Lidcombe railway station

Lidcombe railway station is a heritage-listed railway station located on the Main Suburban line, serving the Sydney suburb of Lidcombe. It is served by Sydney Trains T1 Western, T2 Inner West & Leppington, T3 Bankstown and T7 Olympic line services.

Lidcombe
Westbound view from Platforms 2 and 3, June 2024
General information
Location	Railway Parade, Lidcombe
Coordinates	33°51′50″S 151°02′43″E
Elevation	22 metres (72 ft)
Owned by	Transport Asset Holding Entity
Operated by	Sydney Trains
Line(s)	Main Suburban Main Southern Olympic Park
Distance	16.61 kilometres from Central
Platforms	6 (2 dock, 1 island, 2 side)
Tracks	6
Connections	Bus
Construction
Structure type	Ground
Accessible	Yes
Other information
Status	Staffed
Station code	LDC
Website	Transport for NSW
History
Opened	1 November 1858; 165 years ago (1858-11-01)
Electrified	Yes
Previous names	Haslam's Creek (1858-1878) Rookwood (1878-1914)
Passengers
2023[1]	7,355,890 (year) 20,153 (daily)[2] (Sydney Trains, NSW TrainLink)
Services
Preceding station Sydney Trains Following station Auburn towards Emu Plains or Richmond North Shore & Western Line Strathfield towards Berowra Auburn towards Parramatta or Leppington Inner West & Leppington Line Flemington towards City Circle Terminus Bankstown Line Berala towards City Circle Olympic Park Line Olympic Park Terminus Future service Terminus Lidcombe & Bankstown Line Berala towards Bankstown
Former services Preceding station Former services Following station Auburn towards Bourke Main Western Line (1887-1967) Rookwood towards Sydney Cemetery Station No. 1 towards Cemetery Station No. 4 Rookwood Cemetery Line (1865-1948) Regent Street Terminus Pippita towards Abattoirs Abattoirs Line (1911-1995) Terminus

History

Lidcombe station opened on 1 November 1858 as Haslam's Creek after local landowner, Samuel Haslam. When in 1867 land was set aside for a cemetery nearby, the residents renamed the locality Rookwood. The official name of the station followed, being renamed Rookwood in 1878. By the turn of the century the Necropolis was also called Rookwood, so on 1 January 1914 the station name was renamed again to Lidcombe.^[3][4]

On 11 November 1912, Lidcombe became a junction station, with the opening of a deviation of the Main South line to Regents Park.

On 23 April 1999, Platform 0 was opened as part of the Olympic Park line project.^[5] As part of this work, the station was refurbished and a second footbridge added at the eastern end.^[4]

In 2007, the Lidcombe Station Upgrade project removed the Walter Bowmer Memorial Reserve and Memorial Plaque^[6] (dedicated by Auburn Council in 1986 to former alderman Walter Bowner, who served in the 1950s^[7] and had a hairdressing salon at the site) located on the western end of the station adjacent to Tooheys Lane.

The station works as part of the CityRail Clearways Project completed in 2010 featured a new platform for terminating Bankstown Line services. This was built in conjunction with the Homebush turnback, which claimed to improve reliability on the Inner West & Leppington Line.

A new train timetable implemented in October 2013 resulted in the discontinuation of all Bankstown to City via Regents Park services and discontinuation of almost all trains to Liverpool via Regents Park prompting a community campaign to reinstate lost services.^[8]

In 2020, the NSW Legislative Council Inquiry into Sydenham to Bankstown line conversion questioned the need to terminate services at Lidcombe, and recommended that both Bankstown to City via Regents Park and Liverpool to City via Regents Park services be reinstated.^[9] The Liverpool to City via Regents Park service is scheduled to be reinstated in the 2024 timetable.^[10]

Platforms and services

Lidcombe has six platforms: five for ordinary suburban services, and one for the shuttle between Lidcombe and Olympic Park – officially Platform 0 but known simply as the Olympic Park Sprint platform. During times of special events, some train services may make additional calls at Lidcombe.^[11][12]

Platform	Line	Stopping pattern	Notes
0	T7	services to Olympic Park	[13]
1	T1	services to Gordon, Hornsby & Berowra via Central (Weekdays Only)	[14]
2	T1	services to Penrith, Richmond & Emu Plains (Weekdays Only)	[14]
3	T1	services to Lindfield, Gordon, Hornsby & Berowra via Central	[14]
	T2	services to Central & the City Circle	[15]
4	T1	services to Penrith, Richmond & Emu Plains	[14]
	T2	services to Parramatta & Leppington via Granville	[15]
5	T3	terminating services to & from Central & the City Circle via Bankstown	[16]

Transport links

Transit Systems operates four bus routes via Lidcombe station:

• 401: to Lidcombe Birnie Avenue loop service^[17]
• 915: to University of Sydney Cumberland Campus (limited semester service)^[18]
• 920: Parramatta station to Bankstown station^[19]
• 925: to East Hills via the Botanica Estate and Bankstown^[20]

Lidcombe station is served by three NightRide routes:

• N50: Liverpool station to Town Hall station^[21]
• N60: Fairfield station to Town Hall station^[22]
• N61: Carlingford station to Town Hall station^[23]

Trackplan

Track layout as of April 2015^[update], subsequent to the CityRail Clearways Project completion

The Lidcombe Junction trackplan includes the Lidcombe Triangle Loop^[24] with a direct bi-directional track between Auburn and Berala. The Lidcombe Triangle Loop is primarily used during trackwork as a diversion route for trains from the Western Line to connect with the Bankstown Line towards Sydney CBD.

References

1. "Train Station Monthly Usage". Open Data. Retrieved 26 January 2024.
2. This figure is the number of entries and exits of a year combined averaged to a day.
3. Lidcombe Station NSWrail.net
4. Lidcombe Railway Station Group NSW Environment & Heritage
5. "Olympic Sprint Platform Enters Service" Railway Digest June 1999 page 10
6. "Lidcombe Turnback Project : review of environmental factors / Sinclair Knight Merz ; [prepared for]... - Catalogue | National Library of Australia". catalogue.nla.gov.au. Retrieved 30 March 2024.
7. Council, Auburn. "Municipality of Auburn TRIENNIAL REPORT 1954-1956" (PDF). Cumberland City Council.
8. City Trains Reduced for South West Sydney Commuters in 2013 Timetable Shakeup Telegraph 21 October 2016
9. Parliament, NSW (9 April 2020). "Report No 11 - PC 6 - Transport and Customer Service - Sydenham-Bankstown Line conversion" (PDF). NSW Parliament Legislative Council Portfolio Committee No. 6 - Transport and the Arts. Retrieved 30 March 2024.
10. NSW, Transport for (22 May 2017). "More Trains, More Services". www.transport.nsw.gov.au. Retrieved 30 March 2024.
11. Get to the show fast as a speeding Bullet Western Advocate 15 April 2014
12. Getting to Sydney Olympic Park Transport for New South Wales
13. "T7: Olympic Park line timetable". Transport for NSW.
14. "T1: Western line timetable". Transport for NSW.
15. "T2: Inner West & Leppington line timetable". Transport for NSW.
16. "T3: Bankstown line timetable". Transport for NSW.
17. "Transit Systems route 401". Transport for NSW.
18. "Transdev NSW route 915". Transport for NSW.
19. "Transdev NSW route M92". Transport for NSW.
20. "Transdev NSW route 925". Transport for NSW.
21. "N50 Nightride". Transport for NSW.
22. "N60 Nightride". Transport for NSW.
23. "N61 Nightride". Transport for NSW.
24. "RailSafe. Worksite Protection Planning Diagrams. Inner West Line - Lidcombe to Cabramatta via Regents Park - S00" (PDF). RailSafe. 19 July 2022. Retrieved 30 January 2023.

External links

Media related to Lidcombe railway station at Wikimedia Commons

• Lidcombe station details Transport for New South Wales
• Lidcombe Station Public Transport Map Transport for NSW