T5 Cumberland line

The T5 Cumberland Line is a line that operates between Richmond/Schofields and Leppington. The line is coded with the sign on maps and at stations.

This line is operated by 4 car Millennium M sets for most services, but are also operated by 8 car Waratah A sets on weekdays and late at nights. Waratah B sets also operate some services on weekends.

History
Upon the opening of the Y-Link between Harris Park and Merrylands in 1996, the Cumberland line was created. It had a regular half-hourly service in each direction consisting of 38 journeys per day. Subsequent timetables saw its services significantly reduced to the point of running only during weekday peak hours, and from 2005 to 2013 the line only ran in one direction at a time: two services ran in the morning peak from Campbelltown towards Blacktown and three services ran in the opposite direction in the evening. Some services operated to or from Quakers Hill or Schofields on the Richmond line, but the line's official terminus on network maps and other material remained at Blacktown.

Prior to the Y-Link's opening, passengers travelling between the Western and South lines (now named T1 and T2 respectively) were required to change trains at Granville. With the reduction in services to peak hours only, this travelling strategy was resumed by most commuters.

In 2006, the then-Iemma Labor Government's NSW State Plan committed to re-introduce a regular half-hourly service to the Cumberland line during 2007 "subject to detailed timetable and train planning... and fleet delivery, availability and rostering". A CityRail news release on 15 December confirmed this intention, based on the gradual introduction of the then-new OSCAR H set trains, which would displace outer suburban Tangara G sets; the latter trains then reassigned to suburban service. This promise was not delivered, and the Cumberland Line remained a peak-hour-only service with 4 car trains.

Daytime half-hourly services were re-introduced with a major timetable change on 21 October 2013. Services finished in the early evening and did not operate on weekends. At this time, the line was also officially extended to Schofields, where most northbound services terminated.

As part of a major timetable change for the Sydney Trains network on 26 November 2017, Cumberland Line services were modified to no longer travel to and from Campbelltown, instead starting and terminating at Leppington. The changes also saw late night and weekend services introduced on the Cumberland Line. Following this change, Waratah A sets were introduced to the line for some weekday services, while the former S, K and C set rosters were all replaced by M sets.

An extra morning peak service was added on 6th January 2020, to meet peak hour demand.

Following the T6 line’s closure, Waratah A Set rosters for the Cumberland Line were introduced to weekend timetables as well between Liverpool and Schofields, in addition to early morning and late night Waratah B Set rosters between Leppington and Richmond.

Route
Physically, the line consists of the Richmond railway line from Schofields/Richmond to Blacktown, the Main Western Line from Blacktown station to Harris Park, the 'Y Link' between Harris Park and Merrylands, the "Old Main South" between Merrylands and Cabramatta, the Main South Line between Cabramatta and Glenfield, and the South West Rail Link between Glenfield and Leppington.

Services
On weekdays, the Cumberland Line usually runs between Schofields and Leppington. In the peak, the services only run between Blacktown and Leppington due to extra T1 Schofields services. Weekend services run between Schofields (previously Quakers Hill) and Liverpool only. Early morning and late night trains run between Richmond and Leppington.. There are two services an hour in each direction at all times.

The line was operated by S, K and C sets prior to the November 2017 timetable update. It is currently run by 4 car M sets and 8 car A sets. The M sets run on captive rosters (ie. they stay on the T5 for the entire day) and are stabled at Blacktown and Leppington Yards. The A sets run T1 services during the daytime and T5 services at night and are stabled at Auburn Stabling Yard. The B sets run weekend rosters between Leppington and Richmond on late nights after previously operating on other sector 2 lines during the day. Occasionally, B sets will run other T5 rosters during trackwork.

The line was assigned the colour magenta by CityRail. With the introduction of a new network map in 2013, its colour was slightly changed and the line was numbered T5.