Hunter railway line, New South Wales

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Hunter line
Image:CityRail Hunter.gif
Overview
Mode Regional rail
Area
Map colour Purple/Grey
Owner CityRail
Design
Stations 31
Connects Newcastle
Hamilton
Maitland
Dungog/Scone
Operations
Operator(s) CityRail
Fleet Hunter Railcars
Depot(s) Broadmeadow
Public transport |  v • d • e 

The Hunter railway line is a regional railway line which is part of Sydney's CityRail network. The line runs from the central business district of Newcastle, on the coast, northwest to Scone and Dungog in the Hunter Valley area.

Contents

[edit] History and Features

See also: Main North Line and North Coast Line.

The Hunter line consists of the Newcastle branch line between Newcastle and Islington Junction, the Main North line between Islington Junction and Maitland, the North Coast Line between Maitland and Dungog and the Main North line between Maitland and Scone. The Main North line was the original mainline between Sydney and Brisbane. This line, which ran via Armidale and required a change of gauge at Wallangarra, was opened to Singleton in 1863, and extended past Scone to Tamworth in 1878. The new main line to Brisbane, via the North Coast was opened in 1932. The Newcastle rail network remained independent until 1889 to the Sydney network when the main line between Sydney and Newcastle was completed.

Between Islington Junction and Maitland, there is a four track section where the line runs parallel to the Newcastle coal lines, which serve a number of colleries along the route. The line is double track between Newcastle and Antiene on the main line, and between Maitland and Telarah on the North Coast line, and single track between Telarah and Dungog, and between Antiene and Scone, with duplication from Antiene to Muswellbrook proposed. The line is not electrified except between Hamilton and Newcastle for the benefit of Sydney trains, and the line is serviced by new Hunter railcars and older Endeavour railcar sets, both running in a 2-car configuration. Until 2007, 620 & 720 class diesel railcars(DMUs) built in the 1960s previously serviced the line.

Services run regularly between Newcastle and Telarah, with less frequent services to Dungog and Scone.

[edit] Stations

Name of Station Code Newcastle
TravelPass Zone		 Serving Suburbs Pattern stops at this station Connections
Hunter Lines
Newcastle NTL Yellow Newcastle, Newcastle East, The Hill ■Newcastle & Central Coast Line
Civic CVI Yellow Newcastle, Honeysuckle, Cooks Hill
Wickham WKH Yellow Wickham, Newcastle West
Hamilton HMN Yellow Hamilton, Islington ■Newcastle & Central Coast Line
Waratah WTH Yellow Waratah, Georgetown, Mayfield, Mayfield East
Warabrook
(University)		 WBK Yellow Warabrook, Callaghan
Sandgate SDG Yellow Sandgate
Hexham HXM Yellow Hexham
Tarro TRJ Yellow Tarro
Beresfield BLD Yellow Beresfield
Thornton THO Yellow Thornton
Metford MFD Pink Metford
Victoria Street VST Pink East Maitland
East Maitland EAM Pink East Maitland, Pitnacree, Tenambit
High Street HGH Pink South Maitland, Maitland
Maitland MTL Pink Maitland
Telarah TLR Pink Telarah
Mindaribba MNB - Mindaribba
Paterson PTR - Paterson
Martins Creek MCR - Martins Creek
Hilldale HIL - Hilldale
Wallarobba WLB - Wallarobba
Wirragulla WGL - Wirragulla
Dungog DGG - Dungog
Lochinvar LCV - Lochinvar
Greta GTA - Greta, North Rothbury
Branxton BNX - Branxton, East Branxton
Singleton SIX - Singleton
Muswellbrook MBK - Muswellbrook
Aberdeen ADM - Aberdeen
Scone NSO - Scone

[edit] Stopping Patterns

Hunter line service bound for Newcastle
Hunter line service bound for Newcastle
  • Pattern 1: Newcastle, all to Telarah and vice-versa (peak and off-peak).
  • Pattern 2: Newcastle, all to Warabrook, then Beresfield, Thornton, Metford, Victoria Street, Maitland and Telarah and vice-versa (peak and off-peak - weekdays only).
  • Pattern 3: Newcastle all to Maitland and vice-versa (one afternoon off-peak service on weekdays, two services on weekends).
  • Pattern 4: Newcastle, all to Warabrook, then Beresfield, Thornton, Metford, Victoria Street, Maitland and all stations to Dungog and vice-versa (peak and off-peak, 5 services a day on weekdays, 3 services a day on Saturdays, 2 services a day on Sundays).
  • Pattern 5: Newcastle, all to Warabrook, then Beresfield, Thornton, Metford, Victoria Street, Maitland, and all stations to Scone and vice-versa (peak and off-peak, 3 services (1 early morning, 1 afternoon peak hour, 1 evening peak hour) on weekdays, 2 services (1 early morning, 1 evening) on weekends). For 1842 from Scone to Newcastle train, it stops all stations to Maitland, then Warabrook, then all stations to Newcastle.
  • Pattern 6: Newcastle, all to Warabrook, then Beresfield, Thornton, Metford, Victoria Street, Maitland and all stations to Muswellbrook and vice-versa (one mid-morning off-peak service on weekdays only).

[edit] Closed stations

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Major public transport infrastructure in Sydney
Commuter rail
(CityRail)
Rapid transit
(proposed)
Regional rail
Commuter bus
(Buses in Sydney)
Rapid bus
(T-way)
Ferry
(Sydney Ferries)
Other