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The Main North Line (also known as the Great Northern Railway) is a major railway in
New South Wales
)
, nickname =
, image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg
, map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates:
, subdivision_type = Country
, subdivision_name = Australia
, established_title = Before federation
, es ...
, Australia. It runs through the Central Coast, Hunter
Hunting is the human activity, human practice of seeking, pursuing, capturing, or killing wildlife or feral animals. The most common reasons for humans to hunt are to harvest food (i.e. meat) and useful animal products (fur/hide (skin), hide, ...
and New England
New England is a region comprising six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York to the west and by the Canadian provinces ...
regions. The line was the original main line between Sydney
Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mounta ...
and Brisbane
Brisbane ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Queensland, and the third-most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of approximately 2.6 million. Brisbane lies at the centre of the South ...
, however this required a change of gauge at Wallangarra. As of 1988, the line closed progressively north of Armidale with services gradually withdrawn till 2004, with the main route between Sydney and Brisbane now the North Coast line.
Description of route
The line starts as a branch off the Main Suburban line at Strathfield inSydney
Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mounta ...
. The line heads north as a quadruple track electrified line to Rhodes, crossing the John Whitton Bridge over the Parramatta River as a double track line. At West Ryde the line again expands out to four tracks through to Epping. The line is then largely double track through the northern suburbs of Sydney, crossing the Hawkesbury River Railway Bridge, before passing through the Central Coast.
At Fassifern, a former branch line to Toronto
Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the anch ...
divided off in an eastwards direction until closed in 1990. The line continues north to Broadmeadow
Broadmeadow is the geographic center of Newcastle city. Its main commercial hub is located at the "Nineways".Newcastle. North of Broadmeadow is the junction with the Newcastle branch line, where electrification of the main line ends. However, electrification continues along the branch line to Newcastle Interchange terminus at Wickham, with the branch line beyond Wickham to the former Newcastle station having been closed and lifted from December 2014.
The line then swings westwards as four tracks; two main line and two coal roads traverse the outer suburbs of Newcastle to Maitland. The two coal roads run to the Newcastle coal lines, which serve a number of
The Main North line, formerly known as the Great Northern Railway (GNR), was the original mainline between
(accessed 30 June 2011) In 1892, the line was duplicated from Strathfield to Hornsby, and electrified in 1926 as part of the Bradfield electrification scheme. The line was further electrified to
The line then swings westwards as four tracks; two main line and two coal roads traverse the outer suburbs of Newcastle to Maitland. The two coal roads run to the Newcastle coal lines, which serve a number of collieries
Coal mining is the process of extracting coal from the ground. Coal is valued for its energy content and since the 1880s has been widely used to generate electricity. Steel and cement industries use coal as a fuel for extraction of iron fro ...
along the route. Maitland is the junction of the North Coast line which continues to Brisbane
Brisbane ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Queensland, and the third-most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of approximately 2.6 million. Brisbane lies at the centre of the South ...
and the Main North line. The line becomes double track immediately west of Maitland and heads through the Upper Hunter Valley townships of Branxton, Singleton and Muswellbrook where the double track ends.
Muswellbrook is the junction point for the former cross country line to Sandy Hollow and Gulgong
Gulgong is a 19th-century gold rush town in the Central Tablelands and the wider Central West regions of the Australian state of New South Wales. The town is situated within the Mid-Western Regional Council local government area. It is locate ...
. The Main North continues northwards through the Ardglen Tunnel to Werris Creek
Werris Creek is a small town in New South Wales, Australia, near Tamworth, in Liverpool Plains Shire. It is north of Quirindi and is at the junction of the Main North railway line to Armidale and Moree. At the 2011 census, Werris Creek had ...
, where the Mungindi Line branches off to Moree, and a former cross country branch continues to Binnaway and ultimately Dubbo
Dubbo () is a city in the Orana Region of New South Wales, Australia. It is the largest population centre in the Orana region, with a population of 43,516 at June 2021.
The city is located at the intersection of the Newell, Mitchell, and Go ...
.
The line continues north, but sees limited traffic beyond Werris Creek. The line reaches the major New England
New England is a region comprising six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York to the west and by the Canadian provinces ...
towns of Tamworth and Armidale, the latter being the northernmost extent of service on the line. Until the mid-2000s freight traffic continued to the disused station at Dumaresq
The Dumaresq is a mechanical calculating device invented around 1902 by Lieutenant John Dumaresq of the Royal Navy. It is an analogue computer that relates vital variables of the fire control problem to the movement of one's own ship and that ...
which is home to a now-also-disused agricultural fertilizer depot. There is now wire across the corridor at several points between Armidale and Dumaresq, after which the line is closed. A block is placed across the tracks a short distance from Dumaresq, at the 590 kilometre mark. North of Glen Innes the line, and particularly its bridges, have fallen into disrepair. In December 1991 the line was severed when the Roads & Traffic Authority built a deviation of the New England Highway over the line at Bluff Rock south of Tenterfield. At Wallangarra, the line met Queensland Railways' Southern railway line
The Southern railway line serves the Darling Downs region of Queensland, Australia. The long line branches from the Western line at Toowoomba, west of Brisbane, and proceeds south through Warwick and Stanthorpe to the New South Wales/Quee ...
.
History
The Main North line, formerly known as the Great Northern Railway (GNR), was the original mainline between Sydney
Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mounta ...
and Brisbane
Brisbane ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Queensland, and the third-most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of approximately 2.6 million. Brisbane lies at the centre of the South ...
. The first section of the Main North line was built in 1857 from the port of Newcastle to East Maitland as the ''Hunter River Railway Companys line. The line was then extended to Victoria Street, Maitland in 1858. It was extended to Singleton in 1863, Muswellbrook in 1869, Scone in 1871 and Murrurundi in 1872.
The GNR was then extended beyond Scone to Werris Creek
Werris Creek is a small town in New South Wales, Australia, near Tamworth, in Liverpool Plains Shire. It is north of Quirindi and is at the junction of the Main North railway line to Armidale and Moree. At the 2011 census, Werris Creek had ...
and West Tamworth in 1878, Armidale in 1883, and reached the Queensland border at Wallangarra in 1888. The North Coast line to Brisbane, via the North Coast was opened in stages between 1905 and 1930, but a ferry carried trains across the Clarence River until the Grafton Bridge was completed in 1932. The Newcastle rail network remained independent of the main network radiating from Sydney until 1889, when the line between Sydney and Newcastle was completed with the opening of the Hawkesbury River Railway Bridge. Thus Newcastle was connected by rail with Wallangarra before it was connected with Sydney, such was the difficulty and expense of reaching and bridging the Hawkesbury River.
The Sydney to Newcastle section, Homebush to Waratah, had difficult topography to overcome, including crossing the Hawkesbury River, traversing the Mullet Creek bank and constructing the Woy Woy Tunnel. From the south, the line was opened between Homebush and Hornsby in 1886, then extended to Hawkesbury River in 1887. From the north, the line opened between Waratah and Gosford
Gosford is the city and administrative centre of the Central Coast Council local government area in the heart of the Central Coast region, about north of Sydney and about south of Newcastle. The city centre is situated at the northern extr ...
in 1887. Progress in the construction of the last section between Hawkesbury River and Gosford occurred when the Woy Woy Tunnel opened in 1887, then Mullet Creek to Gosford in 1888 and finally Hawkesbury River to Mullet Creek in 1889 when the original Hawkesbury River Railway Bridge was built.Opening of the Hawkesbury Bridge, The Sydney Morning Herald, Thursday 2 May 1889, p.7(accessed 30 June 2011) In 1892, the line was duplicated from Strathfield to Hornsby, and electrified in 1926 as part of the Bradfield electrification scheme. The line was further electrified to
Gosford
Gosford is the city and administrative centre of the Central Coast Council local government area in the heart of the Central Coast region, about north of Sydney and about south of Newcastle. The city centre is situated at the northern extr ...
in January 1960, Wyong in April 1982 and Newcastle in June 1984. Freight trains were hauled by electric locomotives until March 1998.
Branch lines
Several lines branch from the Main North Line, including: * Newcastle Branch Line fromBroadmeadow
Broadmeadow is the geographic center of Newcastle city. Its main commercial hub is located at the "Nineways".Newcastle Interchange (used to go further to old Newcastle station until it was closed in December 2014)
* Richmond Vale railway line from
The line was hampered by the rugged terrain and a change of
ARTC maps of rail network outside Railcorp controlled zone (Sydney)Curve and gradient data for all lines including some closed lines
{{Railway lines in New South Wales 1857 establishments in Australia Hornsby Shire Liverpool Plains Shire Rail transport in the Hunter Region Railway lines opened in 1857 Railway lines opened in 1888 Recipients of Engineers Australia engineering heritage markers Regional railway lines in New South Wales Standard gauge railways in Australia Tenterfield Shire
Hexham
Hexham ( ) is a market town and civil parish in Northumberland, England, on the south bank of the River Tyne, formed by the confluence of the North Tyne and the South Tyne at Warden nearby, and close to Hadrian's Wall. Hexham was the administra ...
to Weston (closed 1987)
* South Maitland Railway from Maitland to Pelton
* Merriwa line to Sandy Hollow and on to the Sandy Hollow to Gulgong line
* Mungindi line from Werris Creek
Werris Creek is a small town in New South Wales, Australia, near Tamworth, in Liverpool Plains Shire. It is north of Quirindi and is at the junction of the Main North railway line to Armidale and Moree. At the 2011 census, Werris Creek had ...
to Narrabri
Narrabri ( ) is a locality and seat of Narrabri Shire local government area in the North West Slopes, New South Wales, Australia on the Namoi River, northwest of Sydney. It sits on the junction of the Kamilaroi Highway and the Newell Highway. ...
and Moree
* Toronto line from Fassifern to Toronto
Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the anch ...
(closed 1990 and converted to cycleway)
* Belmont line from Adamstown to Belmont (closed 1991 and converted to a cycleway called '' The Fernleigh Track'')
* Morpeth Line from East Maitland to Morpeth (closed 1953)
* Barraba line from West Tamworth to Barraba
Barraba is a town in the New England region of northern New South Wales, Australia. It was formerly the centre of Barraba Shire local government area, but most of this, including Barraba, was absorbed into Tamworth Regional Council in 2004. On ...
(closed 1980s)
Services
The line was serviced by the overnight '' Northern Mail'' until it ceased in November 1988. The ''Northern Tablelands Express
The Northern Tablelands Express is a passenger train service in Australia operated by the New South Wales Government Railways and its successors since June 1941.
History
The ''Northern Tablelands Express'' has operated from Sydney via the Main ...
'' provided a daylight service to Glen Innes, with some journeys extended to Tenterfield until truncated in October 1985 to Armidale and in February 1990 to Tamworth.
NSW TrainLink North Coast and North Western operates regional and intercity passenger services along the Main North line. A daily North Western train operates from Sydney to Werris Creek before dividing, one operating along the Main North line to Armidale, the other section operating along the North-West line to Moree. Central Coast & Newcastle Line intercity passenger services operate between Sydney and Newcastle. The Hunter Line operates between Newcastle, Maitland and Scone, with a branch to Dungog
Dungog is a country town on the Williams River in the Hunter Region of New South Wales, Australia. Located in the middle of dairy and timber country, it is the centre of the Dungog Shire local government area and at the 2016 census it had a ...
on the North Coast line. Sydney Trains
Sydney Trains is the operator of the suburban passenger rail network serving the city of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. The network is a hybrid urban-suburban rail system with a central underground core that covers over of track and 170 ...
operates suburban passenger services in the section between Strathfield and Berowra.
The section between Strathfield and Maitland forms part of the interstate line between Sydney and Brisbane and sees intermodal freight traffic carried between the two cities. The section of line in the Hunter Valley
The Hunter Region, also commonly known as the Hunter Valley, is a region of New South Wales, Australia, extending from approximately to north of Sydney. It contains the Hunter River and its tributaries with highland areas to the north and ...
sees intensive coal train working, with the section between Broadmeadow and Maitland one of the busiest freight lines in Australia.
Developments
The line was hampered by the rugged terrain and a change of gauge
Gauge ( or ) may refer to:
Measurement
* Gauge (instrument), any of a variety of measuring instruments
* Gauge (firearms)
* Wire gauge, a measure of the size of a wire
** American wire gauge, a common measure of nonferrous wire diameter, es ...
at Wallangarra for traffic to Queensland. The line was superseded as the principal route to Brisbane
Brisbane ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Queensland, and the third-most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of approximately 2.6 million. Brisbane lies at the centre of the South ...
by the completion of the North Coast Line in 1930. Despite being bypassed, the line remained busy for many years afterwards, with the line instead becoming the major freight link to the wheat and wool regions of northern and north-west New South Wales.
In 1988, the newly elected Greiner State Government commissioned a report into the State Rail Authority by Booz Allen Hamilton
Booz Allen Hamilton Holding Corporation (informally Booz Allen) is the parent of Booz Allen Hamilton Inc., an American management and information technology consulting firm, headquartered in McLean, Virginia, in Greater Washington, D.C., with 8 ...
. As a result, the line between Tenterfield and Wallangarra was closed. The last train to operate north of Tenterfield was an Australian Railway Historical Society
The Australian Railway Historical Society (ARHS) aims to foster an interest in the railways, and record and preserve many facets of railway operations. It had divisions in every state and the Australian Capital Territory, although the ACT divis ...
charter on 15 January 1988 hauled by diesel locomotive 4487. The last train to operate north of Glen Innes was hauled by steam locomotive 3001 on 22 October 1989 after which the line was formally suspended from operations.
Following the ''Northern Tablelands Express
The Northern Tablelands Express is a passenger train service in Australia operated by the New South Wales Government Railways and its successors since June 1941.
History
The ''Northern Tablelands Express'' has operated from Sydney via the Main ...
'' being truncated in February 1990, the line north of Tamworth saw little use until the Xplorer service was introduced to Armidale in October 1993. The line to Glen Innes was still open in July 1992 when diesel locomotive 4499 operated a crew training service.
There have been attempts to revive freight or tourist traffic to as far as Glen Innes, although these plans have not yet succeeded.
A section of the line between Waratah and Maitland is quadruple track, with one pair being used exclusively for coal trains within the Hunter Valley
The Hunter Region, also commonly known as the Hunter Valley, is a region of New South Wales, Australia, extending from approximately to north of Sydney. It contains the Hunter River and its tributaries with highland areas to the north and ...
coal trains and the other pair being used by passenger trains and general freight. The coal tracks from Port Waratah join the line on the eastern side of the other tracks at Scholey Street Junction and pass underneath the other tracks at Hanbury Dive just west of Maud Street, continuing to Maitland on the western side of the other tracks.
In November 1989, a fourth track was added between Eastwood Eastwood may refer to:
Places
;in Australia
*Eastwood, New South Wales
**Eastwood railway station
** Electoral district of Eastwood
*Eastwood, South Australia
;in Canada
* Eastwood, Ontario
*Eastwood, Edmonton, Alberta, a neighborhood
;in the P ...
and West Ryde. In the mid-1990s a loop was constructed at Cowan.
The Sandgate Flyover
The Sandgate Flyover is a grade-separated railway flyover that carries the Main North line across the Kooragang Island line, located in Sandgate, in the City of Newcastle local government area of New South Wales, Australia.
Description
Si ...
was constructed in 2006 to allow the two passenger/freight tracks to rise and pass over the coal tracks that branch off to Kooragang Island in order to eliminate a capacity restriction caused by the long coal trains crossing the other tracks at grade. Because of the location of the overpass relative to the branch to Kooragang Island, a short section of the line has 6 parallel tracks. The bridge carrying Sandgate Road over the lines had to modified to allow for the additional lines. Sandgate station is flanked by a pair of coal tracks on each side.
As part of the Rail Clearways Program, in August 2006 an additional platform was opened at Berowra, and in March 2009 an additional platform and passing loop was opened at Hornsby.
In 2011, the Northern Sydney Freight Corridor project commenced to improve access for freight trains. This has seen the completion of a loop at Hexham
Hexham ( ) is a market town and civil parish in Northumberland, England, on the south bank of the River Tyne, formed by the confluence of the North Tyne and the South Tyne at Warden nearby, and close to Hadrian's Wall. Hexham was the administra ...
in June 2012, two loops between Gosford
Gosford is the city and administrative centre of the Central Coast Council local government area in the heart of the Central Coast region, about north of Sydney and about south of Newcastle. The city centre is situated at the northern extr ...
and Narara in February 2015, plus an underpass and loop between North Strathfield and Rhodes
Rhodes (; el, Ρόδος , translit=Ródos ) is the largest and the historical capital of the Dodecanese islands of Greece. Administratively, the island forms a separate municipality within the Rhodes regional unit, which is part of the S ...
in June 2015. A third track between Epping and Thornleigh was completed in June 2016.
Engineering heritage award
The Great Northern Railway received a Historic Engineering Marker fromEngineers Australia
Engineers Australia (EA) is an Australian professional body and not-for-profit organisation whose purpose is to advance the science and practice of engineering for the benefit of the community. Engineers Australia is Australia's recognized org ...
as part of its Engineering Heritage Recognition Program.
See also
* Central Coast & Newcastle Line *Rail transport in New South Wales
The Australian state of New South Wales has an extensive network of railways, which were integral to the growth and development of the state. The vast majority of railway lines were government built and operated, but there were also several pri ...
* Sydney–Brisbane rail corridor
The Sydney–Brisbane railway corridor is a long standard-gauge railway corridor that connects the state capitals of Brisbane (Queensland) and Sydney (New South Wales) in Australia.
Description
The corridor consists of the first of the Main ...
* Woy Woy Tunnel
References
External links
*ARTC maps of rail network outside Railcorp controlled zone (Sydney)
{{Railway lines in New South Wales 1857 establishments in Australia Hornsby Shire Liverpool Plains Shire Rail transport in the Hunter Region Railway lines opened in 1857 Railway lines opened in 1888 Recipients of Engineers Australia engineering heritage markers Regional railway lines in New South Wales Standard gauge railways in Australia Tenterfield Shire