessor	Airport & East Hills Line (2000–2013) Airport, Inner West & South Line (2013–2017)
Current operator(s)	Sydney Trains
Route
Termini	Central Macarthur
Stops	33
Line(s) used	City Circle Airport East Hills Main South
Technical
Rolling stock	K, M, A and B, on weekends there is one 8 car Tangara.
Track gauge	1,435 mm (4 ft 8+1⁄2 in) standard gauge
Track owner(s)	Transport Asset Holding Entity
Sydney rail services Metro North West & Bankstown North Shore & Western Leppington & Inner West Liverpool & Inner West Eastern Suburbs & Illawarra Cumberland Lidcombe & Bankstown Olympic Park Airport & South Northern v t e

The Airport & South Line (numbered T8, coloured green; commonly called the East Hills Line) is a commuter rail service operated by Sydney Trains, connecting the Sydney central business district with the southwestern suburbs via Sydney Airport.

History

The T8 traverses several railway lines; the City Circle, Airport Link, East Hills and Main South Lines. The origins of the current train service can be traced back to the opening of the East Hills Line in 1931. The East Hills line was extended to Glenfield in 1987, where it joins the Main South Line. The Airport Line opened in 2000, providing an additional pair of tracks into the city.

The East Hills line was opened in 1931. Electrification only extended as far as Kingsgrove. Services on the non-electrified section were by CPH railmotor, supplemented by through steam trains from Central in peak hours. The section between Kingsgrove and East Hills was opened for electric services on 17 December 1939. Services generally ran all stations from East Hills via Tempe and Sydenham, to the city. Occasional services terminated at Riverwood, Kingsgrove, and Padstow.

When services on the Glenfield extension commenced, 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.

Once the Airport Line opened, the running patterns of trains changed. The "flying junctions" near Central Station were 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 newly built express tracks between Kingsgrove and Wolli Creek Junction.

The Airport Line stations (except Wolli Creek) are operated by a private company, the Airport Link Company, as part of a public private partnership (PPP). Under the deal, the private company 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. 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. The Airport Link consistently failed to meet patronage targets. 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. State Rail blamed "lower than expected patronage" and stated it was working with the company to increase it. 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 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. In March 2011 it was announced that the 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. 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.

The early 2010s saw a shift in how public transport services are delivered in New South Wales. The state government created a new transport authority, Transport for NSW, in 2011. Sydney Trains replaced CityRail as the operator of Sydney's commuter rail services in 2013. These changes saw Transport for NSW take control of the timetabling and branding of services. Transport for NSW introduced a new timetable in late 2013 that saw the Airport and East Hills Line replaced by the T2 Airport, Inner West & South Line. This new line was created by combining three of CityRail's lines. Operationally, the services between Macarthur and the city via the East Hills and Airport Lines remained much the same as before.

The 2017 timetable saw the 2013 branding changes partially wound back. The T2 line was split in two. The new T2 consists of services from Leppington to the city via Granville, with a branch to Parramatta being added. Services from Macarthur to the city via Sydney Airport or Sydenham were transferred to the new T8 line. The T8 inherited the green colour of the old T2 and the Airport and East Hills Line. T5 services were also modified to no longer travel to and from Campbelltown, instead starting and terminating at Leppington. These changes mean the section of the network between Glenfield and Macarthur is served exclusively by services operating via the East Hills railway line for the first time.

In September 2024, following the closer of the T3 Bankstown line for conversion into the Southwest Metro, the T8 temporarily took over services between Sydenham and the City Circle before they are permanently moved to the T4 line.

Operations and stations

T8 Airport & South Line
km continues as / 1.2 Town Hall 2.0 Wynyard 3.0 Circular Quay 4.4 St James 5.0 Museum 0.0 Central 1.3 Redfern 2.6 Green Square 2.9 Erskineville 3.8 St Peters 5.1 Mascot 5.3 Sydenham 6.6 Domestic Airport 8.1 International Airport 9.4 Wolli Creek 8.6 Turrella 10.1 Bardwell Park 11.4 Bexley North 12.6 Kingsgrove 14.6 Beverly Hills 15.8 Narwee 17.5 Riverwood 19.3 Padstow 21.0 Revesby 22.6 Panania 24.0 East Hills 26.8 Holsworthy 41.9 Glenfield 43.8 Macquarie Fields 45.6 Ingleburn 49.7 Minto 52.6 Leumeah 54.7 Campbelltown 56.7 Macarthur
This diagram: view talk edit

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. Since that time, however, the line appears to have gained commuters again, with a reported 3.5% increase in patronage up to early 2006.

Under the current (2024) timetable, there are generally three stopping patterns on the Airport & South Line:

• Express service: from Macarthur, stopping all stations to Revesby, then express to Wolli Creek, then all stations to the City via the Airport.
• Local service: starting at Revesby and running all stops to the City via the Airport. Some times services start at East Hills.
• Sydenham service: from Sydenham, stopping at St Peters, Erskineville and Redfern

During peak hours, there are additional express services, which skip some stops between Macquarie Fields and Revesby, but some also make additional stops at Padstow and Riverwood. Some express services also operate via Sydenham instead of the Airport. There are also a few services terminating at Turrella.

Occasionally during trackwork on the City Circle, all services will be switched to run via Sydenham in one direction only, with the other direction running via the Airport, due to limitations of the track design at Central. Alternatively services will completely avoid the City Circle, terminating at Central platform 23. When there is trackwork on other lines, there will also occasionally be shuttle services running express to Kingsgrove via Sydenham.

Patronage

The following table shows the patronage of Sydney Trains network for the year ending 30 June 2024.

1. Figures based on Opal tap on and tap off data
2. T3 patronage from former route via Bankstown.
3. T6 services commenced on 19 October 2024.

References

1. "New railway. Tempe to East Hills". The Sydney Morning Herald. 19 December 1931. Retrieved 4 November 2011.
2. "Kingsgrove-East Hills. Railway officially opened". The Sydney Morning Herald. 21 December 1931. Retrieved 4 November 2011.
3. Salt Pan via Dumbleton – The Story of the East Hills Line Oakes, John Australian Railway Historical Society Bulletin, September 2001 pp. 323–346
4. Mok, Danny "FordGhia's Railway & Transport in Australia Page: East Hills Line Information & Photos". Retrieved 3 February 2003.
5. ^ Bozier, Rolfe, "New South Wales Railways: East Hills Line: History" Archived 10 August 2017 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 30 December 2006.
6. "NSW Rail Historical Timetables: Pre CityRail". Retrieved 30 December 2006. Archived 24 October 2009.
7. ^ The Opening of Sydney's New Southern Railway, Transit Australia, Vol 55 no 7, July 2000.
8. Baker, Jordan & Nixon, Sherrill, "For sale: ghost train to Sydney Airport" Archived 28 January 2007 at the Wayback Machine, Sydney Morning Herald, 11 March 2006. Retrieved 30 December 2006.
9. State Rail Authority Annual Report 2000–2001 p?
10. Rail Corporation New South Wales, Annual Report 2005–6, pp. 59 & 81.
11. Saulwick, Jacob; Besser, Linton (19 February 2011). "Cheaper for some on airport rail link". The Sydney Morning Herald. Archived from the original on 24 September 2015. Retrieved 18 February 2011.
12. Green Square and Mascot commuters to save $17 a week Archived 21 July 2011 at the Wayback Machine CityRail. 2 March 2011.
13. Saulwick, Jacob (9 June 2011). "Tickets sales rocket on airport line as prices plunge". The Sydney Morning Herald. Archived from the original on 2 January 2016. Retrieved 10 June 2011.
14. "Changes to Sydney's train network" (PDF). Transport for NSW. Archived (PDF) from the original on 9 August 2017. Retrieved 9 August 2017.
15. "More Trains, More Services for South Western Sydney" (PDF). Transport for New South Wales. Government of New South Wales. 27 February 2017. Archived (PDF) from the original on 27 February 2017. Retrieved 27 February 2017.
16. Kerr, Joseph, "Motorway takes toll on rail trips" Archived 25 July 2008 at the Wayback Machine, Sydney Morning Herald, 2 April 2003. Retrieved 30 December 2006.
17. Pearlman, Jonothan, "Passengers crowd onto fewer trains" Archived 19 October 2012 at the Wayback Machine, Sydney Morning Herald, 3 March 2006. Retrieved 30 December 2006.
18. Bozier, Rolfe, "New South Wales Railways: Main South Line" Archived 18 April 2013 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 10 July 2007.
19. Bozier, Rolfe, "New South Wales Railways: South Coast Line" Archived 6 November 2015 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 10 July 2007.
20. Bozier, Rolfe, "New South Wales Railways: City Circle" Archived 30 September 2007 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 1 July 2007.
21. "Train Patronage – Monthly Figures". Transport for NSW. Retrieved 30 October 2024.

v t e Railway lines in New South Wales
Main lines Broken Hill South Coast (Illawarra) Main North Main Southern Main Western North Coast
Country branch lines Operational Berrima Binnaway-Werris Creek Blayney-Demondrille Boggabilla Bombala Canberra Cobar Coonamble Grenfell Gwabegar Hay Lake Cargelligo Medway Quarry Mungindi Naradhan Newcastle Oaklands Parkes to Narromine Picton-Mittagong loop Pokataroo Sandy Hollow-Gulgong South Maitland Railway Stockinbingal-Parkes Temora-Roto Tottenham Troy Junction-Merrygoen Unanderra-Moss Vale Walgett Warren Yanco-Griffith Closed Ballina Barraba Belmont Boorowa Brewarrina Burcher Cadia Mine Captains Flat Coolah Corowa Crookwell Dorrigo Eugowra Holbrook Inverell Kunama Kywong Merriwa Molong-Dubbo Morpeth Mount Hope Murwillumbah Newnes Oberon Rand Rankins Springs Richmond Vale Railway Taralga Tocumwal Toronto Tumbarumba Tumut Wallsend Westby
Sydney lines Commuter rail Airport Bankstown City Circle Cronulla Eastern Suburbs East Hills Main Suburban North Shore Olympic Park Richmond South West Goods lines Sydney Freight Network Southern Sydney Freight Rapid transit Sydney Metro North West & Bankstown Converted lines Epping to Chatswood Closed Camden Carlingford Holsworthy Kurrajong Rogans Hill Rookwood Cemetery Ropes Creek Royal National Park Sandown
Proposed or under construction Sydney Metro Western Sydney Airport West Inland Rail Maldon–Dombarton Western Sydney Freight Line
Tourist & heritage railways Byron Bay Railroad Company Glenreagh Mountain Railway Lachlan Valley Railway NSW Rail Museum Oberon Tarana Heritage Railway Richmond Vale Railway Skitube Zig Zag Railway

v t e Public transport in Sydney
Transport for NSW Ticketing Opal card
Metro	Lines M1 Metro North West & Bankstown Sydney Metro Northwest Sydney Metro City & Southwest Sydney Metro West Sydney Metro Western Sydney Airport Operator Metro Trains Sydney Infrastructure List of Sydney Metro stations
Train	Lines T1 North Shore & Western T2 Leppington & Inner West T3 Liverpool & Inner West T4 Eastern Suburbs & Illawarra T5 Cumberland T6 Lidcombe & Bankstown T7 Olympic Park T8 Airport & South T9 Northern Operator Sydney Trains Infrastructure Airport Link Company List of Sydney railway lines List of Sydney Trains railway stations Sydney rail rolling stock Transport Asset Holding Entity
Bus	Services B1 Metrobus 144 190X 333 NightRide Sydney Metropolitan Bus Service Contracts Sydney Olympic Park bus routes Operators Busways CDC NSW Keolis Downer Northern Beaches Transdev John Holland Transit Systems U-Go Mobility Infrastructure Liverpool–Parramatta T-way North-West T-way
Ferry	Sydney Ferries Services F1 Manly F2 Taronga Zoo F3 Parramatta River F4 Pyrmont Bay F5 Neutral Bay F6 Mosman F7 Double Bay F8 Cockatoo Island F9 Watsons Bay F10 Blackwattle Bay Operator Transdev Sydney Ferries Infrastructure List of Sydney Ferries wharves Other services Captain Cook Cruises Church Point Ferry Cronulla and National Park Ferry Cruises Manly Fast Ferry
Light Rail	Lines L1 Dulwich Hill L2 Randwick & L3 Kingsford L4 Westmead & Carlingford Infrastructure List of Sydney light rail stops
Other	Bridj Monorail Trams Trolleybuses
Italics denotes services yet to commence

• Sydney Trains
• Georges River
• Airport Link, Sydney