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The 'Hunter' railway line is a regional railway line which is part of Sydney's CityRail network. The line runs from the central business district of Newcastle, on the coast, northwest to Scone and Dungog in the Hunter Valley area.

Contents

History and Features

Stations

Stopping Patterns

Closed stations

History and Features

:''See also: Main North Line and North Coast Line.''
The Hunter line consists of the Newcastle branch line between Newcastle and Islington Junction, the Main North line between Islington Junction and Maitland, the North Coast Line between Maitland and Dungog and the Main North line between Maitland and Scone. The Main North line was the original mainline between Sydney and Brisbane. This line, which ran via Armidale and required a change of gauge at Wallangarra, was opened to Singleton in 1863, and extended past Scone to Tamworth in 1878. The new main line to Brisbane, via the North Coast was opened in 1932. The Newcastle rail network remained independent until 1889 to the Sydney network when the main line between Sydney and Newcastle was completed.
Between Islington Junction and Maitland, there is a four track section where the line runs parallel to the Newcastle coal lines, which serve a number of colleries along the route. The line is double track between Newcastle and Antiene on the main line, and between Maitland and Telarah on the North Coast line, and single track between Telarah and Dungog, and between Antiene and Scone, with duplication from Antiene to Muswellbrook proposed. The line is not electrified except between Hamilton and Newcastle for the benefit of Sydney trains, and the line is serviced by 620 & 720 class diesel railcars(DMUs) and Endeavour railcars. Having run since the 1960s, the 620 & 720 railcars are being phased out in 2006 and being replaced by newer Hunter railcars.
Services run regularly between Newcastle and Telarah, with less frequent services to Dungog and Scone.

Stations

'Name of Station'	'Code'	'Newcastle TravelPass Zone'	'Serving Suburbs'	'Pattern stops at this station'						'Connections'
'Hunter Lines'
'Newcastle'	NTL	'Yellow'	Newcastle, Newcastle East, The Hill							'Newcastle and Central Coast Line'
'Civic'	CVI	'Yellow'	Newcastle, Honeysuckle, Cooks Hill
'Wickham'	WKH	'Yellow'	Wickham, Newcastle West
'Hamilton'	HMN	'Yellow'	Hamilton, Islington							'Newcastle and Central Coast Line'
'Waratah'	WTH	'Yellow'	Waratah, Georgetown, Mayfield, Mayfield East
'Warabrook (University)'	WBK	'Yellow'	Warabrook, Callaghan
'Sandgate'	SDG	'Yellow'	Sandgate
'Hexham'	HXM	'Yellow'	Hexham
'Tarro'	TRJ	'Yellow'	Tarro
'Beresfield'	BLD	'Yellow'	Beresfield
'Thornton'	THO	'Yellow'	Thornton
'Metford'	MFD	'Pink'	Metford
'Victoria Street'	VST	'Pink'	East Maitland
'East Maitland'	EAM	'Pink'	East Maitland, Pitnacree, Tenambit
'High Street'	HGH	'Pink'	South Maitland, Maitland
'Maitland'	MTL	'Pink'	Maitland
'Telarah'	TLR	'Pink'	Telarah
'Mindaribba'	MNB	-	Mindaribba
'Paterson'	PTR	-	Paterson
'Martins Creek'	MCR	-	Martins Creek
'Hilldale'	HIL	-	Hilldale
'Wallarobba'	WLB	-	Wallarobba
'Wirragulla'	WGL	-	Wirragulla
'Dungog'	DGG	-	Dungog
'Lochinvar'	LCV	-	Lochinvar
'Greta'	GTA	-	Greta, North Rothbury
'Branxton'	BNX	-	Branxton, East Branxton
'Singleton'	SIX	-	Singleton
'Muswellbrook'	MBK	-	Muswellbrook
'Aberdeen'	ADM	-	Aberdeen
'Scone'	NSO	-	Scone

Stopping Patterns

★ 'Pattern 1:' Newcastle, all to Telarah and vice-versa (peak and off-peak).

★ 'Pattern 2:' Newcastle, all to Warabrook, then Beresfield, Thornton, Metford, Victoria Street, Maitland and Telarah and vice-versa (peak and off-peak - weekdays only).

★ 'Pattern 3:' Newcastle all to Maitland and vice-versa (one afternoon off-peak service on weekdays, two services on weekends).

★ 'Pattern 4:' Newcastle, all to Warabrook, then Beresfield, Thornton, Metford, Victoria Street, Maitland and all stations to Dungog and vice-versa (peak and off-peak, 5 services a day on weekdays, 3 services a day on Saturdays, 2 services a day on Sundays).

★ 'Pattern 5:' Newcastle, all to Warabrook, then Beresfield, Thornton, Metford, Victoria Street, Maitland, and all stations to Scone and vice-versa (peak and off-peak, 3 services (1 early morning, 1 afternoon peak hour, 1 evening peak hour) on weekdays, 2 services (1 early morning, 1 evening) on weekends).

★ 'Pattern 6:' Newcastle, all to Warabrook, then Beresfield, Thornton, Metford, Victoria Street, Maitland and all stations to Muswellbrook and vice-versa (one mid-morning off-peak service on weekdays only).

Closed stations

★ Allandale - permanently closed on September 9, 2005

★ Belford - permanently closed on September 4, 2005