The decision to cut the rail line drew a mixed reaction right across the Hunter.
While some believe the action is needed to transform Newcastle, commuters from the Valley say they feel like they’re being cut off.
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The decision to cut the rail line drew a mixed reaction right across the Hunter.
While some believe the action is needed to transform Newcastle, commuters from the Valley say they feel like they’re being cut off.
short term profit for developers long term pain for commuters
To get people to go up town they need something to go to and be carried by (ie Railway) . The closure of DJ’s and no free parking are 2 of the main reasons that people will not go to town.
I gave up my job in town because of the traffic jams to and from Belmont (cars all with only one person in) and timed parking. I don’t shop or dine in town because i have everything i need closer to where i live. Removing the line is a big waste of money and another loss to public transport. It is just another example of politicians being bought out by big business – political party donations, lunches, photo opportunities, etc.
About time get rid of it!!!
Running and maintaining this ghost service is a massive waste of money and cause for annoyance right now.
Not only does it cripple our city but I and many others lose bulk time at Pac Highway level crossing.
Take an Ariel shot at 5pm any week day to see how badly it affects traffic.
I look forward to the day when I no longer have to swear and wave my fist at empty trains on my way home from work.
A plan for a University satellite campus at Civic with 3,000 students, 13 minutes train ride from Callaghan, and a regional law court complex next door, both spitting distance from Civic Station and the plan is to cut the direct rail connection? Dumb, dumb, dumb!
If you read the supporting documents you can see they do not have a clue about Newcastle.
My wife and I are senior citizens and enjoy the occasional rail journey into Newcastle. If we are forced to transfer to buses at Wickham, we will no longer be going to Newcastle, we’ll be shopping in the suburbs. Removing the rail line is a giant step backwards for people like us.
This is nothing more than a land grab for developers. Yet again, the dictatorship government is investing huge sums of money in building new rail lines in Sydney, but taking rail out of Newcastle.
And again, we have Liberals putting developers first, and their “bosses” (us) that employed them last.
And tonight’s NBN News proves that the developers are after the rail land.
I ask again, if developers are not after the rail land, then why did one stand as a candidate for NCC, instead of a candidate for LMCC, where he lives, especially since he was angry at the previous council?
How is cutting the CBD rail line, going to bring people to the CBD?
To cut the line at Wickham what a joke , How does a train load of people fit into a bus or two . Hunter street will be full of buses , how do you get to the water front then .Will the high rise and motel on the water front go to .As we have the only steam feast in NSW in which Newcastle Station plays a major part . Will Newcastle Station be come another Post Office . At the very least leave the rails and run trams then Newcastle Station could be a part of steam feast ,why not keep Newcastle Station as a steam museum and have steam events and steam train rides as steam is a part of our history . This would bring people to our city as well as jobs . Remember the newcastle flyer and AAco. build the first railway line in australia at newcastle in 1834
Put in a subway from wickham further out if needed then everybody is happy. It’s only money. I think Newcastle is worth it .Why spend big bucks on some think that’s only a stop gap measure when the undergound system works .no hold ups at rail crossings and the foreshore shore would be opened up
What a cruel hoax has been perpetrated on the old CBD. All those years we were told that ripping up the rail was to revitalise the old CBD. Now we know. Theres going to be a new CBD near the main through road at Stewart Avenue. This will be built by developers because everyone knows that train stations are the heart of modern cities. The businesses trying to make a go of things in the old CBD will have their parking capped at current levels. How are the new patrons going to get to them? The streets will be narrowed. The “transport corridor” that they threw as a sop is revealed as the illusion it always was. Paul Broad could not be clearer talking to the developers. My take on that is “Rip it up before they realise they’ve been conned”. But the people in the old CBD will be getting off lightly in their quiet cul-de-sac. The Wickham area will be chaos. Nowhere for the trains to wait before heading off again. Cars trying to get along Stewart Hunter. Students stranded hundreds of metres from Uni when they could have been delivered to the door. Surfers with their boards, wheelchairs aiming for the buses, bikes looking for double bike lanes and cranes everywhere building skyscrapers that will attract tenants from the old CBD. And we have to pay extra for this!
What is this big concentration on the harbour foreshore? I thought most people wanted to go to Newcastle or Nobbys Beaches where there is no rail line blocking access! Why couldn’t most of what is suggested be done NOW with the
the rail line as is ? I can’t believe how a great line of noisy buses would give seamless access from the new interchange, just imagine travellers lugging cases off trains across to board a bus without any place to store them anyway!
Please, oh please come up with a better plan for our city than this.
As an occasional visitor to this historic and developing city I am annoyed that Government and developers are not seeing the big picture for Newcastle in 30, 50 or 100 years hence when the City will somewhat resemble Sydney and need greater accessibility, not less. This is being demonstrated by the short term vision of today in which greed and a few traffic jams seem to dominate the thinking of those with vested interests. Newcastle removed it’s trams 60 years ago, which damaged the city, now the removal of trains will enhance that. Don’t do it!