Schofields railway station

Schofields is a station on the Richmond branch line, located 43.8km from Central. It serves the increasingly urbanised suburb of Schofields as well as a nearby shopping centre. The station consists of 1 island (forming 2 platforms), and is accessed by a lift-enabled overhead footbridge. Schofields is serviced by T1 Western and T5 Cumberland Line trains in both directions. There is also a small bus interchange outside the station.

The station is staffed from 6am to 2pm on weekdays (Mon-Fri) and is unattended on weekends.

History
The first inhabitants of the local area were the indigenous people of the Darug language group and have lived in the area for the since 28,000-40,000 years ago. The station which serves the suburb of the same name, was named after a local pioneer who was a former convict, John Schofield and later settled in the area after building a saw mill beside the railway line

The station originally opened as a siding stop with a platform made from railway sleepers in the early 1870s on the western side of the track, which was later rebuilt in brick in 1888 along with a goods loop after the Richmond line was upgraded by John Whitton the then Engineer-in-Chief. The History of the Station and surrounding local area have been highlighted through signs placed near the entrances to both former and present station sites.

With the decline of goods traffic, the goods loop was removed and the platform rebuilt on the eastern side. A pedestrian level crossing was provided just north of the station. The station was fully accessible as the single platform was level with the street, but was not staffed at all times.

As part of the Richmond line duplication between Quakers Hill and Schofields (part of the Rail Clearways project), the station was moved approximately 1km south, as there was no space at the original site for two tracks and platforms. The former station was closed on 3 October 2011 and the new station opened on the same day. The former station was completely demolished during the duplication works and replaced with a footbridge.

Platforms
The station is served by 4 trains per hour (tph) each way during the weekday off-peak, dropping to 2tph on late nights and weekends, and additional trains during peak times. Trains can terminate on either platform at Schofields using crossovers to the south. Most T5 trains use these facilities on weekdays.