Central Coast & Newcastle Line | |||||||||||||||
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![]() A New South Wales D set "Mariyung" travelling to Newcastle, running alongside the Mullet Creek, Brisbane Water National Park | |||||||||||||||
Overview | |||||||||||||||
Service type | Intercity rail | ||||||||||||||
Locale | |||||||||||||||
Current operator | Sydney Trains | ||||||||||||||
Route | |||||||||||||||
Termini | Sydney Central Newcastle Interchange | ||||||||||||||
Stops | 36 | ||||||||||||||
Distance travelled | 165.60 km (102.90 mi) | ||||||||||||||
Lines used | Main North railway line Newcastle railway line North Shore railway line | ||||||||||||||
Technical | |||||||||||||||
Rolling stock | D set Mariyung H set Oscar | ||||||||||||||
Track gauge | 1,435 mm (4 ft 8+1⁄2 in) standard gauge | ||||||||||||||
Electrification | 1,500 V DC from overhead catenary | ||||||||||||||
Track owner | Transport Asset Manager of New South Wales | ||||||||||||||
Timetable number | CCN | ||||||||||||||
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CCN Central Coast & Newcastle Line | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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The Central Coast & Newcastle Line (CCN) is an intercity rail service that services the Central Coast region and Newcastle in the Hunter region. 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.
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 volts 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.[ original research? ]
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 Sydney Central via the North Shore Line, then continuing on as a T1 service from the Central suburban platforms to Blacktown. [1]
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.[ original research? ]
Prior to electrification of the route, steam hauled passenger trains were varied. [2] 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.[ citation needed ]
The last electric locomotives were withdrawn in March 1998 [3] 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. [4] The closed section between Wickham and Newcastle was replaced with the Newcastle Light Rail that opened on 17 February 2019. [5] [6]
On 27 June 2025, V sets completed operations on the Central Coast & Newcastle Line, following the rollout of the D sets. [7]
Services via Strathfield depart from Central (Sydney Terminal) and since June 2025, services consist primarily of D sets, which can run in 4, 6, 8 or 10 car formation. [8] [9] Weekday peak hour services via Gordon on the North Shore Line with 8 car H sets between Gosford or Wyong and Sydney Central via the North Shore line and then continues as a T1 suburban service to Blacktown on the Western Line.
Once the H sets are fully replaced by the D sets to be converted to Sydney suburban services, it’s expected that CCN line trains will no longer operate services from Gosford or Wyong to Sydney Central via the North Shore line, due to the platforms being too short for the 10 car D sets and high rail congestion. The North Shore line is not a standard intercity rail line, which causes most CCN line trains to often run behind schedule due to being behind a slower T1 or T9 suburban train, since there is no rail bypass for quicker trains to overtake the slower services, unlike services that go via Strathfield to Sydney Terminal, which is a standard intercity rail line.
Name | Code [10] | Distance from Central | Travel Time [ab 1] | Railway | Suburbs and towns serviced | Connecting Services |
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Central – Redfern/Town Hall (Suburban section) | ||||||
Central | CEN | 0.0 km | Departure | Main North/North Shore | Sydney, Strawberry Hills, Ultimo, Surry Hills | |
Redfern – Epping (Suburban section) | ||||||
Redfern (Weekday peak hour services only) | RDF | 1.3 km | 2 min | Main North | Redfern, Waterloo, Darlington | |
Strathfield | STR | 11.8 km | 11 min | Strathfield | ||
Epping | EPG | 23.3 km | 13 min | Epping, North Epping, Carlingford | ||
Town Hall – Gordon (Suburban section) | ||||||
Town Hall (Weekday peak hour services only) | THL | 1.1 km | 2 min | North Shore | Sydney | |
Wynyard (Weekday peak hour services only) | WYD | 2.1 km | 3 min | Sydney | ||
Milsons Point (Weekday peak hour services only) | MPT | 4.4 km | 4 min | Milsons Point | ||
North Sydney (Weekday peak hour services only) | NSY | 4.8 km | 3 min | North Sydney, Lavender Bay, Neutral Bay, Cammeray | ||
Waverton (Weekday peak hour services only) | WVT | 6.1 km | 2 min | Waverton | ||
Wollstonecraft (Weekday peak hour services only) | WSC | 7.2 km | 2 min | Wollstonecraft | ||
St Leonards (Weekday peak hour services only) | SNL | 8.4 km | 3 min | St Leonards, Crows Nest | ||
Artarmon (Weekday peak hour services only) | ATO | 10.3 km | 3 min | Artarmon, Lane Cove, Willoughby | ||
Chatswood (Weekday peak hour services only) | CWD | 11.7 km | 4 min | Chatswood | ||
Gordon (Weekday peak hour services only) | GDO | 17.1 km | 10 min | Gordon | ||
Epping/Gordon – Berowra (Suburban section) | ||||||
Hornsby | HBY | 33.9 km | 11 min (Epping) 15 min (Gordon) | Main North/North Shore | Hornsby | ![]() North Coast North Western |
Asquith (Limited services only) | ASQ | 35.7 km | 3 min | Asquith | ||
Mount Colah (Limited services only) | MOC | 37.7 km | 3 min | Mount Colah | ||
Mount Kuring-gai (Limited services only) | MKI | 40.7 km | 3 min | Mount Kuring-gai | ||
Berowra | BEW | 44.7 km | 4 min | Berowra, Berowra Heights, Berowra Waters | ||
Berowra – Broadmeadow | ||||||
Cowan | CWN | 48.8 km | 5 min | Main North | Cowan | |
Hawkesbury River | HKR | 57.4 km | 9 min | Brooklyn | ||
Wondabyne (Request stop only) | WDP | 65.2 km | 8 min | Wondabyne | ||
Woy Woy | WOY | 72.6 km | 6 min | Woy Woy, Woy Woy Bay, Umina Beach, Ettalong Beach | ||
Koolewong | KWG | 74.3 km | 3 min | Koolewong | ||
Tascott | TSC | 76.9 km | 2 min | Tascott | ||
Point Clare | PCL | 78.1 km | 2 min | Point Clare | ||
Gosford | GOS | 80.9 km | 5 min | Gosford | ![]() North Coast North Western | |
Narara | NRR | 84.6 km | 6 min | Narara | ||
Niagara Park | PBN | 86.2 km | 2 min | Niagara Park | ||
Lisarow | LRW | 87.7 km | 2 min | Lisarow | ||
Ourimbah | OUR | 90.6 km | 3 min | Ourimbah | ||
Tuggerah | KGG | 98.5 km | 6 min | Tuggerah, Mardi, Chittaway Point, Kangy Angy | ||
Wyong | WYG | 101.1 km | 3 min | Wyong, Watanobbi | ![]() North Coast North Western | |
Warnervale | WNV | 105.9 km | 4 min | Warnervale, Woongarrah, Hamlyn Terrace | ||
Wyee | WYE | 114.9 km | 7 min | Wyee | ||
Morisset | MOI | 123.3 km | 7 min | Morisset | ||
Dora Creek | DRK | 127.2 km | 4 min | Dora Creek, Myuna Bay, Eraring | ||
Awaba | AWB | 137.3 km | 9 min | Awaba | ||
Fassifern | FSN | 142.3 km | 5 min | Fassifern, Blackalls Park, Fennell Bay | ![]() North Coast North Western | |
Booragul | BGL | 146.4 km | 3 min | Booragul, Marmong Point | ||
Teralba | TBR | 147.6 km | 2 min | Teralba | ||
Cockle Creek | CCK | 150.6 km | 3 min | Boolaroo, Argenton | ||
Cardiff | CDF | 155.1 km | 5 min | Cardiff, Cardiff Heights, Glendale | ||
Kotara | KRZ | 158.9 km | 4 min | Kotara, Kotara South | ||
Adamstown | ADT | 161.1 km | 3 min | Adamstown, New Lambton | ||
Broadmeadow | BMD | 162.9 km | 3 min | Broadmeadow | ![]() North Coast North Western | |
Broadmeadow – Newcastle Interchange (Newcastle Branch) | ||||||
Hamilton | HAM | 164.6 km | 4 min | Newcastle | Hamilton, Islington | |
Newcastle Interchange | NWI | 165.6 km | 5 min | Newcastle, Wickham | NLR | |
The line was electrified to Gosford in January 1960, Wyong in April 1982 [12] and Newcastle in June 1984. [13]
As part of the Northern Sydney Freight Corridor project the following projects were completed: [14] The projects were: [15] [16]
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 |
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.[ citation needed ]
A new station is proposed for Warnervale. [17] [18] The draft Central Coast Transportation Strategy stated that construction of the new railway station was to be completed by 2016. [19] 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. [20]
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. [21]
7,152,563 | |
13,189,811 | |
803,606 | |
7,132,670 | |
755,919 |