New line from Fassifern to Hexam?

[Bob <gioia@fastlink.com.au>]

In the Newcastle press yesterday was a report about a proposed new line
that would link the short north at Fassifern to the quad mainline at
Hexam. Whilst the initial proposal was to allow the development of at
least 2 new mines it also would allow Sydney/Brisbane trains to take a
shorter route and save almost 20 minutes. Part of the proposed routr
would run over a short part of the former Richmond Vale Railway across
the swamps and into Hexam. It seems that the short North is during
daytime at saturation point with train paths and any new services
hauling coal would have dificulty getting a path. The report also
highlighted the increase in coal from Hunter mines in the next 10 years
and there is conscern about the railways ability to handle this
increase. One proposal to overcome this is to remove all Cityrail
services from Newcastle to Maitland and replace them by buses. This
would be an unlikley outcome however as there could be a political
backlash to any government involved in any such proposal. Interesting
times ahead.
Cheers
Bob