Newcastle railway line, New South Wales

Newcastle railway line
Platform-level view of the Newcastle railway line as it runs through Hamilton, its temporary terminus.
Overview
Locale	Newcastle
Termini	Islington Junction Hamilton
Stations	1
Operation
Opened	1857
Owner	RailCorp
Operator(s)	NSW TrainLink
Technical
Track length	1.9 kilometres (1.2 mi)
Number of tracks	Double track
Track gauge	1,435 mm (4 ft 8 1⁄2 in)
Electrification	Yes
Route map 00 Main North railway line to Armidale 164.39 km from Main North railway line Beaumont Street 164.63 km Hamilton 165.60 km Newcastle Interchange opens 2017 Stewart Avenue Wickham closed 2014 Honeysuckle closed 1872 Newcastle Mortuary closed 1933 Civic closed 2014 Newcastle closed 2014 This diagram:

The Newcastle railway line is a branch railway line in the city of Newcastle, New South Wales, Australia. The line branches off the Main North line at Broadmeadow and travels in an easterly direction through the inner suburbs to Hamilton station. Until its curtailment in December 2014, it extended to Newcastle station. NSW TrainLink operates electric passenger train services over this line as part of its Central & Newcastle line service, and diesel railcars to Maitland and beyond as part of the Hunter Line.

A line between Newcastle and the then much larger settlement at Maitland was first proposed in 1853 by the proponents of the original Sydney to Parramatta railway. The Hunter River Railway Company was formed later that year and the line was surveyed, however the private company failed and was bought out by the NSW government. Construction continued until the line opened in 1857. The line between Sydney and Newcastle was electrified in June 1984.

The terminus at Newcastle moved to various locations throughout the years, and has variously been named Honeysuckle and Honeysuckle Point. It was moved to its current location in 1872 and took its final name of Newcastle in 1935 when Wickham and Civic stations opened. A mortuary station opened in 1883 to serve trains departing for Sandgate Cemetery. It closed on 1 April 1933. A large goods yard, the Newcastle Goods yard was constructed east of Newcastle station in 1858. This was closed in the late 1980s and redeveloped as a bus station and park land. The line was duplicated in 1864. The Main North Line from Sydney connected at Hamilton Junction in 1887.