Railways and Tramways of Australia

17 February

Light Rail Vehicle 2155 at Newcastle Interchange station, 14 April 2019.

New transport mode

The opening of the Newcastle light rail line in New South Wales took place on 17 February 2019.

A heavy rail line operated in Newcastle until 2014, with direct services to Sydney and Maitland. It was closed after many years of debate and dispute about the future of the line.

The Newcastle light rail line is 2.7 km in length and runs from Newcastle Interchange railway station at Wickham to Newcastle Beach. It runs through the city centre along the former heavy rail corridor and Hunter Street, before continuing to its terminus. There are six light rail stops along the line: Newcastle Interchange, Honeysuckle, Civic, Crown Street, Queens Wharf and Newcastle Beach.

Regular light rail services commenced the day after the line opened. It is operated by Newcastle Transport, with daily services from 5.00 am to 1.00 am.

Six Urbos 100 Light Rail Vehicles (LRVs) entered service in Newcastle to inaugurate the light rail line. Bult in Spain, they are five-section articulated vehicles, and are similar to the Urbos 3 LRVs that operate on the Sydney Light Rail L1 line.

Since the Newcastle light rail line does not have overhead wires, the Newcastle Urbos 100 vehicles have on-board energy storage that can be recharged at stations. Pantographs are raised to contact charging points while the vehicle is stationary and are then lowered before the vehicle departs. The vehicles have a low floor throughout, and include luggage racks and surfboard racks. Their maximum possible speed is 80 km/h, but in general service they are restricted to 40 km/h.

There was considerable consternation when the heavy rail line into the centre of Newcastle closed in 2014. But light rail brought a new mode of transport in 2019.

Bibliography

B Belbin, ‘Light rail comes to Newcastle’, Railway Digest, vol. 57, no. 3, March 2019, pp 35–7.

L Oberg, ‘Premier upbeat as Newcastle’s light rail line opens’, Track & Signal, vol. 23, no. 2, May–July 2019, pp 12–13.

Urbos 3 Light Rail Vehicle 2153 heading from Newcastle Interchange to Newcastle Beach, near Queens Wharf station, 14 April 2019.