Central Coast and Newcastle line

The Central Coast & Newcastle Line (CCN) is an intercity service, part of the NSW TrainLink network. It runs from Sydney Central to Newcastle Interchange, a large city to the north of Sydney, via the Central Coast region. It is coloured red on NSW TrainLink maps and other promotional material.

Route[]

The line starts at Sydney Central's intercity platforms (1-12). It then travels west, entering the six track Main Suburban railway line, using the Main pair of tracks. At Strathfield, the line turns to the north and enters the Main North line, which it stays on for most of the way to Newcastle. Most of the Main North up to Hornsby is 3-4 tracks, with some short double track sections. This allows CCN trains to pass suburban T9 services.

Past Berowra, the line starts to travel through bushland in the outskirts of Sydney. The terrain here is steep and rugged. The line climbs approaching Cowan and then descends steeply with grades of up to 1:37 towards Hawkesbury River. The line also passes through a number of sharp turns, cuttings and tunnels, allowing the line to traverse the difficult terrain without being too steep for heavier freight trains. The line was deviated in 1909 and 1946 to further ease the gradient, creating two disused tunnels.

After Hawkesbury River station, the line crosses the Hawkesbury River using a large bridge. It then continues along the banks of Mullet Creek. There are rainfall monitors set up in this section as there is a risk of landslide during heavy rain. After this section, the line is mostly unremarkable, passing through many towns in the Central Coast region. After Broadmeadow, the line turns onto the Newcastle Branch railway line, ending at Newcastle Interchange.

The line is electrified throughout at 1500V DC, and is primarily double track, although there are passing loops at Hawkesbury River, Gosford, Wyong, Awaba, and Sulphide Junction (between Cockle Creek and Cardiff). Trains can terminate at Gosford (added platform), Wyong (added platform) and Morisset (crossover) stations.

There are two stations planned on the line - a new station for Warnervale town centre at North Warnervale and a Glendale station between Cockle Creek and Cardiff.

The line is notable for the detailed murals that adorn areas near most stations between Hornsby and Newcastle, incorporating imagery and names related to the appropriate station.

Services[]

The line is usually served by two trains per hour (tph) in the off-peak (stopping patterns shown below):

Central, all to Newcastle Interchange (1tph)
Central, express to Newcastle Interchange (1tph)

There are additional services during the peak, which use the Gosford and Wyong termini as well. Additionally, some peak services run via the North Shore line and then continue past Central to terminate at Blacktown, in Sydney's west. Some trains also make extra suburban stops during the peak at Redfern, Asquith and all stops Town Hall-Chatswood. Late night trains make all stops between Hornsby and Berowra in lieu of T1 North Shore line trains.

Weekend trains run to a slightly different arrangement:

Central, express to Wyong, all to Newcastle (0.5tph)
Central, express to Wyong, express to Newcastle (0.5tph)
Central, all to Wyong (1tph)

Historically, there were also shuttle services that ran between Newcastle-Morriset. There were also two named services on the line: "The River", which ran between Wyong and St Marys via the freight line at Strathfield and "Newcastle Flyer", which ran between Central and Newcastle, but skipped most stations, even those usually stopped at by express services. Both of these ran during the peak, and were intended to speed up the journey for people living on the upper Central Coast working in Sydney.

CCN services are run by H and V sets, in both 4 and 8 car configurations. V sets usually run weekday express services, with H sets on the rest. (Note that V sets are never rostered on services running via the North Shore, as most platforms are too short to accomodate an 8 car V set and they are not marked as short platforms). There were also once 2 car K sets that ran on the Newcastle-Morriset shuttle.

Opal is accepted for all services on this line.

Free Wi-fi Trial[]

In 2020, Transport for NSW began trialling free Wi-Fi to stations on the Central Coast Line, between Wyong and Hornsby, to improve connectivity between the two areas. 19 stations have had Wi-Fi installed. The trial will run for 3 years at all stations between Wyong and Hornsby. It is the first line in New South Wales to receive the trial. [1]

Stations[]

The table below only shows regularly served stations. As described above, some services make extra stops or run via a different route.


Name of Stat	Code	Serving Suburbs	All stops or Express	Interchange for
Central	CEN	Chippendale, Strawberry Hills, Ultimo, Surry Hills, Haymarket	Express
Strathfield	SFD	Strathfield, Burwood	Express
Epping	EPG	Epping, North Epping	Express
Hornsby	HBY	Hornsby, Waitara	Express
Berowra	BEW	Berowra, Berowra Heights	All stops
Cowan	CWN	Cowan
Hawkesbury River	HKR	Brooklyn
Wondabyne	WNY	Wondabyne	All stops (on request)
Woy Woy	WOY	Woy Woy	Express
Koolewong	KWG	Koolewong	All stops
Tascott	TCT	Tascott
Point Clare	PTC	Point Clare
Gosford	GOS	Gosford	Express
Narara	NRR	Narara	All stops
Niagara Park	NIA	Niagara Park
Lisarow	LRW	Lisarow
Ourimbah	OUR	Ourimbah
Tuggerah	TUG	Tuggerah, Mardi, Chittaway Point, Kangy Angy	Express
Wyong	WYG	Wyong, Wattanobi	Express
Warnervale	WNV	Warnervale, Woongarrah, Hamlyn Terrace	All stops
Wyee	WYE	Wyee	All stops (Weekdays), Express (Weekends and Pubic Holidays)
Morisset	MST	Morisset	Express
Dora Creek	DCK	Dora Creek, Myuna Bay, Eraring	All stops
Awaba	AWB	Awaba	All stops
Fassifern	FSN	Fassifern, Blackalls Park, Fennell Bay	Express
Booragul	BOU	Booragul, Marmong Point	All stops
Teralba	TRA	Teralba
Cockle Creek	CCK	Cockle Creek
Cardiff	CDF	Cardiff, Cardiff Heights, Glendale	Express
Kotara	KRA	Kotara, Kotara South	All stops
Adamstown	ADT	Adamstown, New Lambton	All stops
Broadmeadow	BMD	Broadmeadow	Express
Hamilton	HAM	Hamilton, Islington
Newcastle Interchange	NWI	Wickham, Newcastle West		Newcastle Light Rail
The line was truncated to Hamilton in 2014. Before that, the service continued to Newcastle Station.
Wickham	WKH	Wickham, Newcastle West	Express
Civic	CVI	Newcastle, Honeysuckle, Cooks Hill
Newcastle	NTL	Newcastle, Newcastle East, The Hill