Schofields railway station

Schofields

Station front in November 2011
Location Railway Terrace, Schofields
Coordinates 33°25′18″S 150°31′21″E / 33.421681°S 150.522605°E / -33.421681; 150.522605Coordinates: 33°25′18″S 150°31′21″E / 33.421681°S 150.522605°E / -33.421681; 150.522605
Owned by RailCorp
Operated by Sydney Trains
Line(s) Richmond
Distance 43.75 kilometres from Central
Platforms 2 (1 island)
Tracks 2
Connections Bus
Construction
Structure type Ground
Disabled access Yes
Other information
Status Staffed
Station code SFS
Website Sydney Trains
History
Opened 1870
Rebuilt 29 October 2011
Electrified Yes
Services
Preceding station   Sydney Trains   Following station
towards Richmond
T1
Western Line
towards Central
TerminusT5
Cumberland Line
towards Campbelltown

Schofields railway station is located on the Richmond line, serving the Sydney suburb of Schofields. It is served by Sydney Trains T1 Western and T5 Cumberland line services.

History

Eastbound view of the former station in November 2009
Eastbound view

Schofields station opened in 1870.[1] It 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 former station was 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.[2] 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.

Former station

The old Schofields station consisted of a single side platform with street level access on the eastern side of the track. A pedestrian level crossing to the north of the platform allowed access to the other side of the track. An interesting feature of the station was the adjacent grain and produce facility that protruded into the railway platform. The old station closed on 3 October 2011.

Current station

Background

From 2009 to 2011, the track between Quakers Hill and Schofields was duplicated for more than three kilometres as part of the Rail Clearways Program.[3] This was intended as the first stage of a broader plan to duplicate the line as far as Vineyard. In order to be able to continue the duplication towards Richmond, it was proposed re-align a short section of track and relocate Schofields station to a site with fewer space constraints, 800 metres south of the existing station. The proposal to relocate the station was a controversial one and raised concerns amongst residents and businesses located near the former station, in relation to accessibility and urban decay.[4] Despite opposition to the plans from Blacktown City Council and the government's own local representative, John Aquilina MP, construction commenced and the station opened on 29 October 2011.[5] The new station is located in a minimally developed area foreseeing future residential development and is designed to support a dramatic increase in patronage.[6]

Design

The station features a distinctive colour scheme of maroon and cream as seen on the tin roofing, inspired by the Station Master's residence at Riverstone station and reflecting on the European heritage of the local Richmond area and consists of an island platform. The station also includes indicator screens on the platforms and network status screens indicating trackwork or service interruptions on the concourse. The station is equipped for disabled access with lifts from street level to the concourse and to the platform levels.

230 parking spaces are available at the station with 110 on the Railway Terrace side and 120 on the Bridge Street side (opened in mid December 2011), with both including disabled parking spaces. Although claimed to be three times the size of the previous station car park,[7] issues have arisen concerning the size of the area. 40 bicycle racks are available. A "Kiss-and-ride" zone is located parallel to the bus interchange.[7][8] As part of the relocation, a shared pedestrian and cycling path was built between the former station to the current site and a footbridge was constructed at the site of the former station to replace the pedestrian level crossing.

Panorama of the eastern side of station
Eastern side of the station; the bus interchange is on the left, station entrance via stairs in the centre and one of the carparks on the right

Platforms & services

Platform Line Stopping pattern Notes
1 services to Hornsby via Central & Chatswood [9]
terminating services to & from Campbelltown[10]
2 services to Richmond [9]

Transport links

Busways operates one route via Schofields station:

Schofields station is served by one NightRide route:[12]

References

  1. ↑ Schofields Station NSWrail.net
  2. ↑ Schofields History Signs Image
  3. ↑ Rail Clearways Program - Completed Projects Transport for NSW 15 August 2014
  4. ↑ Schofields station on the move Rouse Hill Times 11 November 2009
  5. ↑ New, relocated Schofields Station is now open CityRail 29 October 2011
  6. ↑ Sydney train station's isolation earns few friends ABC News 4 November 2011
  7. 1 2 New Schofields Station and timetable adjustments to trains and Busways services from 29 October 131500 October 2011
  8. ↑ New Schofields Station opens on 29 October 2011 Transport Construction Authority October 2011
  9. 1 2 "T1: Western line timetable" (PDF). Sydney Trains. 20 October 2013 [amended January 2015].
  10. ↑ "T5: Cumberland line timetable" (PDF). Sydney Trains. 20 October 2013 [amended January 2015].
  11. ↑ "Route T74 timetable information". Busways. 27 July 2015.
  12. ↑ NightRide bus services Transport Info NSW

External links

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Monday, January 18, 2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.