Central Coast & Newcastle Line

Central Coast & Newcastle Line
A NSW TrainLink H set approaching Tascott station
Overview
Service type	Intercity rail
Locale	Central Coast and Newcastle, New South Wales
Current operator(s)	Sydney Trains
Route
Termini	Sydney Central Newcastle Interchange
Stops	36
Distance travelled	165.60 km (102.90 mi)
Line(s) used	Main North railway line Newcastle railway line
Technical
Rolling stock	NSW TrainLink H and V sets
Track gauge	1,435 mm (4 ft 8+1⁄2 in) standard gauge
Electrification	1,500 V DC from overhead catenary
Track owner(s)	Transport Asset Holding Entity
Route map NSW TrainLink intercity services Blue Mountains Central Coast & Newcastle Hunter South Coast Southern Highlands

The Central Coast & Newcastle Line (CCN) is an intercity rail service that services the Hawkesbury River, Central Coast and Newcastle regions. It connects the two largest cities in New South Wales, running from Central in Sydney along the Main North railway line to Broadmeadow, and to Newcastle Interchange in Newcastle on the Newcastle railway line.

Description of route

The Hawkesbury River separates Sydney and the Central Coast. The bridge over the river is one of the major engineering structures on the line.

The route traverses the Main West route until Strathfield, where it diverts north and follows the route of the Main North line until Broadmeadow, before diverting east along the route of the Newcastle branch line. The line is electrified at 1500 V DC throughout, and is primarily double track, although there are refuge loops at Hawkesbury River, Gosford, Wyong, Awaba, and Sulphide Junction (between Cockle Creek and Cardiff). Some services terminate at Gosford and Wyong.

Services primarily operate to and from Central (Sydney Terminal) via Strathfield. During morning and afternoon peak periods on weekdays, some services will operate in the peak direction from either Wyong or Gosford to Central via the North Shore Line, then continuing on as a T1 service from the Central suburban platforms to Blacktown.

Sometimes, when there is trackwork between Strathfield and Hornsby, trains will operate via the North Shore line between Central and Hornsby, then follow the Main North railway line as normal.

Route
Continues via T9 Northern Line Central (suburban) Central (intercity) Town Hall Redfern (morning peak only) Wynyard Milsons Pt Nth Sydney Strathfield Waverton Wollstonecraft St Leonards Artarmon Chatswood Epping Gordon Hornsby Asquith (afternoon school peak & late night only) Mount Colah (late night only) Mount Kuring-Gai (late night only) Berowra Cowan Hawkesbury River Wondabyne Woy Woy Koolewong Tascott Point Clare Gosford Narara Niagara Park Lisarow Ourimbah Tuggerah Wyong Warnervale Wyee Morisset Dora Creek Awaba Fassifern Booragul Teralba Cockle Creek Cardiff Kotara Adamstown Broadmeadow Hamilton Newcastle Interchange

History

Prior to electrification of the route, steam hauled passenger trains were varied. From November 1929 until April 1988, the Newcastle Flyer operated on the route. From the time the line was electrified, services to Gosford were hauled by 46 class locomotives, their sphere of operation increasing as the wires were extended. After electrification to Newcastle, services were taken over by U and V sets. Later, the U sets were replaced by K and G sets which, in turn, were replaced by H sets.

The last electric locomotives were withdrawn in March 1998 with all services operated by electric multiple unit stock.

The section of the Newcastle railway line between Hamilton and Newcastle was closed on 25 December 2014. Until the opening of Newcastle Interchange in 2017, Hamilton served as the temporary northern terminus. The closed section between Wickham and Newcastle was replaced with the Newcastle Light Rail that opened on 17 February 2019.

Services

Most all-stations trains have four carriages, with the first and last car being quiet carriages. Peak-hour and most express services usually have eight cars, with quiet carriages on the first, last, and the two middle carriages.

Services via Strathfield depart from Central (Sydney Terminal) and are operated by 4- or 8-car H sets (OSCARs) and 8-car V sets.

From 2024, all services are to be taken over by 4- and 6-car D sets. That will allow H sets to be transferred to the suburban Sydney Trains network.

Upgrades

Completed

The line was electrified to Gosford in January 1960, Wyong in April 1982 and Newcastle in June 1984.

As part of the Northern Sydney Freight Corridor project the following projects were completed: The projects were:

Project	Description	Start date	Completion date
North Strathfield underpass	Grade separation for southbound freight trains heading to Flemington	2013	June 2015
Epping to Pennant Hills third track	Third track for northbound trains climbing 1 in 40 grades	2013	Mid-2016
Gosford passing loops	One passing loop in each direction to allow fast trains to overtake slower trains	2013	April 2015

Proposed

Glendale station

A railway station is proposed to be constructed in Glendale as part of the Lake Macquarie Transport Interchange project. The station will be located between Cockle Creek and Cardiff railway station and will have connections to buses. An extension of Glendale Drive leading to the proposed station has been built and completed in June 2017. However, construction of the station has not commenced.

A NSW TrainLink H set. H sets, along with V sets, service the line.

New Warnervale station

A new station is proposed for Warnervale. The draft Central Coast Transportation Strategy stated that construction of the new railway station was to be completed by 2016. In October 2014 there were some differences between Wyong Council and the State Government over how a strategic piece of land should be developed at Warnervale.

Stations

This table does not include the services which run via the North Shore line and extend to Gosford and Wyong via Gordon.

Central Coast & Newcastle Line stations

Name	Railway line	Serving town/suburbs	Notes
Central	Main Suburban	Haymarket, Chippendale, Ultimo, Surry Hills	Transport hub featuring Sydney Trains, other Intercity trains, Regional trains, buses and light rail
Redfern (peak hours only)		Redfern, Waterloo, Darlington	Interchange with most Sydney Trains lines
Strathfield		Strathfield, Burwood	Interchange with the Blue Mountains Line, Sydney Trains and Regional trains
Epping	Main North	Epping, North Epping, Carlingford,	Interchange with Sydney Trains and Sydney Metro
Hornsby		Hornsby, Waitara	Interchange with Sydney Trains and Regional trains
Asquith (limited service only)		Asquith	Usually served by Sydney Trains
Mount Colah (limited service only)		Mount Colah	Usually served by Sydney Trains
Mount Kuring-Gai (limited service only)		Mount Kuring-Gai	Usually served by Sydney Trains
Berowra		Berowra, Berowra Heights	End of the Sydney Trains network
Cowan		Cowan
Hawkesbury River		Brooklyn
Wondabyne		Wondabyne	Request stop
Woy Woy		Woy Woy
Koolewong		Koolewong
Tascott		Tascott
Point Clare		Point Clare
Gosford		Gosford	Intermediate terminus, primarily during peak hours. Interchange with Regional trains
Narara		Narara
Niagara Park		Niagara Park
Lisarow		Lisarow
Ourimbah		Ourimbah
Tuggerah		Tuggerah, Mardi, Chittaway Point, Kangy Angy
Wyong		Wyong, Wattanobi	Intermediate terminus, primarily during peak hours and on weekends. Interchange with Regional trains
Warnervale		Warnervale, Woongarrah, Hamlyn Terrace
Wyee		Wyee
Morisset		Morisset
Dora Creek		Dora Creek, Myuna Bay, Eraring
Awaba		Awaba
Fassifern		Fassifern, Blackalls Park, Fennell Bay	Interchange with Regional trains
Booragul		Booragul, Marmong Point
Teralba		Teralba
Cockle Creek		Cockle Creek, Boolaroo, Argenton
Cardiff		Cardiff, Cardiff Heights, Glendale
Kotara		Kotara, Kotara South
Adamstown		Adamstown, New Lambton
Broadmeadow		Broadmeadow	Interchange with Regional trains
Hamilton	Newcastle	Hamilton, Islington	Interchange with the Hunter Line
Newcastle Interchange		Wickham, Newcastle	Interchange with the buses, Hunter Line trains and Newcastle Light Rail

Patronage

The following table shows the patronage of each line of the NSW TrainLink Intercity network for the year ending 30 June 2024, based on Opal tap on and tap off data.

2023–24 NSW TrainLink Intercity patronage by line

Blue Mountains Line	7,152,563
Central Coast & Newcastle Line	13,189,811
Hunter Line	803,606
South Coast Line	7,132,670
Southern Highlands Line	755,919

See also

• Main Northern Line – for details of history and construction.
• Newcastle Branch line – for the branch line between Broadmeadow and Newcastle.
• Woy Woy Tunnel
• Hawkesbury River Railway Bridge

Further reading

• The Short North, Singleton C.C. Australian Railway Historical Society Bulletin, May et seq, 1965