Macarthur railway station

Macarthur railway station is located on the Main South line and is 56.6km from Sydney CBD. It serves western Campbelltown, parts of Glen Alpine, Ambarvale and Bradbury as well as a Western Sydney University and TAFE Campus. The station consists of 1 island and 1 side platform, with access from Menangle Road and Goldsmith Avenue. Macarthur is the southern terminus for the T8 Airport and South line and is also serviced by Southern Highlands line trains in both directions.

Macarthur is the south western limit for Sydney Trains suburban services and also a property boundary for RailCorp. South of the station, the Main South line is maintained and controlled by Australian Rail Track Corporation (ARTC).

Macarthur is staffed from 6:00am to 10:00pm on weekdays, and 6:00am to 7:00pm on weekends and public holidays.

History
In 1976, a plan was created to build a new station 488m in the southern direction of the existing Campbelltown railway station. The plan for a "new" Campbelltown station was dropped and the plan was modified to be an unmanned, new, station. The plan was later changed to be 1800m to its current location, being built to serve a shopping centre being built 500m away. The station was originally supposed to be named Ambarvale, after the suburb it is located, but this was later changed to Macarthur, the name of the region. Construction started in November 1983 with the station opening on 28 July 1985. It was initially only served by a few peak-hour services until a new timetable was introduced on 16 November 1986.

Electrification through the Macarthur station site was completed in 1968 as part of the Liverpool-Glenlee electrification project. Electric passenger trains terminated at Campbelltown, but freight trains continued to Glenlee coal siding and loader (now in Mount Annan) so that electrically hauled coal trains could connect it and Port Kembla. The Glenlee coal loader has closed and electric trains are stopped at Macarthur, with the wires only extending a few hundred metres down the line.

The station initially consisted of two side platforms. Because suburban trains terminating on the main lines caused congestion to through trains, a side turnback platform was added in time for the 2000 Summer Olympics.

Under the CityRail Clearways Project, Macarthur received an upgrade. This work, completed in late 2010, included refurbishment of the station, a bus interchange, and a new carpark. In a proposed second stage, Macarthur was to receive a fourth platform for through trains heading south, however, the project was cancelled.

In January 2013, the Southern Sydney Freight Line opened to the west of the station.

Upgrade
In late 2013, a signalised pedestrian crossing was installed on Menangle Road between Tailby Street and Gearby Street to improve the connectivity between the fairly recently built car park and the station. It was part of the Transport Access Program.

Ticketing
Opal available on all services departing from Macarthur. There is a ticket machine capable of issuing single trip tickets and topups. However, there is a quirk in the system dating back to the days of paper tickets that means the system uses the location of Campbelltown instead of Macarthur when calculating the fare.

Platforms and Services
Macarthur consists of three platforms, in a format of one side (Platform 3) and one island (Platforms 1-2). The platforms are connected via ramps and lifts to a covered footbridge, with one side going to Goldsmith Avenue (north exit) and the other to Menangle Road (south exit). Located adjacent to the station is Macarthur Square Shopping Centre, with an accessible pedestrian walkway to connect customers between the shopping centre and the Menangle Road entrance of the station.