Richmond Rail Revival

🛤️ The Richmond Line is Sydney’s only single-track suburban line, meaning trains must wait for each other to pass. This causes delays, overcrowding, and limits the number of services. Full duplication north of Schofields would make the line faster, more reliable, and able to run more frequent trains. The leaked plan (reported in the Sydney Morning Herald – September 2025) only duplicates to Vineyard, leaving Hawkesbury commuters disadvantaged.

🚧 The Richmond Line is one of the last in Sydney with active level crossings. Every train movement forces boom gates down, creating long traffic queues and serious safety risks. Removing crossings will improve train speeds, reduce congestion, and prevent accidents. This is not a luxury project but the bare minimum transport upgrade the Hawkesbury deserves.

🌉 The Richmond Bridge is one of the worst choke points in NSW, carrying around 30,000 vehicles a day. A rail extension across the Hawkesbury River would give North Richmond residents direct access to the network, cut reliance on cars, and take thousands of vehicles off the bridge. This reduces congestion, improves safety, and provides a reliable alternative to traffic gridlock.

🚆 Extending the line would save commuters time every day. A trip to Richmond Town Centre would take just 4–5 minutes by train instead of 20–25 minutes in traffic. North Richmond to Schofields would be ~25 minutes, to Blacktown ~35 minutes, to Parramatta ~50 minutes, and to Central ~75–80 minutes. These times are faster, more reliable, and unaffected by road congestion.

🚗 The bridge carries heavy traffic, with around 30,000 vehicles daily. If even 10% of drivers switched to trains, that’s 3,000 fewer cars each day. This would make a significant difference to travel times and ease the daily gridlock. Rail extension reduces congestion, lowers pollution, and makes trips across the Hawkesbury quicker and safer for everyone.

🚌 Local buses are infrequent and slow, often caught in the same traffic jams as cars. Trains, by contrast, run every 15–30 minutes throughout the day, with more frequent services during peak. A North Richmond station would give residents a service that is faster, more reliable, and more consistent than any bus service can provide.

📜 Yes. The Kurrajong Line operated from Richmond to Kurrajong between 1926 and 1952, serving communities north of the river before it closed after flood damage. This history shows that rail once reached beyond Richmond and was highly valued. Extending trains to North Richmond continues this legacy, restoring access that past generations relied on.

📈 The Hawkesbury already has a large and growing population that depends on rail today. Commuters face long travel times, poor reliability, and overcrowded roads. Upgrading the Richmond Line is about providing a fair standard of transport to existing communities. This is not about property developers or housing estates — it is about delivering the basics that every part of Sydney deserves.

🚇 Linking the Metro to Schofields would improve connections, but the real solution is to invest properly in the Richmond Line. With duplication, digital signalling, and express services, Sydney Trains can deliver the same improvements in frequency and reliability as Metro. Sydney Trains also provides longer trains with more seats, giving greater comfort and capacity for Hawkesbury commuters.

💻 The Richmond Line still runs on outdated signalling systems that limit how many trains can run safely. Digital signalling would increase capacity, reduce delays, and improve safety. It is already standard on modern networks overseas, and it is time the Richmond Line caught up. Without this upgrade, the line will continue to fall behind the rest of Sydney’s rail system.

🌱 Better rail means fewer cars on the road, which reduces pollution and congestion. At present, many Hawkesbury residents are forced to drive because train services are too slow and infrequent. Upgrading the Richmond Line would encourage more people to use public transport, delivering cleaner air, safer streets, and a more sustainable future for Greater Western Sydney.

🚶‍♀️🚴 Stations encourage more people to walk or cycle for short trips, instead of driving. A North Richmond station would give residents the option to walk or ride to the train rather than using the congested bridge. Better rail also supports safe paths, bike parking, and local connections, creating a healthier and more accessible transport network for the whole community.

💰 Transport for NSW must ensure the Hawkesbury is not left behind. Billions are being spent on new motorways and metro projects elsewhere, while the Richmond Line remains Sydney’s only single-track with level crossings. Rail to North Richmond should be funded as part of the Richmond Bridge project, ensuring road and rail solutions are delivered together. This is about fairness — the Hawkesbury deserves its share of investment now.

📜 According to the Sydney Morning Herald (September 2025), the T1 Richmond Line would be redrawn into a new T9 Richmond, Northern, and North Shore Line. This means Richmond trains would no longer run as part of the Western Line but instead carry the burden of extra stops. The change would slow commutes and force Richmond services to absorb passengers from cut or reduced lines elsewhere.

✂️ The new T5 Cumberland Line would be rerouted through a tunnel between Merrylands and Epping, removing all T5 services from Richmond via Harris Park. The T2 Leppington Line would be entirely withdrawn, leaving Granville and nearby stations without their current T2 direct City service. With T1 Western Line trains set to run express from Parramatta to Strathfield, every station in between — Harris Park, Granville, Clyde, Auburn, Lidcombe, and Flemington — would instead be forced onto the T9 Richmond Line.

❌ The leaked plan shows the T3 Liverpool Line cut back to terminate at Lidcombe, removing direct City trains for Liverpool commuters. They would all need to change at Lidcombe to continue to the City on the T9 Richmond Line. At the same time, the T2 Inner West Line would be cut back to end at Homebush, leaving Flemington without coverage from T2 or T3. With T1 Western Line trains running express, Flemington would only be serviced by the T9 Richmond Line, adding yet another burden to Richmond trains.