XPT train trip

A metro from Macquarie Uni to Epping, then a Newcastle service to Hornsby. The North Coast XPT service to Brisbane follows the Newcastle line to Broadmeadow, then to Maitland and onwards. However between Sydney Central and Broadmeadow it stops only at Strathfield, Hornsby, Gosford, Wyong and Fassifern.

XPT customers are entitled to one free Sydney Trains journey - something that I didn't realise and tapped on my Opal instead. A 5-car set to Brisbane rolls in, marking the start of a 13-hour journey.

Wondabyne- everyone's favourite station. The main line runs alongside a creek then a tunnel to Woy Woy.

At Broadmeadow the train branches left at the junction towards Maitland through the very few straight sections of track in this journey. Semi-abandoned warehouses with graffitti then open fields.

Maitland- served by both regional XPT trains and intercity Hunter Line trains. Hunter Line connects Newcastle with settlements up to Dungog and Scone. 

At this station the train turns towards Dungog on the more coastal tracks. Being an old alignment it is very curvy and the train could only reach speeds up to 70-80km/h in this section. Instead of following the coastline the track runs north towards Barrington Tops then curves back to the coast.

Track continues near Barrington Tops. The slow train brings in rural landscape not seen on the main Pacific Hwy. The main highway after decades of work has become more like a motorway with no scenery.

fake Gloucester- a settlement in the middle of nowhere. Decent sized town but being far off from the main highway the train serves as a crucial link.

The sun starts to set before dinner was served and the train reaches Taree on the coast, rejoining Pacific Hwy. Taree is a major stop on the line but by then most of the passengers have gotten off the train, with very few actually travelling onwards to Brisbane.

The lights go off for a long night's sleep. Most people on the train travel to Coffs Harbour where the train arrives at roughly 11 pm. On the other carriage working holiday people had a bit of party and chat before getting off while in my carriage most just wanted a quiet sleep. The north coast towns towards Brisbane are popular destinations for working holiday, being in close proximity to fruit farms.

Places along the line: Urunga

A coastal town along the line with a very tiny stop. Not much to see apart from the broadwalk, linking the town's centre to the beach via the mangroves. Beaches on the north shore have a harder sand surface compared to those near Sydney and are easier to walk on.

Coffs Harbour- where the great dividing range meets the ocean. A jetty, pier and a coastal headland to walk onto. 

In winter times it's still not hard to find people starting or ending their working holidays. Tears in their farewell before the replacement bus arrives and their working holiday comes to an end. Young people from various countries come to experience a lifestyle closer to nature, but all adventures must come to an end at some point in their lives.

On the hills a subtropical climate allows banana trees and avacados to grow, resulting in these massive plantations. Farmers sell their produce through self-serve booths and some even come out for a chat, sharing their bananas.

Towns get more spread out in the north- Grafton, Casino and Kyogle before arriving into Brisbane. In midnight the train climbs through the border ranges, enters Queensland and into Roma Street through the dual gauge track. While the scheduled arrival time was 3 am (4 am in winter, NSW observes DST but not QLD) the north coast service is usually late running. In this case the train arrived 1 hr later than scheduled at 4 am.

Translink services in Brisbane starts to operate very early in the morning

Departing Brisbane on a midday Byron Bay coach via Surfers Paradise and Gold Coast airport. Operated by Greyhound (not NSW trainlink) it is used by many European tourists making their way to the popular resort / backpacking town.

Byron Bay's abandoned train station, now used as a tourist info centre. A line from Casino to Byron Bay and Murwillumbah is disused with plans to revive sections of it near Byron Bay as heritage railway. The bus station next to it is very modern

Loads of backpackers on the bus unlike NSW trainlink services where local residents are the key customers. Many of them know each other through youth hostels and all head out to the town for days of surfing. 

Main beach - a great place to enjoy the sun even for non-surfers. The town itself also has lively pubs and cafes, with a fairly progressive culture unlike many other parts of NSW. Not a very popular place for Asian tourists but it is often seen as a must-go for European travellers, and it's quite obvious why.

Cape Byron lighthouse - a heritage-listed lighthouse on Australia's easternmost headland

The easternmost point of Australia is just a short walk away from the lighthouse. Along the shoreline Mt Warning (the horseshoe shaped mountain) can be easily spotted. The great dividing range continues along the shoreline for thousands of kilometres up.

Here comes the NSW Trainlink coach to Casino. Two bus routes run from Surfers Paradise (in Gold Coast) to Casino for the train service to Sydney, one running limited stop calling only at major towns, and another one stopping at multiple smaller settlements. The limited stop one arrives first while the all stopping coach runs behind schedule.

The bus leaves the coast at Byron Bay, diverging off Pacific Hwy and into Hinterland Way where it leads to Lismore further inland.

Some small villages and cattle farms along the road until it reaches Lismore, the cultural centre of the north coast. While the train station is in Casino it's Lismore next door that's the larger town.

Lismore was very heavily impacted by the 2022 Northern NSW floods which the river rose rapidly in water levels submerging the entire town. In fact it was flooded twice during the entirety of 2022. The heart symbol shows the strong community resilience which is key to the recovery of the area. 

At the river bank of the very river that flooded the houses appears to be never reoccupied. While resilience is a great thing to see it is ultimately engineering and disaster prevention plans that save lives.

A lot of cattle as the bus reaches the beef capital of Casino. Big Mac, yum yum!

Casino - intended to be the italian name of Cassino but was eventually misspelt to Casino. A lot of beef production takes place in this region.

Also a very empty place. At least there's McDonald's

The train departs at 7pm for an 11 hr ride back to Sydney. Sun sets at Grafton and it is also where the train picked up 30 minutes of delay.

The lights go off around Urunga and Nambucca Heads. A lot of people got on at Coffs Harbour as usual, with a couple more at the stations around it. Sun rises at Central Coast for the early morning Hawkesbury River crossing back to Sydney. Another lengthy train ride comes to an end.