Maitland railway station

Maitland is a railway station on the Hunter line. It serves the City of Maitland. Maitland station is the branch point for the Main North railway line and the North Coast Line, with the Main North Line continuing to Scone, and beyond and the North Coast Line continuing to Dungog and beyond.

History
The station opened as West Maitland in 1880, with only one platform. Platforms 2 & 3 were built in 1914, and platforms 4 & 5 were built at an unknown date. The station was renamed Maitland on 1st April 1949.

The station ran train services to Cessnock from June 1902 to May 1972, when the train line closed, due to low patronage. A similar bus service, the 164 bus, is run by Rover Coaches from Maitland to Cessnock in the present day.

Steamfest
Each April, the Hunter Valley Steamfest is held here. Steam and diesel trains run from Maitland to various other train stations, such as Paterson, Branxton and recently, Newcastle Interchange. There are also food stalls, music, rides, and more scattered around Maitland at this time. 2020 & 2021 Steamfests were cancelled due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

Platforms and Services
NSW TrainLink operates diesel self-propelled railcars through Maitland as part of its Hunter Line service from Newcastle. On average it receives two local trains per hour in each direction on weekdays (which are not evenly spaced) and an hourly service on weekends. Most outbound services terminate at Telarah, the first station on the North Coast Line, with a limited number of services continuing north to Scone or Dungog. Maitland is also a stopping point for Regional NSW TrainLink XPT and Xplorer services on the Main North and North Coast lines.