Stations boarded up as Newcastle train comes to a halt

Ignoring widespread opposition to its rail truncation plan, the NSW state government cut the Newcastle train line on 26 December. Newcastle, Civic and Wickham stations are now boarded up. Fixtures and fittings have been removed. A shuttle bus service has replaced the train into the centre of Newcastle.

Despite a 3000-strong protest against the cut on 14 December, a Supreme Court injunction days later and a NSW upper house enquiry finding that the truncation should be delayed, the Baird government has pulled up everything but the tracks.

The state government says that eventually light rail services will replace some train services and will be funded by the 99-year lease of the Newcastle port. However, opposition to the heavy rail cut has increased since plans for the commercial development of the now vacant rail corridor surfaced and no specific light rail funding was allocated.

Although Labor now opposes the plan, under both Labor and Liberal governments privatisation of public assets and space has increased. Plans to “revitalise” sections of Newcastle through privatisation have been pushed for decades.

The government has responded to the campaign against the line closure by attempting covertly to transfer ownership of the rail corridor and associated infrastructure to the Hunter Development Corporation. In doing so, it had hoped to avoid a state law that provides that a train line can be closed only after an act of parliament. It is not yet clear if this loophole strategy will be successful.

In the meantime, the campaign against the closure continues. Since the Boxing Day deadline, members of Save Our Rail and Hunter Concerned Citizens have distributed thousands of leaflets to affected passengers.