Fairfield railway station

Fairfield railway station, is on the Old Main South railway line of the Sydney Trains network. It serves the suburbs of Fairfield, Fairfield East and Fairfield West. The station has street level entrances from Dale Street and The Crescent, with an accessible footbridge connecting the two platforms. Fairfield Bus Interchange is located to the west of the station.

Fairfield is staffed 24 hours everyday.

History
Fairfield station opened on 26 September 1856 when the Main South line was extended from Granville to Liverpool. It was the only intermediate station on the line. The line was duplicated in 1891, with the current platform 1 being built to face the new track. The Granville-Cabramatta section of the Main South was later bypassed with a more direct route, with this section now renamed the Old Main South.

The former station master's residence is the oldest surviving railway building in New South Wales, having existed since the station opened in 1856. The second building built (1860) shows a change in attitude towards railway construction under John Whitton with an emphasis on passenger traffic and is one of a group of six buildings from that period with Branxton, Parramatta, St Mary's, Penrith and Picton. The third building represents a standard duplication building of the 1890s including a sympathetic extension in the 1930s, and again shows changes in railway use and design. The footbridge dating from 1918 ties the group together and is a good example of the style associated with a good group of buildings.

Upgrade
The footbridge, which dates back to 1918, was covered as part of an upgrade in 1990. The station was further upgraded in 2003, with lifts added to make the footbridge accessible and the platforms resurfaced.

In February 2013, construction began at Fairfield for a transport interchange upgrade. Improvements included reconfiguring the bus interchange, formalising the kiss and ride zone, relocating the taxi rank and upgrading CCTV surveillance. The upgrade was part of the Transport Access Program, and construction was completed by June 2014.

Configuration & Services
There is one crossover to the north of the station allowing trains from the north to terminate on platform 2. This is normally only done when there is an incident or trackwork closing the line to the south. The signals are normally controlled automatically by track circuits, with the points locked in the normal position. When the points need to be moved for terminating trains, a small signal box on platform 1 can be cut-in.

The station is served by both T2 Leppington and T5 Cumberland services, usually at a frequency of 6 trains per hour.