Main North railway line, New South Wales

Main North Line
Hawkesbury River Railway Bridge
Overview
Termini	Strathfield Armidale
Technical
Line length	781 km (485 mi)
Track gauge	1,435 mm (4 ft 8+1⁄2 in)
Electrification	1,500 V DC (up to Broadmeadow}
Highest elevation	1,363 m (4,472 ft)
Route map Legend Main Suburban line 012 Strathfield 000 Main Suburban line North Strathfield Concord West Rhodes John Whitton Bridge over Parramatta River Meadowbank West Ryde Denistone Eastwood Sydney Metro Northwest to Chatswood 023 Epping Sydney Metro Northwest to Tallawong Cheltenham Beecroft Pennant Hills Thornleigh Normanhurst North Shore line to Sydney 034 Hornsby Asquith Mount Colah Mount Kuring-gai 45 Berowra limit of suburban passenger services Cowan Cowan Bank & Boronia Tunnels Hawkesbury River Long Island Tunnel Railway Bridge Mullet Creek Tunnel Wondabyne Woy Woy Tunnel Woy Woy Koolewong Tascott Point Clare Brisbane Water Gosford Racecourse 081 Gosford Narara Niagara Park Lisarow Ourimbah Kangy Angy Maintenance Centre Tuggerah 101 Wyong Warnervale Wyee Vales Point coal unloader Morisset Dora Creek Eraring coal unloader Awaba Wangi Power Station Toronto line Fassifern Newstan colliery Booragul Teralba Boolaroo Boolaroo Racecourse to West Wallsend Colliery Cockle Creek Sulphide Junction Platform Cardiff Tickhole Tunnel Kotara Belmont line Adamstown 163 Broadmeadow Newcastle line to Newcastle Interchange limit of electrification UGL Rail to Port Waratah Waratah Hanbury Dive Wallsend line Warabrook (University) to Kooragang Island coal loaders Sandgate Cemetery branch Sandgate Sandgate Flyover Hexham Richmond Vale line Tarro Beresfield Thornton Bloomfield Colliery Metford Victoria Street East Maitland Morpeth line High Street 193 Maitland South Maitland Railway North Coast line to Brisbane Farley Lochinvar Allandale Greta Whitburn Colliery Branxton Belford Minimbah Whittingham Hunter Valley collieries line 239 Singleton Hunter River Camberwell and Rixs Creek collieries Nundah Glennies Creek Mount Owen colliery Ravensworth Bayswater Power Station Hunter Valley collieries line Mount Arthur and Drayton collieries Antiene Grasstree Muswellbrook Merriwa line to Ulan and Gulgong Koolbury Dartbrook colliery Aberdeen 315 Scone limit of intercity passenger services Parkville Wingen Murrulla Blandford Murrurundi Temple Court Ardglen Tunnel Ardglen Kankool Willow Tree Braefield Quirindi Quipolly 411 Werris Creek Mungindi line Warrigundi Currabubula Belgamba Duri Warral Barraba line West Tamworth Peel River Railway Bridge   455 Tamworth Nemingha Tintinhull Kootingal Limbri Danglemah Macdonald River Railway Bridge Woolbrook Walcha Road Wollun Kentucky South Kentucky Uralla Kellys Plains 579 Armidale limit of passenger services Dumaresq Exmouth Black Mountain Guyra Llangothlin Ben Lomond Glencoe Stonehenge Glen Innes Yarraford Dundee Deepwater Greenley Bolivia Sandy Flat Bungulla Tenterfield Sunnyside 792 Wallangarra Queensland New South Wales border Queensland Rail Southern line km

The Main North Line (also known as the Great Northern Railway) is a major railway in

The line then swings westwards as four tracks; two main line and two coal roads traverse the outer suburbs of Newcastle to

The line continues north, but sees limited traffic beyond Werris Creek. The line reaches the major

The Main North line, formerly known as the Great Northern Railway (GNR), was the original mainline between Sydney and Brisbane. 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 Company's line.^[2][3] 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

The Sydney to Newcastle section,

• Newcastle Branch Line from Broadmeadow to Newcastle Interchange (used to go further to old Newcastle station
  until it was closed in December 2014)
• Richmond Vale railway line from Hexham to Weston (closed 1987)
• South Maitland Railway from Maitland to Pelton
• Sandy Hollow to Gulgong line
• Mungindi line from Werris Creek to Narrabri and Moree
• Toronto line from Fassifern to Toronto (closed 1990 and converted to cycleway)
• The Fernleigh Track
  )
• Morpeth Line from East Maitland to Morpeth
  (closed 1953)
• Barraba
  (closed 1980s)

The line was serviced by the overnight Northern Mail until it ceased in November 1988.^[10] The Northern Tablelands Express provided a daylight service to Glen Innes, with some journeys extended to Tenterfield until truncated in October 1985 to Armidale^[11] and in February 1990 to Tamworth.^[12]

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 on the North Coast line. Sydney Trains 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 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

In 1988, the newly elected Greiner State Government commissioned a report into the State Rail Authority by Booz Allen Hamilton. 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 charter on 15 January 1988 hauled by diesel locomotive 4487.^[13] 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.^[14][15]

Following the Northern Tablelands Express 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.^[16]

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

In November 1989, a fourth track was added between Eastwood and West Ryde.^[17] In the mid-1990s a loop was constructed at Cowan.

The

As part of the Rail Clearways Program, in August 2006 an additional platform was opened at Berowra,^[18] and in March 2009 an additional platform and passing loop was opened at Hornsby.^[19]

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 in June 2012,^[20] two loops between Gosford and Narara in February 2015,^[21] plus an underpass and loop between North Strathfield and Rhodes in June 2015.^[22] A third track between Epping and Thornleigh was completed in June 2016.^[23]

Engineering heritage award

The Great Northern Railway received a Historic Engineering Marker from Engineers Australia as part of its Engineering Heritage Recognition Program.^[24]

See also

• Central Coast & Newcastle Line
• Rail transport in New South Wales
• Sydney–Brisbane rail corridor
• Woy Woy Tunnel

References

External links

• Media related to Main Northern railway line, New South Wales at Wikimedia Commons
• ARTC maps of rail network outside Railcorp controlled zone (Sydney)
• Curve and gradient data for all lines including some closed lines