Hunter Line

This article is about the NSW TrainLink service. For the physical railway line, see Main North railway line, New South Wales. For the line used by hunters, see trapline.

The Hunter Line (HUN) is an intercity rail service operated by NSW TrainLink, running from Newcastle, with two branches to Dungog and Scone in the Hunter Region of New South Wales, Australia. It operates on the Newcastle, Main North and North Coast lines.

Hunter Line
A Hunter railcar at Hamilton.
Overview
Service type	Intercity rail
Locale	Hunter Region, New South Wales
Current operator(s)	NSW TrainLink
Route
Termini	Newcastle Scone Dungog
Stops	28
Line(s) used	Newcastle Main North North Coast
Technical
Rolling stock	Endeavour & Hunter railcars
Track gauge	1,435 mm (4 ft 8+1⁄2 in) standard gauge
Track owner(s)	Transport Asset Holding Entity
Timetable number(s)	HUN
Route map NSW TrainLink intercity services Blue Mountains Central Coast & Newcastle Hunter South Coast Southern Highlands Newcastle Interchange Hamilton Waratah Warabrook Sandgate Hexham Tarro Beresfield Thornton Metford Victoria Street East Maitland High Street Maitland Telarah Mindaribba Paterson Martins Creek Hilldale Wallarobba Wirragulla Dungog Lochinvar Greta Branxton Singleton Muswellbrook Aberdeen Scone

Description of Route

Hunter Line services operate from Newcastle on the Newcastle branch line to Islington Junction, the Main North Line between Islington Junction and Scone, the North Coast Line between Maitland and Dungog. The Hunter Line shares its portion of the Main North Line and North Coast Line with NSW TrainLink North Western and North Coast regional services respectively.

Services

Services run regularly between Newcastle and Telarah, with infrequent services to Dungog and Singleton, Muswellbrook and Scone. Services are operated by Endeavour and Hunter railcars.

Until 2007, 620/720 class railcars operated the service. The line was the last in Australia to have a regular steam hauled passenger service. The final service was hauled from Newcastle to Singleton on 24 July 1971 by 3246. Diesel locomotive hauled services operated until replaced by 620/720 and 660/760 class railcars in 1984.

The line was truncated to terminate at Hamilton from 5 January 2015. It was extended to Newcastle Interchange when this opened on 15 October 2017.

Trains that service the line have two carriages, while some peak hour services have four carriages.

Stations

Hunter Line stations

Name	Railway line	Serving suburbs/towns	Notes
Newcastle Interchange	Newcastle	Wickham, Newcastle, Hamilton East	Interchange with Central Coast & Newcastle Line and Newcastle Light Rail
Hamilton		Hamilton, Islington, Tighes Hill	Interchange with Central Coast & Newcastle Line
Waratah	Main North	Waratah, Georgetown, Mayfield, Mayfield East
Warabrook		Warabrook, Callaghan	Use for Newcastle University
Sandgate		Sandgate, Shortland
Hexham		Hexham
Tarro		Tarro
Beresfield		Beresfield, Woodberry
Thornton		Thornton, Chisholm
Metford		Metford, Ashtonfield, Chisholm
Victoria Street		East Maitland, Tenambit
East Maitland		East Maitland, Pitnacree
High Street		South Maitland, Maitland
Maitland		Maitland, Lorn, Gillieston Heights	Terminus of certain services. Use for 164 bus to Cessnock.
At Maitland, the line branches. The northern branch is towards Dungog, and the northwestern branch is towards Scone.
To Dungog
Telarah	North Coast	Telarah, Rutherford	Terminus of most services
Mindaribba		Mindaribba, Bolwarra Heights
Paterson		Paterson
Martins Creek		Martins Creek
Hilldale		Hilldale
Wallarobba		Wallarobba
Wirragulla		Wirragulla
Dungog		Dungog	Terminus station
To Scone
Lochinvar	Main North	Lochinvar
Greta		Greta, North Rothbury
Branxton		Branxton, East Branxton
Singleton		Singleton	Terminus of certain services
Muswellbrook		Muswellbrook	Terminus of certain services
Aberdeen		Aberdeen
Scone		Scone	Terminus station

Patronage

The following table shows the patronage of each line of the NSW TrainLink Intercity network for the year ending 30 June 2024, based on Opal tap on and tap off data.

2023–24 NSW TrainLink Intercity patronage by line

Blue Mountains Line	7,152,563
Central Coast & Newcastle Line	13,189,811
Hunter Line	803,606
South Coast Line	7,132,670
Southern Highlands Line	755,919