Main North railway line, New South Wales facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Main North Line |
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Hawkesbury River Railway Bridge
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| 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) |
The Main North Line (also called the Great Northern Railway) is a very important railway line in New South Wales, Australia. It stretches from Strathfield in Sydney all the way to Armidale. For a long time, this line was the main way to travel between Sydney and Armidale. After 1988, parts of the line north of Armidale slowly closed down. By 2004, the main route between Sydney and Brisbane became the North Coast line instead.
Contents
Exploring the Main North Line Route
The Main North Line begins in Sydney at Strathfield. It branches off from the Main Suburban line there. At first, it has four tracks that are electrified, meaning they use electricity to power trains. This section goes to Rhodes.
The line then crosses the John Whitton Bridge over the Parramatta River with two tracks. Near West Ryde, it expands back to four tracks, continuing to Epping. After Epping, it mostly has two tracks as it goes through Sydney's northern suburbs. It crosses the famous Hawkesbury River Railway Bridge before reaching the Central Coast.
At Fassifern, there used to be a branch line that went to Toronto. This branch line closed in 1990. The Main North Line keeps going north to Broadmeadow, which is near Newcastle. North of Broadmeadow, the electric power for the main line ends. However, the electricity continues on a branch line to Newcastle Interchange. The very end of the line, which went to the old Newcastle station, was closed in 2014.
The line then turns west and becomes four tracks again. Two of these tracks are for regular trains, and two are special "coal roads." These coal roads are used by trains carrying coal from mines in the Hunter Valley. These tracks go through the outer parts of Newcastle to Maitland.
Maitland is a key junction where the North Coast line (which goes to Brisbane) splits off. The Main North Line then becomes two tracks right after Maitland. It travels through the Upper Hunter Valley towns like Branxton, Singleton, and Muswellbrook. The double track ends at Muswellbrook.
Muswellbrook is also where another line used to branch off, going to Sandy Hollow and Gulgong. The Main North Line continues north, passing through the Ardglen Tunnel. It reaches Werris Creek, where the Mungindi Line branches off to Moree. There was also another branch line from Werris Creek that went to Binnaway and Dubbo.
Beyond Werris Creek, the line doesn't see much train traffic. It reaches the important towns of Tamworth and Armidale in the New England area. Armidale is the furthest north that trains still travel on this line today. North of Glen Innes, the line and its bridges are in poor condition. In 1991, the line was cut when a new highway was built over it near Bluff Rock, south of Tenterfield. At Wallangarra, the Main North Line used to connect with Queensland Railways' Southern railway line.
A Look Back at the Railway's History
The Great Northern Railway was originally the main railway connecting Sydney and Brisbane. The very first part of the Main North Line opened in 1857. It ran from the port of Newcastle to East Maitland. This was built by the Hunter River Railway Company. In 1853, a man named William Charles Wentworth hoped the line would one day reach Scone to the north and Sydney to the south.
The line was extended to Victoria Street, Maitland, in 1858. It then reached Singleton in 1863, Muswellbrook in 1869, Scone in 1871, and Murrurundi in 1872.
The railway kept growing. It reached Werris Creek and West Tamworth in 1878. By 1883, it got to Armidale. Finally, in 1888, it reached the Queensland border at Wallangarra.
The North Coast line, which also goes to Brisbane, was built in stages between 1905 and 1930. For a while, trains had to cross the Clarence River on a ferry until the Grafton Bridge was finished in 1932.
The railway network around Newcastle was separate from the Sydney network until 1889. That's when the line connecting Sydney and Newcastle was completed. This happened when the first Hawkesbury River Railway Bridge opened. It was very difficult and expensive to build a bridge over the Hawkesbury River. Because of this, Newcastle was connected by rail to Wallangarra before it was connected to Sydney!
Building the section between Sydney (from Homebush) and Newcastle (to Waratah) was a big challenge. Workers had to cross the Hawkesbury River, go over Mullet Creek, and dig the Woy Woy Tunnel. From the south, the line opened from Homebush to Hornsby in 1886. It then reached Hawkesbury River in 1887. From the north, the line opened between Waratah and Gosford in 1887. The final part, between Hawkesbury River and Gosford, was finished in stages. The Woy Woy Tunnel opened in 1887. The section from Mullet Creek to Gosford opened in 1888. Finally, the last part, from Hawkesbury River to Mullet Creek, opened in 1889 when the first Hawkesbury River Railway Bridge was built.
In 1892, the line from Strathfield to Hornsby was made into two tracks. In 1926, it was electrified as part of a big plan to use electricity for trains. The electric line was extended to Gosford in 1960, Wyong in 1982, and Newcastle in 1984. Electric locomotives used to pull freight trains until 1998.
Branch Lines from the Main North Line
Many other railway lines branch off from the Main North Line. Here are some of them:
- Newcastle Branch Line: This line goes from Broadmeadow to Newcastle Interchange. It used to go further to the old Newcastle station, but that part closed in 2014.
- Richmond Vale railway line: This line went from Hexham to Weston. It closed in 1987.
- South Maitland Railway: This line runs from Maitland to Pelton.
- Merriwa line: This line goes to Sandy Hollow and connects to the Sandy Hollow to Gulgong line.
- Mungindi line: This line branches off at Werris Creek and goes to Narrabri and Moree.
- Toronto line: This line went from Fassifern to Toronto. It closed in 1990 and is now a cycleway.
- Belmont line: This line went from Adamstown to Belmont. It closed in 1991 and is now a cycleway called The Fernleigh Track.
- Morpeth Line: This line went from East Maitland to Morpeth. It closed in 1953.
- Barraba line: This line went from West Tamworth to Barraba. It closed in the 1980s.
Trains and Services on the Line
In the past, the Main North Line had famous overnight passenger trains like the Northern Mail, which stopped running in 1988. The Northern Tablelands Express was a daylight service that went to Glen Innes. Sometimes it even went to Tenterfield, but by 1990, it only went as far as Tamworth.
Today, NSW TrainLink operates regional and intercity passenger services. A daily train from Sydney goes to Werris Creek. There, it splits into two parts: one goes along the Main North Line to Armidale, and the other goes to Moree.
Intercity passenger services, called the Central Coast & Newcastle Line, run between Sydney and Newcastle. The Hunter Line operates between Newcastle, Maitland, and Scone. It also has a branch to Dungog on the North Coast line. Sydney Trains operates suburban passenger services on the section between Strathfield and Berowra.
The section of the line between Strathfield and Maitland is part of the main route between Sydney and Brisbane. It carries many freight trains that move goods between these two big cities. The part of the line in the Hunter Valley is very busy with coal trains. The section between Broadmeadow and Maitland is one of the busiest freight lines in Australia!
Recent Changes and Improvements
The Main North Line faced challenges because of the tough landscape and a change in gauge (track width) at Wallangarra for trains going to Queensland. In 1930, the North Coast Line was completed. This new line became the main route to Brisbane, taking over from the Main North Line. Even though it was no longer the main route, the Main North Line stayed busy for many years. It became a very important link for moving wheat and wool from northern New South Wales.
In 1988, the government decided to close the line between Tenterfield and Wallangarra. The last train to go north of Tenterfield was a special trip on January 15, 1988. The last train to go north of Glen Innes was on October 22, 1989, after which that part of the line was officially closed.
After the Northern Tablelands Express stopped going past Tamworth in 1990, the line north of Tamworth was not used much. However, in 1993, a new train service called the Xplorer started going to Armidale.
There have been ideas to bring back freight or tourist trains to Glen Innes, but these plans haven't happened yet.
A section of the line between Waratah and Maitland has four tracks. Two tracks are used only for coal trains in the Hunter Valley. The other two tracks are for passenger trains and general freight. The coal tracks from Port Waratah join the line and then go under the other tracks near Maud Street, continuing to Maitland.
In 1989, a fourth track was added between Eastwood and West Ryde. In the mid-1990s, a loop was built at Cowan to help trains pass each other.
The Sandgate Flyover was built in 2006. This bridge allows the passenger and freight tracks to go over the coal tracks that branch off to Kooragang Island. This helps prevent delays caused by long coal trains crossing the other tracks. Because of where it's built, a short part of the line actually has six parallel tracks! The bridge carrying Sandgate Road also had to be changed to fit the extra lines. Sandgate station has coal tracks on both sides.
As part of a program to clear up train traffic, an extra platform was opened at Berowra in 2006. In 2009, an extra platform and a passing loop were opened at Hornsby.
In 2011, a project called the Northern Sydney Freight Corridor began to make it easier for freight trains to move. This project added a loop at Hexham in 2012. Two more loops were added between Gosford and Narara in 2015. An underpass and a loop were also built between North Strathfield and Rhodes in 2015. A third track between Epping and Thornleigh was finished in 2016.
Engineering Heritage Award
The Great Northern Railway received a special award called a Historic Engineering Marker from Engineers Australia. This award recognizes its importance in engineering history.
Images for kids
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Pacific National 92 class locomotives pulling a coal train over the Hunter River at Singleton
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Sunnyside rail bridge over Tenterfield Creek has fallen into disrepair, 2015
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Abandoned section of the Main North line north of Armidale with a post marking the distance from Sydney Central station
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Wallangarra rail ticket 1989
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Cowan station
