Timetable Tuesday: 1989- Newcastle Area

In 1990, the Toronto branch line in the Newcastle area closed. The Toronto line was a single track line which branched from the Main North at Fassifern, and served the lakeside town of Toronto, with one intermediate station- Blackall's Park. Toronto station still exists, reasonably well preserved.

The October 1989 timetable is the last timetable which included this line. The running time for the branch was 6 minutes, and remarkably an approximately 20 minute frequency was maintained on the line, even on weekends. Every 2nd or so train connected with services to Newcastle or Sydney.

The timetable was also formatted in such a way that the some Toronto branch services appear in the same column as the main line service (you will see what I mean in the examples of the timetable).

This was also the last CityRail timetable to feature the Brisbane Limited and the Pacific Coast Moto-rail prior to their replacement by XPTs.

Also, Hilldale and Wirragulla stations were not served, and CityRail services ended at Muswellbrook (i.e. they didn't make it to Scone). There were the same number of weekday services past Telarah as today- 4 to Muswellbrook and 5 to Dungog. Weekend frequency was the same as today but different timings.

The frequency of services between Telarah and Newcastle was about the same as today, but in 1989 services stopped at all stations giving a half hour frequency for all intermediate stations, compared to an hourly frequency at smaller stations today with the current pattern of alternate limited stops services.

Note also that the map has a gap between Singleton and Branxton. I'm not sure what station was previously there. Belford was served for a while after 1990, but there are a couple of other possibilities: Whiitingham?, Minimbah? Warabrook and Metford hadn't opened then either- they debuted in 1995.