The Airport & South Line (numbered T8, coloured green) (commonly called the East Hills Line) is a suburban commuter rail line in Sydney, Australia. It connects the Sydney central business district with the southwestern suburbs via Sydney Airport. The line is part of the Sydney Trains network. The line began operating on 26 November 2017, when the T2 Airport, Inner West & South Line was split in two. Sydney Trains' predecessor CityRail operated the Airport & East Hills line over an identical route between 2000 and 2013. History The T8 traverses several railway lines; the City Circle, Airport Link, East Hills and Main South lines. The origins of the current train service can be traced back to the opening of the East Hills line in 1931. The East Hills line was extended to Glenfield in 1987, where it joins the Main South line. The Airport line opened in 2000, providing an additional pair of tracks into the city. The East Hills line was opened in 1931. Electrification only extended as far as Kingsgrove. Services on the non-electrified section were by CPH railmotor, supplemented by through steam trains from Central in peak hours. The section between Kingsgrove and East Hills was opened for electric services on 17 December 1939. Services generally ran all stations from East Hills via Tempe and Sydenham, to the city. Occasional services terminated at Riverwood, Kingsgrove, and Padstow. Most trains used to stop at Erskineville and St Peters - now only served by the T3 line. When services on the Glenfield extension commenced, there were only limited services from Campbelltown via East Hills during peak hours only; however, in 1988 an all-day half-hourly service was provided. Local (all stations) services generally ran every 15 minutes from East Hills. Once the Airport line opened, the running patterns of trains changed. The "flying junctions" near Central Station were altered to give the Airport line its own platforms (21 & 23) at Central. Local (all stations) trains generally were timetabled to run from East Hills via the airport, peak hour express trains from Campbelltown run along the original route via Sydenham, taking newly built express tracks between Kingsgrove and Wolli Creek Junction. The Airport line stations (except Wolli Creek) are operated by a private company, the Airport Link Company, as part of a public private partnership (PPP). Under the deal, the private company would cover the costs of building four