Blue Mountains line

Blue Mountains line
General
Stations	32
Connects	Lithgow or Bathurst and Central
Began operation	1868
Operated by	NSW TrainLink
Rolling stock	V sets Endeavours (Bathurst services only) Mariying D Set

The Blue Mountains Line (BMT) is an interurban rail service operated by NSW TrainLink serving the Blue Mountains region of New South Wales, Australia. The line travels west from Sydney to the major town of Katoomba and on to Lithgow on the western foothills of the mountains. A limited diesel service extends to the regional city of Bathurst, which is supplemented by road coaches connecting Bathurst to Lithgow.

Route

Blue Mountains services begin at Central (Sydney Terminal platforms 1-12). After leaving Central, services join the Main Suburban railway line, using the main (northernmost) pair of tracks. At Granville, services turn onto the Main Western railway line, using the suburban (inner) pair of tracks until St Marys, and stay on it for the rest of the way to Lithgow/Bathurst.

History

Electric interurban passenger services as far west as Bowenfels, later cut back to the current terminus of Lithgow, were introduced when the line was electrified in the 1950s. Electric passenger services were originally provided by a combination of electric locomotive hauled carriages and single deck electric multiple unit sets (known as U sets), both of which have now been withdrawn and replaced by the V sets.

In June 2012, New South Wales Premier Barry O'Farrell announced that services would be extended to Bathurst. The service commenced on 21 October 2012.[1] An additional Bathurst Bullet service was added in August 2019.

In early 2020, the service was partly suspended for some time. Electric services were cut back to Mount Victoria between early January and May 23 while bushfire damage was repaired. Services were further cut back to Springwood between February 8 and March 2 due to a landslide at Leura.[2]

Fleet

The line is primarily operated by NSW TrainLink's older V set trains. G sets (Tangaras) and H sets (OSCARs) have operated as far as Springwood in the past. V sets have been kept on the line as the narrow loading gauge means most trains are too wide. The V sets will be replaced by the newer D sets in the coming years.

As the line is unelectrified past Lithgow, Bathurst services are run by 2 car Endeavour sets.

Services

At most times, it is an hourly service in each direction, with trains alternating between the Lithgow and Mount Victoria termini. All services start from Sydney Central intercity platforms (1-12). There are additional services in peak hours with some trains terminating at Springwood and Katoomba.

These services are 4 cars at most times and built up to 8 cars for busier services. Unlike any other line, 8 car services on this line have 3 train crew: a driver (1st car), repeater (5th car) and guard (8th car). The repeater is needed due to poor visibility of the front of the train on curved platforms. This is usually done by station staff, but due to the low frequency of trains on this line, it is more efficient to have a repeater travel with the train.

There are also limited services to Bathurst. There are two morning inbound and two evening outbound services between Bathurst and Sydney, which skip most Blue Mountains stations. There are also two shuttle services in each direction in the early morning/late night running between Lithgow and Bathurst. These train services are supplemented by coach services from Lithgow.

There are 4 informally named (name not shown in timetable) services on the line. "The Fish" and "The Chips" are two AM peak trains from Lithgow used by most commuters, while "Bathurst Bullet" and "Bathurst Bullet 2" are the two AM peak Bathurst-Sydney services. The same names are also used for the return PM peak services. "The Fish" and "The Chips" get their names from the original crew of the train in the 19th century. [3]

Opal is accepted for all services on this line.

Stations

Blue Mountains services usually stop the following stations. Note that some peak/trackwork services do not follow this pattern.

Name of Station	Opened	Serving Suburbs	Interchange for
Central	1906	Sydney CBD, Chippendale, Strawberry Hills, Ultimo, Surry Hills
Strathfield	1876	Strathfield
Parramatta	1860	Parramatta
Blacktown	1860	Blacktown
Penrith	1863	Penrith
Emu Plains	1868	Emu Plains, Emu Heights
Lapstone	1964	Lapstone
Glenbrook	1913	Glenbrook
Blaxland	1867	Blaxland
Warrimoo	1918	Warrimoo
Valley Heights	1875	Valley Heights
Springwood	1867	Springwood
Faulconbridge	1877	Faulconbridge
Linden	1874	Linden
Woodford	1868	Woodford
Hazelbrook	1884	Hazelbrook
Lawson	1867	Lawson
Bullaburra	1925	Bullaburra
Wentworth Falls	1867	Wentworth Falls
Leura	1890	Leura
Katoomba	1874	Katoomba
Medlow Bath	1880	Medlow Bath
Blackheath	1869	Blackheath
Mount Victoria	1869	Mount Victoria
Bell	1875	Bell
Zig Zag	1959 (Current Site)	None
Lithgow	1925	Lithgow

Although the Bathurst Bullet is part of the Blue Mountains line, it has an altered stopping pattern, stopping at the following stations:

• Central
• Parramatta
• Westmead
• Penrith
• Springwood
• Katoomba
• Mount Victoria
• Lithgow
• Rydal
• Tarana
• Bathurst

Coach services stop at the following locations:

• Lithgow - connects to trains
• Wallerawang
• Mount Lambie
• Meadow Flat
• Yetholme
• Raglan
• Kelso
• Bathurst