Newcastle City Centre Renewal - Transport for NSW - NSW ...

Newcastle City Centre Renewal 

Transport Management and Accessibility Plan 

Phase 1 

Newcastle City Centre Bus Strategy 

October 2010

Newcastle City Centre Renewal Transport Management and Accessibility Plan 

AECOM 

Newcastle City Centre Renewal Transport Management and 

Accessibility Plan 

Phase 1: Newcastle City Centre Bus Strategy 

Prepared for 

Transport NSW 

Prepared by 

AECOM Australia Pty Ltd 

Level 11, 44 Market Street, Sydney NSW 2000, PO Box Q410, QVB Post Office NSW 1230, Australia 

T +61 2 8295 3600 F +61 2 9262 5060 www.aecom.com 

ABN 20 093 846 925 

22 October 2010 

60148110 

© AECOM Australia Pty Ltd 2010 

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for the purpose for which it has been prepared and AECOM Australia Pty Ltd undertakes no duty to or accepts any responsibility to any third party 

who may rely upon this document. 

All rights reserved. No section or element of this document may be removed from this document, reproduced, electronically stored or transmitted 

in any form without the written permission of AECOM Australia Pty Ltd. 

22 October 2010


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Quality Information 

Document 


Ref 60148110 

Date 22 October 2010 

Prepared by 

Reviewed by 

Nick Bernard 

Robin Jackson 

Revision History 

Revision 

Revision 

Date 

Details 

Name/Position 

Authorised 

Signature 

2 22 Oct 2010 Final Report Robin Jackson 

Associate Director 

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Table of Contents 

Executive Summary 

i 

1.0 Introduction 1 

1.1 Background 1 

1.2 Study Area 2 

1.3 Report Purpose 2 

1.4 Assumptions & Constraints 2 

1.5 Consultation 3 

1.6 Report structure 3 

2.0 Background reports and study inputs 4 

2.1 Strategic policy documents 4 

2.2 Technical studies 7 

3.0 Existing travel behaviour and future expectations 9 

3.1 Overview 9 

3.2 Existing travel behaviour and demand 9 

3.3 Transport provision 18 

3.4 Future travel demand 20 

4.0 Mode share model 21 

4.1 Overview of modelling approach 21 

5.0 Truncation of rail line at Wickham 22 


5.2 Mode share impacts of truncation 22 

5.3 Options for the future role of the former rail corridor 22 

6.0 Bus network option development 27 


6.2 No-change scenario 30 

6.3 City Centre Options 32 

6.4 Principal Route Bus Options 38 

6.5 Customer Service Improvement Options 42 

7.0 Bus network option appraisal 44 

7.1 Appraisal framework 44 

7.2 Rapid appraisal workshop 44 

8.0 Preferred city centre bus strategy 45 


8.2 Details of City Centre Bus Loop 48 

8.3 Service amendments 50 

8.4 Supporting road infrastructure improvements 53 

9.0 Parking policy 58 


9.2 Parking supply 58 

9.3 Parking Policy and Previous Report Review 60 

9.4 Newcastle City Council Consultation 62 

9.5 Parking Management Options 65 

10.0 Conclusions 68 

10.1 Study summary 68 

Appendix A 

A 

Background Technical Report Summary ............................................................................................. A 

Appendix B 

B 

Population and Employment Maps ...................................................................................................... B 

Appendix C 

C 

Mode Share Model Development ........................................................................................................C 

Appendix D 

D 

Rapid Appraisal Workshop Outcomes .................................................................................................D 

Appendix E 

E 

Parking Strategy Review .................................................................................................................... E 

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Executive Summary 

Newcastle is the second largest city in New South Wales (NSW) and is the heart of the Hunter region. The 

Newcastle City Centre Renewal Report (Hunter Development Corporation, March 2009) set out a strategy for the 

renewal of the Newcastle City Centre, encompassing the truncation of the rail line at Wickham, and the creation of 

a business centre, cultural/civic/university precinct and a tourist/heritage/retail precinct (see figure below). The 

City Centre Plan for Newcastle proposes 10,000 new jobs and 6,500 new residents within the City Centre over the 

next 25 years. 

This report documents Phase 1 of a two-phase Transport Management and Accessibility Plan (TMAP) for the 

Newcastle City Centre. Phase 1 of the TMAP study focuses on the development of a City Centre Bus Strategy, to 

support the State Plan journey to work public transport mode share target of 20% by 2016 1 . 

This TMAP has included both scenarios of retaining and removing the rail line from Wickham Station to Newcastle 

Station. 

From the analyses undertaken and consultations held, a preferred City Centre Bus Strategy was developed, 

consisting of: 

 

A two-way, free City Centre Loop service operating at 10 minute headways, with amendments to existing 

service routings; 

Increased service frequencies to 15 minute headways on three strategic bus corridors into the City Centre – 

Route 100 (Charlestown via Jesmond), Route 363 (Glendale) and Route 320 (Charlestown); 

 

 

 

 

Real time information at key bus interchange and patronage generators – Jesmond, University, Glendale, 

John Hunter, Broadmeadow, Charlestown and Newcastle; 

Supporting infrastructure consisting of improvements at City Centre intersections and additional bus stops 

and shelters in City Centre; 

Bus priority along Newcastle Road to Jesmond; and 

Bus fleet improvements, in terms of new buses to reduce the average fleet age. 

1 Note: The target relates to trips to the Newcastle City Centre (defined by travel zones 3208, 3209, 3210 and 3211) in the AM 

peak period (06:30-09:30) and from the City Centre in the PM peak period (15:00-18:00) 

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The bus strategy is operational under both scenarios of retaining or removing the rail line. The amended bus 

services and principal routes for the City Centre Bus Strategy are presented overleaf. 

In terms of contribution to the mode share target, it is estimated that the City Centre Bus Strategy will increase the 

journey to work public transport mode share by 0.5% to a total of 13.8% (without the rail line) and by 0.5% to a 

total of 14.6% (with the rail line). This indicates that other measures are required as part of the total package to 

reach the State Plan target of 20%. 

While a new bus strategy of dedicated services and increased frequencies will improve the attractiveness of bus 

as a travel mode, the increase in patronage will not meet the State Plan mode share target. Additional measures 

such as improvements to the quality of the journey and management of supply and price of parking, amongst 

others, are required. This will be the focus on Phase 2 of the TMAP study. 

To bring about a step change in attitude towards public transport, an intensive marketing campaign will be 

required to increase awareness to the improvements to the bus service. Branding of buses and bus corridors 

would also play an important role in making it easier for people to use buses for their journey. 

Bus services operating into Newcastle City Centre currently have residual capacity. Increased frequency along 

three of the strategic bus corridors into the City Centre will support increased patronage, particularly in areas with 

predicted population growth, such as Charlestown, and employment growth, such as Glendale and Jesmond. 

Assumptions for this study were: 

 

 

 

A fare free zone for buses in the City Centre; 

Average bus travel speeds maintained in the City Centre at 2010 levels; 

A Hunter Regional Transport Strategy will be developed in 2010; and 

An Integrated Network Plan for buses serving the Hunter is implemented in 2010, building on the 2008 

Newcastle Bus Review. 

NSW's electronic ticketing system, to be rolled out from 2012, will operate across Sydney's public transport 

network and will extend as far as Newcastle, and the Hunter region as well as Wollongong, the Illawarra and Blue 

Mountains. While the exact fare structure to apply under integrated ticketing is yet to be determined by 

Government, it will be based on the MyZone fare principles of simplicity, equity and convenience. This new 

technology will bring additional customer benefits of improved flexibility, easier interchange across modes and 

faster boarding times. 

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Newcastle City Centre Bus Strategy 

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1.0 Introduction 

1.1 Background 

Newcastle is the 7 th largest city in Australia and the second largest urban area in New South Wales (NSW). With a 

population of approximately 160,000 in the Local Government Area and continued population growth over the 

past decade 2 , the City is at the heart of the Hunter region. Newcastle accommodates the world’s largest coal 

export port, is culturally rich and offers national and internationally acclaimed education and health care facilities. 

The regional airport, located to the north of the City, handles in excess of 1 million passengers per annum. 

Newcastle LGA contains approximately 98,000 jobs, with 20% (19,600) located fairly evenly across the city 

centre, with approximately a third in Wickham, Civic and Newcastle. The majority of the employment market in 

the city centre is white collar, comprised of professionals (37%) and managers (18%). Clerical and administrative 

workers make up 13% of the market. The key employment industries in Newcastle City Centre are health care 

and social services (15%), professional, scientific and technical services (12%) and education and training (10%). 

Retail trade and accommodation / food services both make up 9% (Census, 2006). 

The Port of Newcastle remains the economic and trade centre for the Hunter Valley and for much of the north and 

northwest of New South Wales. Newcastle is the world's largest coal export port and Australia's second largest 

tonnage throughput port. Newcastle has a small ship-building industry, which has been in decline since the 

1970s.With the closure of the BHP steel works, the era of extensive heavy industry came to an end, with many of 

the remaining manufacturing industries locating away from the city itself. This is due to cheaper land and access 

to road transport routes. 

The improvement of the City’s fortunes over the past 10 years started with a major change to the historical 

employment base. The closure of BHP’s steel works in 1999 resulted in significant changes to the city; however, 

various Government initiatives and programs, such as Building Better Cities, had started to restructure the City 

and its economy. The past decade has seen phases of renewal occur, culminating in the recent release of the 

Newcastle City Centre Renewal Report (Hunter Development Corporation, March 2009). 

The Newcastle City Centre Renewal Report sets out a strategy for the renewal of the Newcastle City Centre, 

encompassing the possibility of truncation of the rail line at Wickham, subject to feasibility, and the creation of a 

business centre, cultural/civic/university precinct and a tourist/heritage/retail precinct within the CBD. This 

renewal report articulates a vision which promotes: 

“that as a regional capital, Newcastle will be a globally competitive and sustainable city serving the Lower 

Hunter and Upper Hunter and parts of the Central Coast, as well as the major city in the northern part of an 

integrated Greater Metropolitan Region”; and 

“the activation of its public spaces will be clean, safe, vibrant and accessible”. 

To support the renewal strategy and emerging development proposals for the Hunter Street Mall, the NSW 

Government announced, in September 2009, that a detailed transport strategy (a Transport Management & 

Accessibility Plan) would be undertaken to support the renewal strategy. Central to the renewal strategy are 

options to consider the truncation of the rail line, improve connectivity and road capacity, introduce opportunities 

for rail operation and maintenance benefits as well as allow the development of a modern public transport 

gateway to serve the city. 

In December 2009, RailCorp started a detailed Feasibility Study for the New Wickham Terminus for a truncated 

rail line. This study will assess operational issues associated with the truncation, consider locations for train 

stabling, produce indicative costs and undertake transport and precinct planning for a new Wickham Station. 

Given the significant changes proposed in the transport network and urban fabric of Newcastle, there is now an 

urgent need for an overarching transport strategy; taking the form of a Transport Management & Accessibility 

Plan (TMAP). 

In February 2010, AECOM was appointed by Transport New South Wales (Transport NSW) to develop a 

Transport Management and Accessibility Plan (TMAP) for the Newcastle City Centre. 

2 Australian Bureau of Statistics population estimates, updated 29 March 2010 

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1.2 Study Area 

The study area for the TMAP is the Newcastle City Centre as illustrated in Figure 1.1 (outlined in red). The City 

Centre is approximately 4km east-west by 0.5km north-south, with the harbour to the north, ocean to the east, 

residential area to the south and west, and bisected by a rail line running east-west. The Newcastle City Centre is 

defined in the Transport Data Centre datasets as travel zones 3208, 3209, 3210 and 3211 (labelled Wickham, 

Civic, Newcastle and Newcastle East, respectively). 

Figure 1.1 

Newcastle City Centre TMAP Study Area 

1.3 Report Purpose 

The purpose of this report is to document the development of a City Centre Bus Strategy, which is consistent with 

the State Plan targets for the mode share in the City Centre, namely a minimum of 20% by 2016. 

This report forms Phase 1 of a two-phase TMAP study. Phase 2 will produce an integrated transport strategy. 

1.4 Assumptions & Constraints 

The following assumptions and constraints apply to this study: 

 

 

 

A fare free zone for buses in the City Centre; 

Average bus travel speeds maintained in the City Centre at 2010 levels; 

A Hunter Regional Transport Strategy will be developed in 2010; and 

An Integrated Network Plan for buses serving the Hunter is implemented in 2010, building on the 2008 

Newcastle Bus Review. 

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1.5 Consultation 

During the course of Phase 1 of this TMAP study, consultation has been held with the following organisations/ 

authorities: 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Transport NSW 

RailCorp 

Hunter Development Corporation (HDC) 

Newcastle City Council (NCC) 

Roads and Traffic Authority – Hunter (RTA) 

State Transit Authority (STA) 

Newcastle Buses 

Hunter Business Chamber (HBC) 

Newcastle City Centre Revitalisation: Transport Steering Committee (consisting of representatives of 

Transport NSW, RailCorp, RTA, NCC, HDC, STA, Department of Premier and Cabinet (DPC), Department 

of Planning (DoP) and Newcastle Buses). 

1.6 Report structure 

This report is structured as follows: 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Chapter 2 reviews the background reports and study inputs; 

Chapter 3 presents the existing travel characteristics and likely future trends; 

Chapter 4 provides an overview of the mode share model; 

Chapter 5 examines the impact of, and options for, the rail line truncation at Wickham; 

Chapter 6 outlines the City Centre Bus Strategy option development; 

Chapter 7 describes the Rapid Appraisal Workshop and option refinement; 

Chapter 8 presents the preferred City Centre Bus Strategy; 

Chapter 9 examines the Newcastle parking policy; while 

Chapter 10 provides study conclusions and recommendations. 

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2.0 Background reports and study inputs 

2.1 Strategic policy documents 

2.1.1 State Government Policies 

Metropolitan Strategy (December 2005) 

Newcastle is highlighted in the Metropolitan Strategy as one of six regional cities (along with Wollongong, 

Gosford, Parramatta, Penrith and Liverpool) identified to become drivers of the NSW economy. Newcastle is also 

mentioned, along with Wollongong and Gosford, as providing environments for specialisation and innovation, as 

more freight and port-related activities locate to these regions. The Newcastle City Centre Renewal TMAP will 

provide a transport framework to support the growth and increased productivity of Newcastle as a regional city. 

Lower Hunter Regional Strategy (October 2006) 

In February 2010, the NSW Government announced it had re-endorsed the Lower Hunter Regional Strategy as a 

sound platform to guide the region's future growth. The Lower Hunter Regional Strategy applies to the local 

government areas of Newcastle, Lake Macquarie, Port Stephens, Maitland and Cessnock, and is based on 

population growth projections of an additional 160,000 people in the region by 2031. 

The Lower Hunter Regional Strategy has been prepared to ensure the region develops in a strong and 

sustainable way. A central element of the Strategy is to promote growth in centres, providing a greater choice of 

housing and jobs in Newcastle’s CBD and major centres. From an employment viewpoint, the strategy seeks to 

reinforce the existing hierarchy of centres, with Newcastle City Centre as a regional city of national and 

international importance, supported by major regional centres at Charlestown, Maitland, Raymond Terrace, 

Cessnock, Glendale (emerging) and Morisset (emerging). 

The strategy identifies five renewal corridors which link centres along strategic transport routes, namely Maitland 

Road (Newcastle West to Mayfield); Tudor Street (Newcastle West to Broadmeadow); Brunker Road (Nine Ways 

to Adamstown); Main Road, Edgeworth (Glendale to Edgeworth) and Pacific Highway (Charleston to Gateshead). 

Metropolitan Transport Plan (February 2010) 

While Newcastle is not expressly mentioned in the recently released Metropolitan Transport Plan, the media 

release that accompanied the plan stated that improvements to the bus services would include the roll out of 

1,000 new buses on Strategic Bus Corridors in Sydney, Newcastle, Wollongong and the Central Coast. This Plan 

also commits to regional road upgrades and freight improvements, such as the Northern Sydney Freight Line, that 

benefit the Hunter Region. 

State Plan 

In March 2010, the Government released a new State Plan which contained a mode share target of 20% for 

journey to work during the AM peak by public transport to Newcastle City Centre by 2016. 

In addition, the State Plan contains initiatives that will benefit Newcastle City Centre, including the preparation of a 

Hunter Regional Transport Strategy in 2010. 

2.1.2 Local Policies 

City Centre Plans for each of the six regional cities (Newcastle, Gosford, Wollongong, Parramatta, Liverpool and 

Penrith) were prepared by Department of Planning in conjunction with local councils between August and 

December 2006. The Newcastle City Centre Plan is a long term plan to cater for 6,500 more residents and 10,000 

new jobs in the city centre over the next 25 years. The plan, prepared jointly by the Department of Planning and 

Newcastle City Council, includes the following planning documents: 

Newcastle City Centre Vision (2006) 

This document sets a vision for the city centre and provides an action plan to facilitate the city’s growth. The vision 

outlined is that “as the regional capital, Newcastle will be a globally competitive and sustainable city serving the 

Lower and Upper Hunter, parts of the Central Coast, and the major city in the northern part of an integrated 

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Greater Metropolitan Region. The city centre plan accommodates 10,000 new jobs and 6,500 new residents. The 

form of the city will reflect Newcastle’s unique setting by increasing building heights near Wickham Station.” 3 

The vision includes strengthening public transport and states that transport hubs will be the focus of increased 

activity to improve access throughout the city centre, with more people living, working and recreating closer to 

these public transport hubs. Pedestrian access across the rail corridor will provide connection from the harbour to 

Hunter Street. Public car parking will be located in the city centre and at the edge close to public transport hubs to 

manage congestion and provide a greater interaction with public transport. The reports also highlights a city 

centre public domain strategy that will provide for a network of footpaths, laneways and plazas designed to 

provide accessibility for all and permeability through and across the city. 

The following transport related state and/or council initiatives are designed to support the transformation of the 

city centre into a regional city: 

 

 

 

 

Action 8: Improve transport management facilities near Wickham Station for future growth by 

- Integrating rail, bus and ferry services; 

- Providing pedestrian connections between Newcastle West and Honeysuckle; and 

- Continue to implement traffic calming, place making and landscaping initiatives. 

Action 14: Work with State Government to provide a world class integrated public transport system into and 

within the Newcastle City Centre 

- The public transport system should be a combination of inter city, rapid metro and reliable and regular 

local services; 

- Transport nodes within the city centre should be designed to accommodate easy transfer of 

passengers between rail, bus and ferry; 

- The rapid metro service should link centres of employment and activity in the Lower Hunter including 

Newcastle airport, the University and John Hunter Hospital. 

Action 16: Work with State Government to provide additional pedestrian / vehicular crossing across the rail 

corridor 

Action 19: Development a traffic model for the City Centre 

Local Environmental Plan (2008) 

The Newcastle City Centre Local Environmental Plan (LEP) was gazetted on 1 February 2008. The LEP is the 

statutory planning framework for the Newcastle City Centre. It identifies the zoning, building heights and floor 

space ratios dependent on the land use. 

Depending on the location of each zone, the LEP provides building height limits from 10m to 90m – the locations 

of these are presented in Table 2.1. The LEP also identifies a future possible transit corridor linking Hunter Street 

and Parry Street, as part of the Wickham redevelopment area. Newcastle City Council is currently in the process 

of reviewing the LEP. 

Table 2.1 

Existing transport provision 

Location Zone Maximum Height 

Wickham Redevelopment 

Area 

Mixed Use Generally 10m 

60m allowed on Station Street 

Commercial Core 45m (cnr Stewart Ave and Station Street) 

Newcastle West and 

remainder of Wickham 

(south of Station Road 

and west to Union Street) 

Mixed Use 

Commercial Core 

King Street 

Honeysuckle Mixed Use Between 10m and 30m 

Business Core 30m 

West of Stewart Ave mix of heights between 18m and 60m 

24m along Hunter Street and between 18m and 30m along 

90m between Hunter Street and King Street on Stewart Ave 

45m-60m on King Street and between 24m and 60m on 

Hunter Street 

3 Cities Taskforce, Newcastle City Centre Vision, 2006 

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Location Zone Maximum Height 

Civic Mixed Use 45m north side of King Street and 25m south side of King 

Street 

24m north side of Hunter Street 

Business Core 24m south side of King Street 

60m north side of King Street (block between King Street and 

Hunter Street) 

City East Mixed Use Between 10m and 24m 

Business Core Between 24m and 30m 

Newcastle East Mixed Use Ranging between 10m and 35m 

Residential Less than 10m 

Source: Newcastle City Centre Traffic and Transport Study, Bitzios Consulting, 2010 

Development Control Plan (2008) 

The Development Control Plan (DCP) came into effect upon gazettal of the City Centre LEP. The DCP provides 

detailed provisions relating to significant environmental planning matters that need to be considered when a 

development is assessed under the Environmental Planning and Assessment Act. 

The city is broken down into locality based precincts with the DCP including guidance on the objectives for each 

precinct (in line with the Newcastle City Centre Vision) and the preferred uses encouraged/allowed in the precinct 

by street level and elements of each precinct that will be protected such as heritage values, view lines and vistas, 

continuity of landscaping, building facades and street frontage heights and form, etc. Some precincts have 

specific references to traffic and transport including minimising traffic flow through residential streets, pedestrian 

amenity and permeability, property to street access and cycling facilities. 

The Parking and Access section (2009 update) includes requirements for major developments to include Green 

Travel Plans that provide information on public transport options, establish a carpooling system for employees 

with car parking bays allocated to shared vehicles, and include incentives to encourage employees to use 

sustainable transport options to access work (including maps of cycle routes and end of trip facilities). 

The DCP gives parking rates for the City Centre for non-residential developments as one bay per 60m 2 of Gross 

Floor Area (GFA), one bicycle rack per 200 m 2 GFA and one motorcycle bay per 20 car spaces. The DCP 

includes resident and visitor parking schemes to alleviate demand for on-street parking by commuters in 

residential streets. 4 

Civic Improvement Plan (2008) 

The Civic Improvement Plan came into effect upon gazettal of the City Centre LEP. The CIP describes the civic 

infrastructure needed to support the growth and development of the city centre, and outlines the framework for 

contributions to be made towards the funding and provision of the infrastructure. 

Importantly for this study, the CIP identifies opportunities to reduce private car use in the city centre by improving 

public transport and pedestrian/cycling facilities. The following recommendations from the CIP are relevant: 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A multi-storey car park in Burwood Street; 

A new park and ride facility in Newcastle West; 

Traffic safety and management works within the city centre; 

Upgrading the public domain in accordance with the Public Domain Plan and Council’s Pedestrian Access 

and Mobility Plan; 

Bikeways in accordance with Council’s Bike Plan; and 

Public transit node precinct improvements, including bus shelters. 

4 Newcastle City Centre Traffic and Transport Study, Bitzios Consulting, 2010 

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2.2 Technical studies 

A large number of other studies have been undertaken assessing development and transport in Newcastle. These 

were reviewed for relevance and summaries are provided in Appendix A. 

A summary of the two key background reports for this study is presented below: 

Newcastle City Centre Renewal Report (Hunter Development Corporation, March 2009) 

This study forms the basis for the aims of the TMAP study. It recognised that Newcastle’s CBD has significant 

potential, but that it has persistent barriers, problems and constraints. The report states that Newcastle has the 

potential at the local and regional level of becoming a more vibrant, safe and liveable place offering an increased 

range of jobs, services, entertainment and retail options, while at the state and national levels, it can offer a viable 

and sustainable alternative to continued growth of the Sydney metropolitan and Central Coast areas. 

The report to the NSW Government outlines a strategy to achieve the renewal of Newcastle CBD, focused around 

three key catalytic projects that drive the strategy: 

 

 

 

Relocation of 60,000m 2 of University of Newcastle’s faculties to the city; 

Relocation of State and Federal Justice facilities to the city’s Civic precinct; and 

Investment over time in the city’s public domain. 

The report states that these catalyst projects require a public transport response, namely an integrated public 

transport system that involves the removal of the rail line to Wickham to immediately address the city’s 

connectivity issues. 

Relevant recommendations contained in the Renewal Report are: 

 

 

 

 

Recognising the need for an improved integrated public transport system in the city and connections to key 

regional facilities; 

Committing to the detailed investigation and design work necessary for the removal of the rail line to 

Wickham and creation of a new terminus at Wickham; 

Ensuring that the transport corridor remains in public ownership to be made available for public uses such as 

shared pathways and public domain spaces; and 

Allowing new north-south connections for vehicles, pedestrians, cyclists and all abilities through the corridor, 

to enable the city to reconnect to the waterfront, improving the liveability, safety and sustainability of the city. 

Newcastle City Centre Traffic & Transport Study (Bitzios Consulting, 2010) 

The Newcastle City Centre Traffic and Transport Study was commissioned by Newcastle City Council to assist in 

evaluating traffic and transport infrastructure require to support the Newcastle City Centre Plan. This involved the 

development of a Paramics micro-simulation model of the road network in the Newcastle City Centre, assessment 

of the future traffic demands and modelling and evaluation of the infrastructure upgrades and transport strategies 

required. 

The study tested three scenarios: 

 

 

 

Scenario 1: Traffic Infrastructure Focussed – upgrade of infrastructure as needed (but within reasonable 

limits) to try and cater for the year 2031 unconstrained traffic demands (i.e. 100% LEP realisation); 

Scenario 2: Traffic Infrastructure Minimised – minimal infrastructure changes and developing public 

transport, walking and cycling strategies to capture future travel growth, in addition to parking restriction 

strategies; and 

Scenario 3: Balanced Approach – develop a compromise in traffic infrastructure and parking increases whilst 

capturing an increasing proportion of travel on public transport, walking and cycling. 

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Through further modelling, evaluation and assessment of associated public and active transport implications, 

Scenario 3 was selected by the Project Steering Committee (comprising of representatives of Newcastle City 

Council and the RTA) as the preferred approach for the following reasons: 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Scenario 2, by promoting no road upgrades, may be counter-productive as the levels of congestion likely to 

be experienced in the short-medium term would discourage further investment in the CBD. That is, a certain 

level of traffic accessibility was seen as being critical on the way to the Newcastle CBD evolving into a 

“public transport city”; 

The provision of two new public transport corridor crossings at Steel Street and Worth Place would 

significantly improve connectivity between the Honeysuckle precinct and the precincts south of the public 

transport corridor; 

A 20% public transport Journey to Work mode share under Scenario 3 is considered to be more achievable 

than 35% (Scenario 2) meaning that the introduction of tighter controls on the provision of parking as well as 

changes to pricing policy could be delayed thus allowing measures to be gradually phased in; 

The adoption of Scenario 2 will require the assumed busway corridor to be widened where it intersects with 

the road network for the provision of passing lanes which could potentially impact on the visual and physical 

connectivity improvements between the Honeysuckle precinct and the precincts south of the busway 

corridor; 

under Scenario 3, the existing rail corridor could be narrowed and provision included for streetscaping and a 

dedicated bicycle path; and 

The fleet size required to maintain the service structure proposed under Scenario 2 represents a 

considerable increase in the size of the bus fleet and significant additional costs associated with maintaining 

such fleet as well as introducing issues to do with bus layover facilities. 

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3.0 Existing travel behaviour and future expectations 

3.1 Overview 

The population of the Newcastle Local Government Area (LGA) grew by 7,200 people from 2001 to 2006, an 

annual average growth rate of 0.99%. The forecast annual average growth rate to 2031 for the Newcastle LGA is 

projected to be 0.62% 5 . Over the same period, population and employment densities in Newcastle City Centre 

have been increased with developments at Honeysuckle, Wickham and East Newcastle. 

The University of Newcastle has an existing presence in the city centre with its post graduate business centre, 

legal centre, a small library and the conservatorium. It has plans for the development of a City Campus, which will 

see the development of 60,000m 2 over the next 10 to 15 years. It is expected to bring economic benefits with 

approximately 8,000 students and 1,000 staff all based in the city centre 

This City Centre Bus Strategy will support Newcastle as a competitive global city, by providing equitable and 

efficient access to work, healthcare and education. It will also maximise the use of existing assets, by reducing 

the rate of demand for car travel and avoiding the costs of infrastructure to satisfy that demand. 

3.2 Existing travel behaviour and demand 

The State Plan (2010) defines a target of 20% of peak period commuting trips to Newcastle City Centre should be 

made by public transport by 2016. The peak periods are defined as the inbound morning peak period (6.30am to 

9.30am) and outbound afternoon peak period (3pm to 6pm). 

The travel demand analysis is based on: 

 

 

2006 Census Journey to Work; and 

2007 Household Travel Survey (5 years of pooled data). 

Figure 3.1 shows Newcastle City Centre with Transport NSW travel zones. The State Plan target defines the City 

Centre as travel zones 3208, 3209, 3210 and 3211 (labelled Wickham, Civic, Newcastle and Newcastle East, 

respectively). The State Plan target is concerned with the mode share of people getting to/from their jobs in the 

City Centre during peak periods. 

The existing public transport journey to work mode share to Newcastle City Centre during the peak period is 

14.1%, as summarised in Table 3.1. The current mode share is less than the State Plan target of 20% by 2016. 

For example, if total demand to the City Centre were to remain constant, public transport patronage will need to 

increase by almost 500 people during the peak to achieve the State Plan target of 20% by 2016. In simple terms, 

this represents an approximate doubling of existing patronage on buses or trains. 

Table 3.1 Journey to work travel to Newcastle City Centre, 2006, morning peak period (06:30 – 09:30) 

Mode Daily Peak period 

Mode share % of 

morning peak period 

Car 11,300 6,500 77.4 

Train 700 500 6.0 

Bus 800 600 7.1 

Ferry 100 100 1.2 

Cycle 100 100 1.2 

Walk 1,000 600 7.1 

Total 14,000 8,200 100% 

Public transport sub-total (train + bus + ferry) 1,600 1,200 

Public transport mode share 11.8% 14.1% 

Source: 2006 Census and 2007 Household Travel Survey (rounded to nearest 100; therefore some rounding error may occur) 

5 Department of Planning (2009), New South Wales Statistical Local Area Population Projections 2006-2036 

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Figure 3.1: 

Travel Zones in Newcastle City Centre 

Source: AECOM, 2010 

Figure 3.3 shows the existing peak period commute public transport mode share to each of the travel zones 

within Newcastle City Centre. Public transport mode shares are higher in the two travel zones centred on Civic 

and Newcastle stations. 

Figure 3.2: 

Journey to work public transport mode share during the peak 

8.1% 

17.5% 

16.6% 

11.1% 

Newcastle City Centre 

peak period commute PT 

mode share = 14.1% 

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Figure 3.3 to Figure 3.7 show the origin of commuters to Newcastle City Centre by mode. The maps confirm an 

expected pattern with train commuters concentrated near train stations, bus users along bus corridors within the 

Newcastle Buses operational area, ferry users from Stockton, walking and cycling within relatively close proximity 

of the City Centre and car users from all quarters of Newcastle and beyond 

Figure 3.8 shows the public transport mode share for commuters to Newcastle City Centre, which illustrates that 

while there are public transport users from fairly significant distances away, there are pockets of land close to the 

City Centre where the percentage of public transport mode share is fairly low. 

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Figure 3.3: Origin of commuters to Newcastle City Centre by car 

22 October 2010 12


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Figure 3.4 

Origin of commuters to Newcastle City Centre by bus 

22 October 2010 13


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Figure 3.5 

Origin of commuters to Newcastle City Centre by train 

22 October 2010 14


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Figure 3.6 

Origin of commuters to Newcastle City Centre by ferry 

22 October 2010 15


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Figure 3.7 

Origin of commuters to Newcastle City Centre by walking and cycling 

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Figure 3.8 

Public transport mode share during the AM peak for commuters to Newcastle City Centre 

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3.3 Transport provision 

Existing transport provision to Newcastle City Centre is summarised in Table 3.2 and Figure 3.9. 

Table 3.2 Existing transport provision in Newcastle City Centre 

Mode Existing provision 

Car Principal access roads radiating from the City Centre are: 

- North: Maitland Road / Pacific Highway and Hannell Street / Industrial Drive 

- West: Griffiths Road / Newcastle Road and Lambton Road 

- South: Pacific Highway 

Level rail crossings at roads adjacent to Wickham Station (Stewart Ave) and Civic Station 

(Merewether Street). 

10,772 parking spaces throughout the City Centre consisting of: 

- 4,131 on-street parking spaces 

- 3,919 publically available off-street parking spaces, and 

- 2,722 private off-street parking spaces. 

Train 3 train stations in the City Centre – Wickham, Civic and Newcastle – serving the Hunter Line and 

Newcastle & Central Coast Line to Sydney. 

Hunter Line has 3 services per hour in the peak. 

Newcastle & Central Coast Line has 3 services per hour in the peak. 

A weekly travel pass for unlimited travel on trains (and buses and ferries) is $48. 

A MyMulti Day Pass, available as a full day option for unlimited travel, is $20 

Bus Operated by the NSW Government and private bus operators, providing a comprehensive coverage 

across Newcastle and the Hunter Region. 

28 bus routes radiate from the City Centre: 8 North, 11 West and 9 South. 

Most services terminate at Newcastle Station. 

48 services per hour in the peak into the City Centre. 

A weekly travel pass for unlimited travel on buses is $35. 

A daily travel pass for unlimited travel on buses is $9.80. 

City Centre fare free zone means no fare is paid for trips made wholly within the City Centre. 

Ferry Services between Stockton and the City Centre operated by NSW Government. 

3 services per hour in the peak. 

A weekly travel pass for unlimited travel on ferries (and buses) is $35. 

A single (one-way) ferry ride costs $2.30. 

Cycle Most bicycle routes are on-road. 

Off-road bicycle paths in the immediate vicinity of the City Centre exist along Bathers Way to 

Merewether and the foreshore through the Honeysuckle development. 

Further afield is the dedicated off-road Fernleigh Track south to Redhead as well as other short 

sections off-road west through New Lambton to Wallsend. 

Walk All roads to the City Centre are flanked by footpaths. 

Coastal walk south to Merewether Beach. 

2.4km rail track through the City Centre has limited crossing points (aside from the rail station 

bridges): 

- Market St / Queens Wharf 

- Perkins St / Scratchleys 

- Darby St / Argyle St / Honeysuckle development 

- Merewether St adjacent to Civic Station 

- Stewart Avenue 

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Figure 3.9 

Existing transport provision into Newcastle City Centre 

Main roads north 

 

 

 

 

Maitland Rd / Pacific Hwy 

Hannell St / Industrial Dr 

7 buses per hour 

Fare: $35 per week 

Stockton Ferry 

 

 

3 services per hour 


Main roads west 

Griffiths Rd / Newcastle Rd 

Lambton Rd 



Wickham 

Station 

Civic 

Station 

Newcastle 

Station 

City Centre 

Bus Fare Free Zone 

CityRail services 

Main road south 

Pacific Hwy 



 

 

 

 

Wickham, Civic, Newcastle 

3 trains per hour Hunter Line 

3 trains per hour Newcastle & 

Central Coast Line 


Daily travel on buses and ferries within Newcastle operate on a time-based system. Ticket options available are: 

one-hour, four-hour or 23-hour (all day) tickets. These tickets are for unlimited rides within the time period paid for. 

If the ticket expires while the passenger is on the bus, the ticket remains valid until they alight at their destination. 

TimeTen multi ride tickets are also available, and combine ten one-hour tickets at a discounted rate. The details of 

the first use of each hour are recorded, and further boarding during the hour is accepted without charge. Boarding 

after the one-hour time period selects the next valid one-hour period of the TimeTen ticket. 

Weekly, quarterly and annual TravelPasses, providing unlimited travel, are also available for Newcastle buses, 

ferries and CityRail services. TravelPasses are colour-coded depending on the zones covered and modes used. 

An Orange TravelPass provides for unlimited travel and transfers on all Newcastle buses and ferries, while a 

Green TravelPass provides for unlimited travel and transfers on all buses, ferries and CityRail services in the 

Newcastle area (bounded by Telerah, Awaba and Toronto). 

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Under the recently introduced MyZone fare structure, time-based fares still apply on all Newcastle buses and 

Stockton ferry tickets and Newcastle TravelPasses remain. All MyMulti tickets can be used on Newcastle buses, 

private buses and ferries. 

State Transit (Newcastle Buses) entered into an Outer Metro Bus Service Contract with the then Ministry of 

Transport on 1 July 2006. New timetables were introduced the following January. A new network was introduced 

in November 2008, following review and community consultation. A new Integrated Network Plan for Lower 

Hunter will be introduced in 2010. 

Aggregated data supplied by Newcastle Buses provides the average daily boardings per bus route for all existing 

bus services operating into Newcastle City Centre. Routes 100, 349 and 350 are indicated to average in excess of 

30 passengers per bus trip, with the remaining bus routes averaging less than this. With a bus capacity of 

approximately 60 passengers (seating + standing) operating in Newcastle, this data suggests that there is 

available spare capacity. Bus boardings were averaged across days and weeks, and some boardings in the Fare 

Free Zone may not be included. Therefore, the maximum loadings on individual trips could be higher, especially in 

peak periods. However, Newcastle Buses have noted that there is generally spare capacity on the buses 

operating in the area. 

3.4 Future travel demand 

Newcastle City Council (in consultation with Department of Planning and Hunter Development Corporation) has 

provided employment and population forecasts for Newcastle City Centre (travel zones 3208, 3209, 3210 and 

3211) for 2031. Table 3.3 presents these forecasts, with growth rates from the 2006 base. 

Table 3.3 Future employment and residential forecasts for Newcastle City Centre 

Travel Zones 

Population Forecast 

Year 

Growth rate 

Employment Forecast 

Year 

2006 2031 2006 2031 

Growth rate 

3208 841 4,492 6.9% 5,722 8,500 1.6% 

3209 525 2,167 5.8% 7,138 12,590 2.3% 

3210 747 1,284 2.2% 5,358 6,925 1.0% 

3211 1558 2,197 1.4% 1,379 1,561 0.5% 

Total 3,670 10,139 4.1% 19,596 29,575 1.7% 

Source: 2006 Census, NSWTI October 2009 release, updated for City Centre by Newcastle City Council May 2010 

Based on the above employment and population forecasts, peak hour travel demand has been forecast for 2031. 

These are presented in Table 3.4. 

Table 3.4 Journey to work travel demand to Newcastle City Centre 

Year 

Peak period commute mode 

Car Bus Train Ferry Cycle Walk Total 

PT mode 

share 

2006 6,500 600 500 100 100 600 8,200 14.1% 

2031 9,500 800 900 100 100 900 12,400 15.1% 

Source: AECOM (‘Do-Nothing’ transport scenario) (Rounded to nearest 100; therefore some rounding error may occur) 

The increased regional population within the Hunter Region and increasing employment opportunities within 

Newcastle City Centre will result in increased demand for access to the City. The figures in Appendix B provide 

more detail on the spatial location of population growth and employment growth within the Hunter Region. 

These figures highlight forecast population growth in the Newcastle suburbs, in an arc from the West/South West 

to the South, around Wallsend, Charlestown and Adamstown. Significant population growth is also forecast along 

the New England Highway corridor between Beresford and Rutherford, including Maitland, and in the surrounding 

LGA’s, both to the North of this corridor, and further West to Singleton. 

These maps show forecast employment growth focused on the city fringe areas of Newcastle around 

Broadmeadow, Waratah, Mayfield and Warabrook. There is also employment growth forecast for Kooragong 

Island and significant growth forecast in Raymond Terrace area to the North West of Newcastle, north up the 

Pacific Highway. 

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4.0 Mode share model 

4.1 Overview of modelling approach 

The package of transport and land-use measures recommended through the TMAP study is expected to achieve 

the State Plan (2009) target of a 20% journey to work public transport mode share to Newcastle City Centre by 

2016. The package of measures may include: 

 

 

 

Bus service improvements; 

Parking constraints; and 

Transit-orientated developments. 

An analytical spreadsheet-based tool was developed to assess the effectiveness of various transport and landuse 

measures in meeting the State Plan target. For Stage 1 of the study, the model has been used to assess 

various bus strategies with and without the Wickham-Newcastle rail line in place. 

The central principle underpinning the mode share modelling is generalised cost. Generalised cost is a term used 

to define the overall ‘cost’ of a trip that includes both time and monetary components. Figure 4.1 shows the 

generalised cost equation for trips by car and public transport. 

Figure 4.1: Generalised cost equations 

Generalised cost by car = f(in vehicle time, fuel, parking cost, occupancy) 

Generalised cost by public transport = f(in vehicle time, access time, wait time, egress time, fare, 

walk weight, wait weight, interchange penalty) 

Where: 

Wait time weight = x2 

Walk time weight = x1.5 

Interchange penalty = 10 minutes 

The central theorem is that people make rational decisions about their mode of travel based on the relative 

attractiveness of each mode. The introduction of transport and land-use measures will change the relativity and 

thereby affect mode choice. For example, public transport mode share will increase as a result of an increase in 

the ‘cost’ of travel by car and/or a reduction in the ‘cost’ of public transport. 

Further details of how the generalised cost principle has been applied to the measures under consideration 

through the Newcastle TMAP are provided in Appendix B, while an overview of the model inputs, estimation nd 

outputs is provided in Figure 4.2. 

Figure 4.2: Mode share model process 

Source: AECOM, April 2010 

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5.0 Truncation of rail line at Wickham 

5.1 Overview 

The 2009 Newcastle City Centre Renewal Study found that removal of the rail line from Wickham to Newcastle 

provided significant opportunities for improved urban design, greater connections, improved local amenity and 

improved CBD public transport circulation. 6 

The NSW Government is reviewing the feasibility of truncating the rail line at Wickham Station and the creation of 

a new terminus and interchange. This concept includes the potential for a new station on the western side of 

Stewart Avenue to remove the need for the existing level crossing. At the time of the development of this TMAP, 

this assessment was still underway. 

This section of the report provides commentary about the impact of the removal and options for the future role of 

the former rail corridor, should the rail line be removed. 

5.2 Mode share impacts of truncation 

Based on the mode share model developed, Table 5.1 presents the likely impact on mode share of the rail line 

being truncated at Wickham (based on the 2006 base year), namely a reduction in public transport journey to 

work mode share during the peak from 14.1 percent to 13.3 percent. 

Table 5.1 Base year mode share modelling results with rail line truncated 

Scenario 

No rail 

Description 

Wickham – 


truncation 

Peak period commute mode 

Car Bus Train Ferry Cycle Walk Total 

PT 

mode 

share 

6,536 566 439 92 61 553 8,247 13.3% 

5.3 Options for the future role of the former rail corridor 

5.3.1 Existing Characteristics 

If the rail line were truncated it would create a corridor between Stewart Avenue and Watt Street in Newcastle, as 

shown in Figure 5.1. The corridor is approximately 2.4km in length, with a level crossing at Merewether Street. 

Grade separated pedestrian crossings are provided at Wickham Station, Civic Station, Argyle Street, Perkins 

Street and Market Street. 

Buildings currently face away from the rail corridor, with frontages to Honeysuckle Drive to the north and Hunter 

Street to the south. Towards the east, the corridor is bounded by Scott Street and Wharf Road rather than 

buildings. The environment adjacent to the rail corridor offers relatively poor amenity, with laneways, parking and 

service areas creating an inactive street frontage. Examples of the typical urban form are provided in Figure 5.2. 

6 Hunter Development Corporation, Newcastle City Centre Renewal Report to NSW Government, March 2009 

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Figure 5.1: 

Wickham Station to Newcastle Station rail corridor 


Figure 5.2: 

Existing Rail Corridor Urban Form 


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5.3.2 Potential Options 

The range of options in this section has been considered conceptually. Preferred options are recommendations 

only and not necessarily endorsed by Government. Options reviewed and discounted in the Newcastle Renewal 

Master Plan have not been reconsidered. 

The Newcastle Renewal Master Plan recommended that “If treated correctly, the corridor could fundamentally 

change the configuration of Newcastle and stimulate a revitalisation of its expanding core. It has also been 

acknowledged that the way in which the land in this corridor can support the CBD will change over time, however, 

broadly the role would include: 

1) Providing an accessible pedestrian, vehicular and visual corridor complementing the waterfront and Hunter 

Street precincts; 

2) Being a catalyst to the reorientation of commercial sites immediately south of the corridor; 

3) Providing space for multiple north – south access ways linking the waterfront, Honeysuckle, retail, 

commercial, heritage and Civic precincts without a fenced rail corridor; 

4) Improving traffic flow along existing north/south road links with additional road links possible, as well as 

eliminating the at-grade crossing of the State Road (Stewart Avenue) so it is safer and more efficient for 

regional travel; 

5) Connecting the CBD via a grid of roads and pedestrian ways by extending identified roads across the rail 

corridor and bringing all central precincts closer to the new rail terminal and bus services on Hunter Street. 

This also allows the bottleneck of vehicle access to Honeysuckle to be relieved as alternative routes become 

available; 

6) Providing open space that can be used to join new developments and enable higher density on sites 

adjacent to the corridor, which may be particularly useful for the integration of new campus facilities; 

7) Linking the central city through a self contained cycleway distributing riders to key destinations and regional 

cycle routes; 

8) Acting as a land bank for future transport needs if required; 

9) Providing opportunities for other transport related uses such as parking, standing of services vehicles and 

special events overflow areas.” 

Using this framework, the following three transport options have been considered: 

 

 

 

Option 1: A pedestrian and cycleway along the corridor, with connections to adjacent areas of the city 

centre; 

Option 2: A bus corridor, with existing bus services realigned to utilise the corridor between Wickham and 

Newcastle Stations; and 

Option 3: A bus corridor, with a dedicated Transitway style shuttle service between Wickham and Newcastle 

Stations. 

Common to all options is a need to connect Wickham Station across Stewart Avenue for passengers travelling 

into Newcastle City Centre to access the rail corridor. Potential options include: 

 

 

 

directing pedestrians/cyclists to existing intersections at Stewart Avenue/Hunter Street and Hannell 

Street/Honeysuckle Drive; 

creating a new mid-block crossing on the alignment of the rail corridor; or 

creating a grade separated crossing over or under Stewart Avenue. 

The preferred option would be to provide a grade separated crossing as a bridge between new buildings on either 

side of Stewart Avenue, with integration into the proposed station and any future use of the rail corridor, either for 

pedestrians/cyclists or buses. Directing pedestrians to existing intersections is not recommended because of the 

diversion from their desire lines and a new mid-block crossing is not recommended because this would reduce the 

economic benefits of removing the Stewart Avenue level crossing. 

In all options, the city grid can be connected across the rail corridor, with road connections at Worth Place, 

Merewether Street (exists with rail crossing), Argyle Street, opposite Perkins Street and Newcomen Street. 

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Option 1 – Pedestrian and Cycleway 

This concept would distribute pedestrians and cyclists throughout Newcastle along a new spine created in the 

former rail corridor. Connections could be made to Hannell Street, Stewart Avenue, Honeysuckle Drive and 

Shortland Esplanade. Opportunities also exist to provide a cycle corridor through the Hunter Street Mall 

(integrated with any future development) and to the Darby Street Cafe precinct. These connections are shown in 

Figure 5.3. 

The corridor would not be required for a pedestrian and cycleway to the east of Wolfe Street, as the desire line 

would be to connect through to the Esplanade via Hunter Street Mall. Therefore, this section of the corridor could 

be used for open space or new buildings. 

Figure 5.3: 

Potential Links to Newcastle City Centre Cycle Network 

Source: Base Cycle Map from Newcastle Bike Plan Discussion Paper, Newcastle City Council, 2009 

Option 2 – Bus corridor (existing services) 

A concept has been developed utilising the rail corridor as a bus corridor, with the Hannell Street, Stewart Avenue 

and Maitland Road services accessing the corridor at its western end. This would see an average frequency of 

87 buses per hour during peak periods using the bus corridor. The Tudor Street, Union Street and Darby Street 

services would remain on Hunter Street under this option. 

Signalised bus crossings would be required at four locations where existing and proposed road links cross the 

corridor. These intersections would create traffic delay for vehicles and would offset the potential improvements 

created by removing the rail line. The frequency of buses using the corridor would be higher than the existing 

train frequency and the crossing points would be activated more often. 

Mode share analysis indicates that this option would result in a 5.7% increase in bus patronage, and an overall 

0.4% increase in public transport mode share in the peak period. 

Relocating buses from Hunter Street and not increasing services via Honeysuckle Drive would reduce street 

activity as pedestrian accessing or egressing bus services would using the new corridor, rather than existing 

streets. This is likely to be counter-intuitive to renewal and regeneration initiatives planned for Hunter Street. 

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Option 3 – Bus corridor (shuttle services) 

This concept would implement a dedicated bus shuttle service between Wickham and Newcastle Stations, 

stopping at existing station locations. Running in a dedicated corridor, buses could operate at higher speeds. 

Existing bus services would continue to operate on existing streets. 

As with Option 2, signalised bus crossings would be required at four locations where existing and proposed road 

links cross the corridor. These intersections would create traffic delay for vehicles and would offset the potential 

improvements created by removing the rail line. The frequency of buses using the corridor would be higher than 

the existing train frequency and the crossing points would be activated more often. 

Mode share analysis of the Transitway shuttle option indicates that creating a new interchange at Wickham and 

requiring passengers with a destination in Civic of Newcastle East to transfer to an express bus would result in a 

reduction of 16.7% in bus patronage, with a corresponding 1.1% public transport mode share drop. This is 

directly caused by the interchange penalty created, seen by passengers as a need to leave their existing seat or 

service, wait for and board another service. 

Recommendations 

This analysis has identified that passengers interchanging at Wickham to city bus services along the rail corridor 

would result in a reduction in bus patronage. Other routes providing better linkages to attractors in the city centre 

are preferred. Therefore, the rail corridor should not be used for a dedicated shuttle bus service. Distributing 

passengers throughout Newcastle City Centre would be better achieved by a loop bus, using existing streets. 

Rationalising existing bus services into the rail corridor would slightly increase public transport patronage by 

increasing average travel speeds, and city centre coverage would not be significantly reduced because Newcastle 

City Centre is fairly narrow. However, removing buses from existing streets would reduce pedestrian movements 

and is likely to counteract efforts to achieve regeneration, particularly in Hunter Street. 

If Wickham Station is relocated west of Stewart Avenue, a safe connection would be required across Stewart 

Avenue in all options to provide access between the new Wickham Station and the rail corridor/other local streets. 

The range of options in this section has been considered conceptually and would require detailed further analysis 

to this TMAP to fully compare options. 

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6.0 Bus network option development 

6.1 Overview 

Newcastle Buses is the main bus operator in Newcastle City Centre, operating 26 routes over a large area of 

Newcastle and Lake Macquarie (some 7,000 services per week). Newcastle Buses also operates an extensive 

school route network, with 1,400 school services operating over 149 routes in the Newcastle / Lake Macquarie 

region. 

Issues considered in the development of bus network options in Newcastle are: 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Students are a significant proportion of patrons on bus services in the Hunter, which will increase should the 

Newcastle University establish its campus in the City Centre; 

Potential termini outside of Newcastle Railway Station; 

Increase in attraction of Hunter Street for bus services if the rail line is truncated at Wickham; 

Topography of Newcastle, with buses having to operate on ridges; 

No section points in Newcastle, meaning obtaining existing patronage data is difficult for service planning 

purposes; and 

The current arrangement of the fare free zone in the City Centre makes it difficult to measure patronage and 

difficult to enforce from a revenue protection perspective; 

Consultation with State Transit Authority (STA) and Newcastle Buses indicated that bus patronage has been 

declining. The introduction of the Integrated Network Plan for Region 5 of the Outer Metropolitan Bus Contract 

System (OMBSC) operated by STA, improved the network; however, little additional frequency was provided on 

the network. Therefore, the status quo bus network for Newcastle will not be adequate to meet the State Plan 

target set for Newcastle City Centre. 

Buses currently account for approximately 7% of the journey to work trips into the City Centre in the morning peak 

period. As discussed in Section 3, there are areas close to the City Centre where the public transport mode share 

is low. Figure 6.1 illustrates the number of bus trips into the City Centre during the AM peak hour, indicating that 

there is potential to increase the number of trips from within 10km of the City Centre, when compared to the total 

number of trips into the City Centre from within the same radius. 

Figure 6.2 presents the car journey to work trips to the City Centre in proximity to the City Centre, with the 

existing bus routes overlaid, illustrating the potential for capturing these car trips by improving the services on 

these routes. 

Bus travel in Newcastle is significantly slower than car travel with some routes travelling at half the speed of cars. 

Table 6.1 provides the maximum scheduled bus travel time, distance and estimated bus and car speeds based 

on available information. In terms of travel time, bus is not an attractive option over car into the City Centre. 

This section of the report presents bus network and service options, and provides a preliminary assessment of 

their contribution to achieving the State Plan journey to work public transport mode share target. 

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Figure 6.1: 

AM Peak Period Bus Trips into City Centre 

22 October 2010 28


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Figure 6.2: 

Bus routes in Newcastle overlaid on car driver journey to work trips into Newcastle City Centre travel zones 

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Table 6.1: Comparison of bus and car travel times between origin and Newcastle City Centre 

Bus 

route 

Maximum scheduled 

bus time into City 

Centre 

Distance 

(km) 

Average 

bus speed 

(km/h) 

Car travel time into 

City Centre (mins) 

Average car 

speed 

(km/h) 

Bus v Car Speed 

% 

130 2:15 28.5 12.7 0:35 48.9 26% 

100 1:17 21.1 16.4 0:39 32.5 51% 

349 1:17 29.1 22.7 0:42 41.6 55% 

106 0:55 18.5 20.2 0:36 30.8 65% 

111 1:32 23 15.0 1:00 23.0 65% 

104 1:10 19.1 16.4 0:47 24.4 67% 

320 1.01 18.4 18.4 0:44 27.4 67% 

363 1:17 25.1 19.6 0:52 29.0 68% 

125 0:52 28.8 33.2 0:36 48.0 69% 

224 1:01 21.2 20.9 0:43 29.6 70% 

350 1:20 30.5 22.9 0:56 32.7 70% 

267 1:15 29.1 23.3 0:56 31.2 75% 

231 0:51 15.6 18.4 0:39 24.0 76% 

160 1:35 52.1 32.9 1:14 42.2 78% 

201 0:51 14.1 16.6 0:40 21.2 78% 

230 0:56 16.7 17.9 0:44 22.8 79% 

107 1:01 22.5 22.1 0:49 27.6 80% 

235 0:47 15.5 19.8 0:38 24.5 81% 

222 0:56 19.3 20.7 0:46 25.2 82% 

322 1:25 34 24.0 1:10 29.1 82% 

334 1:13 24.7 20.3 1:00 24.7 82% 

317 1:21 28.3 21.0 1:07 25.3 83% 

226 1:09 23.7 20.6 0:58 24.5 84% 

225 1:01 21.2 20.9 0:52 24.5 85% 

140 1:02 33.4 32.3 0:54 37.1 87% 

310 1:19 32.6 24.8 1:11 27.5 90% 

265 1:12 30.1 25.1 1:07 27.0 93% 

134 1:30 55.8 37.2 1:26 38.9 96% 

266 1:26 39.2 27.3 1:26 27.3 100% 

Source: 131500 website (accessed March 2010) for bus timetables; Google Maps for distances and car travel times 

6.2 No-change scenario 

As an initial option, an assessment of the existing services for Newcastle City Centre was undertaken. A summary 

of the service frequencies in the morning peak period is provided in Table 6.2 and Table 6.3 for the afternoon 

peak period from Newcastle City Centre. These services are illustrated in Figure 6.3. 

It is noted that there is currently a high frequency of services operating on Tudor Street / Maitland Road through 

Hunter Street with little service frequency on other streets accessing Newcastle City Centre from the north and 

south. The concentration of services on Hunter Street, with limited services on King Street does not provide 

connectivity to areas such as the King Street where there are shopping centres and other activity hubs. 

The current capacity to Newcastle City Centre in the morning peak is approximately 3,480 (based on 87 trips to 

Newcastle City Centre, with 80% capacity or 40 passengers per trip). This available capacity would be able to 

cater for the current rail passenger demand (515) and for approximately 2,000 additional passengers, should 

there be an increased demand with the removal of the railway line from Newcastle and creation of a new terminus 

and transport hub at Wickham. 

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Table 6.2 Existing frequency of bus services to Newcastle City Centre – AM Peak 

Corridor to City Centre 7 AM 8 AM Total 

Darby Street 2 2 4 

Hannell Street 2 1 3 

King Street 6 5 11 

Maitland Road 7 12 19 

Stewart Ave 3 3 6 

Tudor Street 18 23 41 

Union Street 1 2 3 

Total 39 48 87 

Source: 131500 website (accessed March 2010) 

Table 6.3: Existing frequency of bus services from Newcastle City Centre – PM Peak 

Corridor from City Centre 4 PM 5 PM 6 PM Total 

Darby Street 2 2 3 7 

Hannell Street 1 1 1 3 

King Street 7 5 6 18 

Maitland Road 8 5 10 23 

Stewart Ave 3 2 2 7 

Tudor Street 26 19 22 67 

Union Street 1 1 1 3 

Total 48 35 45 128 

Source: 131500 website (accessed March 2010) 

Figure 6.3: 

Existing bus services in Newcastle City Centre 


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6.3 City Centre Options 

A range of city centre bus network options were considered to maximise coverage throughout the city centre, 

connect to any future developments or station facilities at Wickham, and to improve intra-city travel. 

6.3.1 Option B1 – City Centre Bus Loop: Existing Services 

This option has existing bus services from Hannell Street, Maitland Road, Tudor Street and Stewart Avenue doing 

a “loop” and terminating / starting at Wickham (no additional bus services required), as illustrated in Figure 6.4. 

Table 6.4 Proposed number of bus services 

Direction 

AM Peak Services (Into 

Newcastle City Centre) 

(7am-9am) 

PM Peak Services (Out of 


(4pm-6pm) 

Existing Services 87 73 

Clockwise 20 per hour 17 per hour 

Counter Clockwise 20 per hour 17 per hour 

CHANGE 

Source: AECOM, March 2010 

Minor increase in distance travelled 

Figure 6.4: 

Option B1 City Centre Bus Loop – Existing Services 


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Table 6.5 Option B1 – Advantages and Disadvantages 

Advantages 

Disadvantages 

 

 

 

 

 

Includes a quasi city centre loop 

Increases bus patronage by 2.2% to Newcastle 

City Centre in AM Peak 

No need to interchange from services from outside 

the city centre. 

Access North and South of city centre 

Easier to monitor fare evasion than the existing 

fare free zone 

 

 

Capital cost of interchange / terminus at 

Wickham to allow for a maximum of 48 

buses per hour in the morning peak; 

Some passengers may be disadvantaged 

by requiring to travel beyond their 

destination, for example travelling on 

Honeysuckle Drive to access Hunter Street 

and vice versa. 

Source: AECOM, June 2010 

6.3.2 Option B2 – City Centre Bus Loop: Interchange at Wickham 

This option provides a two-way City Centre bus loop from Wickham Station, operating from Wickham Station via 

Stewart Ave/Hannell Street, Honeysuckle Drive, Workshop Way, Wharf Road, Newcastle (Station), Watt Street, 

Hunter Street (through the mall) to Newcastle Station. This assumes that the City Centre bus loop only carries rail 

passengers – all other bus services as existing. This is illustrated in Figure 6.5. 

Under this option, all bus services from outer Newcastle and Lake Macquarie terminate at a Wickham Transport 

Hub to facilitate transfer to the proposed City Centre Loop bus service or the train service. 

Table6.6 Proposed bus frequency 

Direction 



(7am-9am) 



(4pm-6pm) 


Clockwise 6-8 per hour 6-8 per hour 

Counter Clockwise 6-8 per hour 6-8 per hour 

CHANGE 


Net increase in services and cost 

22 October 2010 33


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Figure 6.5: 

Option B2 City Centre Bus Loop – Interchange at Wickham 



Advantages 

Disadvantages 

 

 

 

 

 

Includes city centre bus loop 

Reduction of not-full buses travelling to and from 

Newcastle City Centre. 

Ability for dedicated branding of City Centre Bus Loop 

Easier enforcement of the Fare Free Zone 

Reallocation of revenue kilometres saved onto services 

outside of Newcastle City Centre 

 

Potential decrease in bus patronage 

due to interchange penalty 


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6.3.3 Option B3 – Bus Rapid Transit: Existing Services 

Option B3 proposes a bus rapid transit corridor from Newcastle Station to Wickham Station. This does not 

include a City Centre bus loop and is only viable with the truncation of the railway line at Wickham. This is 

illustrated in Figure 6.6. 

Table6.8 Proposed number of bus services 

Direction 

AM Peak Services (Into Newcastle 

City Centre) (7am-9am) 


Newcastle City Centre) (4pm-6pm) 

Existing Services operating 

along BRT corridor 

87 73 


Figure 6.6: 

Option B3 Bus Rapid Transit – Existing Services 



Advantages 

Disadvantages 

 

 

 

 

Includes a city centre connection along the former 

rail corridor 

Potential to increase bus patronage 

No need for bus patrons to interchange 

Access is provided to existing rail stations, with the 

addition of another bus station for the Honeysuckle 

development between Civic and Wickham 

 

 

 

Capital cost of building the bus rapid transit 

way 

No city centre bus loop service provided 

Additional bus services required to provide 

coverage to areas south of City Centre 


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6.3.4 Option B4 – Bus Rapid Transit: Interchange at Wickham 

This option proposes the termination of all bus services from outer Newcastle and Lake Macquarie at a Wickham 

Transport Hub to facilitate transfer to a proposed bus rapid transit way on the former rail corridor. This is 

illustrated in Figure 6.7. The same assumptions have been made as noted in Section 6.3.3. 

Table 6.10 

Proposed number of bus services 

Direction 



(7am-9am) 



(4pm-6pm) 


Clockwise 6-8 per hour 6-8 per hour 

Counter Clockwise 6-8 per hour 6-8 per hour 

CHANGE 


Net increase in services and cost 

Figure 6.7: 

Option B4 Bus Rapid Transit – Interchange at Wickham Station 


22 October 2010 36


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Table 6.11 

Advantages 

Option B4 – Advantages and Disadvantages 

Disadvantages 

 

 

Includes a city centre connection along the former 

rail corridor 

Access is provided to existing railway stations, with 

the addition of another bus station for the 

Honeysuckle development between Civic and 

Wickham 

 

 

 

 

 

Estimated to decrease bus patronage to 

Newcastle City Centre in AM Peak, due to 

the interchange penalty (based on AECOM 

mode share modelling) 

Capital cost of building the bus rapid transit 

way and interchange at Wickham Station 

No city circle loop service provided, need to 

maximise frequency on transitway corridor 

to ensure cost/benefit ratio stacks up. 

No connectivity with the broader bus 

network, providing for destinations 

Perceived penalty due to the need to 

interchange 


6.3.5 Summary of City Centre Options 

The rapid appraisal criteria against which the options were assessed included: 

 

 

 

 

Whether the Wickham-Newcastle rail line is operational; 

Whether a City Centre bus loop is operational; 

The estimated change in patronage to meet the State Plan journey to work target; and 

A subjective strategic benefit cost analysis ranking, based mainly on the change in patronage. 

A summary of the City Centre options is presented in Table 6.12. 

Table 6.12 Summary of City Centre Options 

Option 

Description 

Wickham- 


Rail Link 

City 


Loop 

Patronage 

impact 

PT 

mode 

share 

Strategic 

Benefit 

Cost 

B1 

Bus Loop: 

Existing 

Services 

+2.2% 13.5% 1 

B2 

Bus Loop: 

Interchange at 

Wickham 

-19.5% 12.0% 3 

B3 

B4 

BRT: Existing 

Services 

BRT: 

Interchange at 

Wickham 

+5.7% 13.7% 2 

-16.7% 12.2% 4 


22 October 2010 37


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6.4 Principal Route Bus Options 

This set of options focused on service improvements for the principal bus routes into the City Centre to test the 

impact this would have on the journey to work mode share. 

Park and ride bus services are to be assessed as part of the City Centre parking strategy. Dedicated university 

shuttle services have not been considered as separate services, but have been investigated as part of the existing 

bus routes and services. 

6.4.1 Option B5 – “Go Zone” Loops: Merewether & Mayfield East 

This option uses the principal of “Go Zone” loops. A Go Zone is not a route but a zone that offers convenient, high 

frequency services during peak times. This service is delivered by a variety of different routes, which are 

displayed at each stop so you know which bus to hail. 

Two bus loops are proposed to operate, one from Merewether and another from Mayfield East. These new 

services will operate on a ten-minute frequency on a two way loop during the peak periods to supplement the 

existing bus services. This is illustrated in Figure 6.8. 

Figure 6.8: 

Option B5 Go Zone Loops – Merewether & Mayfield East 


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Table 6.13 

Advantages 


Disadvantages 

 

Provides improved service to the inner areas of 

Newcastle that currently have high private vehicle 

mode share to assist in improving public transport 

mode share to Newcastle City Centre 

 

The need for providing a two-way loop will 

mean lower passenger loads in the contra 

peak direction 


6.4.2 Option B6 – Outer Newcastle Express: Beyond Jesmond, John Hunter & Charlestown 

This option is for the development of Outer Newcastle Express services. Three bus services are proposed to 

operate, from Wallsend, Glendale and Charlestown. These new express services will operate on a fifteen-minute 

frequency in the peak direction during the morning and afternoon peak periods to supplement the existing bus 

services and provide for a faster trip into Newcastle City Centre. This is illustrated in Figure 6.9 overleaf. 

Table 6.14 

Advantages 


Disadvantages 

 

Provides for improved service to Newcastle City 

Centre from areas that that currently have high 

private vehicle mode share, to assist in improving 

public transport mode share to Newcastle City 


 

Without higher frequency on the current 

network, this may lead to express buses 

travelling without full loads disenfranchising 

passengers waiting at other stops 


22 October 2010 39


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Figure 6.9: 

Option B6 Outer Newcastle Express – Beyond Jesmond, John Hunter & Charlestown 


22 October 2010 40


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6.4.3 Option B7 – No timetable (max 15 min headway & increased bus speeds) 

This option is for the increase of bus frequencies to a maximum 15 minute headway on all services travelling to 

Newcastle City Centre in the morning and afternoon peak periods. Another consideration for this option is to 

increase bus speeds to potentially remove any additional running time to speed up journeys by bus for those 

travelling to Newcastle City Centre. 

Table 6.15 

Advantages 


Disadvantages 

 

No timetable required for services on frequent 

corridors 

Faster service by removing assumed 10% 

timetable slack 

 

Provides for improved service to Newcastle City 

Centre from areas that currently have high private 

vehicle mode share, to assist in meeting the 20% 

target for public transport mode share to Newcastle 



 

High capital and operational costs 

6.4.4 Summary of Principal Route Options 

A summary of the Principal Routes options is presented in Table 6.16. 

Table 6.16: 

Summary of City Centre Options 

Option 

Description 

Wickham- 


Rail Link 



Loop 

Patronage 

impact 

PT 

mode 

share 

Strategic 

Benefit 

Cost 

B5 

B6 

B7 

Go Zone Loops: 

Merewether & 

Mayfield East 

Outer Newcastle 

Express: Beyond 

Jesmond, John 

Hunter & 

Charlestown 

No timetable 

(max 15 min 

headway & 

increased bus 

speeds) 

+4.1% 13.6% 2 

+9.7% 14.0% 1 

+4.9% 13.6% 3 


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6.5 Customer Service Improvement Options 

Customer Service Improvement options focused on policy changes and infrastructure support measures to test 

the impact this would have on the journey to work mode share. 

6.5.1 Option B8 – Prepay Only 

This option is the introduction of prepay only, i.e. no tickets sold on buses on all services travelling to/from 

Newcastle City Centre. 

Table 6.17 

Advantages 


Disadvantages 

 

Prepay only, therefore reduced boarding times, 

resulting in 7% travel time saving 

 

There are currently only 30 ticket agents in 

the Newcastle Buses area and no ticket 

agents in the outer areas 


6.5.2 Option B9 – Gold Coin ($1) flat fare 

This option is the introduction of a gold coin flat fare to replace the current timed fare and travel pass systems that 

are available. 

Table 6.18 

Advantages 


Disadvantages 

 

 

 

Cost saving in advertising and ticket sales, easy to 

collect 

Easy to enforce 

Simplified fares for customers 

 

Significant loss of fare box revenue 


6.5.3 Option B10 - Bus priority from Broadmeadow to City Centre 

This option is the introduction of bus priority from Broadmeadow to City Centre, including bus priority at 18 

intersections, and a combination of bus queue jumps and limited additional lanes to accommodate the bus jumps. 

Table 6.19 

Advantages 


Disadvantages 

A three minute travel time saving per passenger Significant capital cost 


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6.5.4 Option B11 - Bus fleet improvements 

This option is the replacement of the approximately 46% of fleet which are currently over 20 years old with new 

low floor buses. 

Table 6.20 

Advantages 


Disadvantages 

 

 

Provides for a more comfortable journey for 

passengers 

Meets DDA standards required under federal law 

 

 

Significant capital cost 

Does not improve travel time nor frequency 

for commuter 


6.5.5 Option B12 - Real time info at bus stops 

This option is the provision of real time bus information of the estimated 2,000 bus stops. 

Table 6.21 

Advantages 


Disadvantages 

 

Provides real time information for all bus services 

travelling on the network 

 

 

No benefit for passengers on infrequent 

services, i.e. less than 30 minute frequency. 

Cost 


6.5.6 Summary of Customer Service Improvement Options 

A summary of the Customer Service Improvement options is presented in Table 6.22. 

Table 6.22 Summary of Customer Service Improvement Options 

Option 

Description 

Wickham- 


Rail Link 



Loop 

Patronage 

impact 

PT 

mode 

share 

Strategic 

Benefit 

Cost 

B8 Prepay only +2.5% 13.5% 5 

B9 $1 flat fare +17.6% 14.5% 1 

B10 

Bus priority from 

Broadmeadow to 


+2.2% 13.5% 3 

B11 

Bus fleet 

improvements 

+1.2% 13.4% 4 

B12 

Real time info at 

bus stops 

+7.7% 13.8% 2 


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7.0 Bus network option appraisal 

7.1 Appraisal framework 

As discussed in Section 6, a preliminary assessment of the options developed was undertaken and the options 

ranked within a matrix as shown in Table 7.1. This approach enabled a rapid appraisal workshop to be held with 

relevant stakeholders to narrow down the options that were taken forward into the preferred City Centre bus 

strategy. 

Table 7.1: Evaluation of bus service options matrix 

Option 

Description 

Wickham-Newcastle 

rail line 

City Centre Loop 

Preliminary cost 

Patronage 

State Plan journey to 

work target 

Strategic Benefit Cost 

Analysis 

B1 

B2 

Etc 

# = Rank 

Option title 

Core routes that distinguish the option 

Service regime 

Etc 

/ / # # # # 

7.2 Rapid appraisal workshop 

A rapid appraisal workshop was held on 31 March 2010 to allow relevant authorities a chance to appraise and 

provide input into the bus network options. The authorities represented included Transport NSW, Newcastle 

Buses and STA. 

Outcomes of the workshop are contained in Appendix C. A summary is provided below. 

 

 

 

City Centre Options: 

- Recommended that option to be developed that is a hybrid of the existing services and city centre bus 

loop, with some, but not all services operating through the Honeysuckle precinct 

- In favour of a City Centre Loop service (possible fare free) 

- Recommended that some services be relocated from Hunter Street to King Street 

Principal Route Options: 

- Assess which routes would maximise demand with an increase in frequency 

Customer Service Improvement Options: 

- In favour of bus fleet upgrade 

- Merit in providing real time bus information at selected locations 

- Public awareness and branding campaign is important 

22 October 2010 44


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8.0 Preferred city centre bus strategy 

8.1 Overview 

Following the preliminary assessment and the authority consultation undertaken, a preferred bus strategy was 

developed, consisting of the following: 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A two-way, free City Centre Loop service operating at 10 minute headways during peaks, which would allow 

existing bus services to continue to serve current destinations and not inconvenience existing passengers; 

Increased service frequencies to 15 minute headways during peaks on three strategic bus corridors into the 

City Centre – Route 100 (Charlestown via Jesmond), Route 363 (Glendale) and Route 320 (Charlestown); 







The City Centre bus loop and amended existing services are presented in Figure 8.1, while Figure 8.2 illustrates 

the principal routes to be improved. 

The proposed city centre strategy is able to be implemented in the event of either the retention or the removal of 

the rail line. A key benefit of the strategy is that existing bus passengers do not need to interchange at a new 

interchange facility. 

With the Honeysuckle development becoming a key employment area in Newcastle, this strategy provides 

increased frequencies and direct bus services to this area from selected services within the greater Newcastle 

and Hunter area, with the opportunity to interchange to these direct services at or before Wickham or to use the 

City Centre bus loop to access the Honeysuckle precinct. 

The southern part of Newcastle City Centre is not currently well served by bus. The proposed City Centre bus 

loop will assist in linking the patronage generators and attractors on King Street (e.g. Marketown, the Club, 

Australian Taxation Office, Council Chambers, etc) to other centres. 

Further details of the City Centre Bus Loop are provided in Section 8.2. 

Should the rail line be truncated and Wickham Station relocated west of Stewart Avenue, attention would need to 

be given to the crossing of Stewart Avenue by passengers interchanging between rail and bus, as well as those 

accessing the former role corridor from the station. The preferred option would be to provide a grade separated 

crossing such as a bridge between new buildings on either side of Stewart Avenue; with integration into the 

proposed station. This would also co-ordinate with the densification of the Wickham precinct as part of the City 

Centre Renewal. 

A Newcastle Transport Steering Committee meeting was held on Wednesday 21 April 2010, at which the above 

City Centre Bus Strategy was presented. There was general consensus around the strategy proposed. 

The preferred City Centre Bus Strategy does not preclude proposed increase in service levels for Hunter Valley 

Buses as part of the Integrated Network Plan. 

22 October 2010 45


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Figure 8.1: 

Preferred City Centre Bus Strategy – City Centre 

22 October 2010 46


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Figure 8.2: 

Preferred City Centre Bus Strategy – Principal Routes 

22 October 2010 47


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8.2 Details of City Centre Bus Loop 

8.2.1 Introduction 

The proposed City Centre loop service for Newcastle City Centre is expected to provide the following key 

outcomes for the Newcastle City Centre TMAP: 

 

 

 

 

Connectivity to a variety of existing and future land uses along the proposed route; 

A single simply branded service to access the greater parts of the Newcastle City Centre with or without the 

truncation of the railway line; 

Proven success based on other city circle loop services operated in Sydney, Parramatta, Wollongong, 

Brisbane, Adelaide and Perth CBDs; and 

Positive flow on impacts from the ability to remove the existing and difficult to enforce fare free zone, with a 

simpler two-tiered system of a free shuttle service and paid fares on services travelling out of Newcastle City 

Centre. 

8.2.2 Land uses along loop 

The proposed loop service provides access between the land uses within Newcastle City Centre, including: 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Wickham Railway Station and surrounds, such as future residential and commercial buildings; 

Civic Railway Station and surrounds, such as the existing TAFE, cinemas and hotel accommodation and 

future university and legal precinct; 

Honeysuckle Precinct north of the railway line, including the existing and proposed commercial office 

buildings; 

Newcastle Railway Station and Coach Terminal precinct, including hotels and restaurants 

Retail and tourism precinct near to Hunter Street Mall, such as David Jones; 

Civic and Cultural Precinct surrounding Newcastle Town Hall, such as the Civic Theatre ; and 

Schools, parks and other activity areas within the City Centre. 

The proposed loop service also will provide access to future land uses within Newcastle City Centre 7 , including: 

 

 

 

the relocation of 60,000m 2 of University of Newcastle’s faculties to the city; 

the relocation of State and Federal Justice facilities to the City’s Civic Precinct; and 

an improved integrated public transport system that involves a new station / terminus at Wickham (in the 

case of the rail line being removed). 

8.2.3 Other city centre loops 

Two examples of loop services operating in the Sydney and Illawarra regions include 

 

Route 55 providing a peak and off-peak service around Wollongong City Centre and surrounds (shown in 

Figure 8.3), introduced in April 2009; and 

Route 555 providing an off-peak service around Sydney CBD, introduced in December 2008. 

The proposed city centre loop in Newcastle provides similar characteristics to the Route 55 in Wollongong as it 

provides a peak and off peak service; however, it covers a shorter distance than the Route 55 service in 

Wollongong, and is a similar distance to Route 555 service in Sydney CBD. 

7 Based on the Hunter Development Corporation’s Newcastle City Centre Renewal Report To NSW Government, March 2009, 

22 October 2010 48


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Figure 8.3 Gong Shuttle Route 55 map 

Source: 131500 Website, http://www.131500.com.au/image/events/pdf/cbdshuttle_map.pdf, accessed April 2010 

8.2.4 Branded Livery 

A successful city loop service requires a different brand to other services to enable all users, including infrequent 

users and tourists, to be able to easily identify the service without the need for reading of a destination sign or 

timetable. It is recommended that the Newcastle City Centre loop service be of a different livery to all other 

services in Newcastle City Centre to enable this ease of use. 

22 October 2010 49


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8.2.5 Impact on existing “Fare Free Zone” 

The NSW Government currently provides a Fare Free Zone for passengers travelling on any Newcastle Buses 

service in the Newcastle city centre between 7.30am and 6:00pm, seven days a week. 

Information received from Newcastle Buses indicates that this scheme is difficult to enforce, with anecdotal 

evidence showing that passengers may be overriding on the current buses. Further to this, marketing and 

knowledge of the Fare Free Zone is limited to locals, as it is difficult to explain to tourist and irregular users. 

A further benefit of operating a free city circle loop service within Newcastle City Centre would be the ability to 

enforce fares on other services travelling to and from Newcastle City Centre, and ease of use for those infrequent 

users of bus services and tourists visiting Newcastle City Centre. 

8.2.6 Proposed service pattern and operating costs 

The proposed hours of operation and frequencies of the City Centre Bus Loop service are shown in Table 8.1. 

Table 8.1 Proposed City Centre Bus Loop service pattern 

Day Time Period Hours of Operation Headway Trips per hour 

Total Trips 

per period 

(both directions) 

Early AM 5:00am-6:00am 30 mins 2 4 

AM Peak 6:00am-9:30am 10 mins 6 42 

Weekday 

Midday 9:30am-3:00pm 15 mins 4 52 

PM Peak 3:00pm-7:00pm 10 mins 6 48 

Evening 7:00pm-12:00am 30 mins 2 20 

Saturday All Day 7:00am-12:00am 30mins 2 68 

Sunday All Day 8:00am-7:00pm 30mins 2 44 


8.3 Service amendments 

Table 8.2 provides a summary of the changes proposed to the bus routes under the preferred City Centre Bus 

Strategy. 

22 October 2010 50


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Table 8.2: Route by route service changes under preferred City Centre Bus Strategy 

Route Description Corridor Change to service Reason/s for change Issues to be considered 

310 Belmont to Newcastle Derby Street No change 

320 Warners Bay to Newcastle Derby Street 

106 Jesmond to Newcastle 

107 Jesmond to Newcastle 

104 Jesmond to Newcastle East 

111 Mount Hutton to Newcastle 

201 Hamilton to Marketown 

235 Wallsend to Newcastle 

Hannell Street 

King Street 

100 Charlestown to Newcastle Maitland Road 

125 Stockton-Fern Bay-Newcastle 

130 Newcastle Airport / Fingal Bay to Newcastle 

134 Lemon Tree Passage - Fern Bay - Newcastle 

140 Raymond Terrace - Lakeside - Newcastle 

160 Cessnock - Newcastle 


349 Swansea North to Newcastle 

Maitland Road 

Stewart Ave 

Increased frequency 

between Charlestown 

and Newcastle City 


Diversion of service via 

Hunter Street 

No change 


between Charlestown 

and Newcastle City 

Centre (via Jesmond) 


Hannell Street / 

Honeysuckle Drive 









Provide better links on Strategic 

Bus Corridors to Newcastle City 


Provide better links to Wickham 

Station/precinct, with or without 

the truncation of the rail line. 




Provide better links to the 

Honeysuckle development on 

the northern side of the rail line 



the northern side of the railline 



the northern side of the rail line 

and a connection via Wickham 

Station/Precinct 

Future consideration to be given 

to providing an express or limited 

stops services 

Access onto Beresford Avenue 

from Hannell Street may require 

infrastructure works 




Traffic and infrastructure changes 

required on Honeysuckle Drive to 

facilitate increased frequency 







22 October 2010 51


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Route Description Corridor Change to service Reason/s for change Issues to be considered 

222 Wallsend to Newcastle East 

226 Glendale to Newcastle 



265 Seahampton - University 

266 Seahampton - Newcastle Station 

267 Seahampton - Newcastle University 

317 Belmont to Newcastle 

322 Belmont to Newcastle 

334 Glendale to Newcastle 

350 Swansea Heads to Newcastle 

Tudor Street 

363 Warners Bay to Newcastle Tudor Streeet 

No change 

225 Jesmond to Newcastle Union Street No change 

Source: AECOM, April, 2010 


between Glendale and 

Newcastle City Centre 







22 October 2010 52


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8.4 Supporting road infrastructure improvements 

The rerouting of bus services throughout the local road network necessitates modifications to the existing 

intersection layouts to maintain safety and performance levels. 

The Draft Newcastle City Centre Traffic and Transport Study (Bitzios Consulting, Jan 2010) recommends 

upgrades to the City Centre road network. However, these are in the process of being revised, and as such, have 

not been included in the assessments of the infrastructure amendments required. Once these are finalised, they 

will be co-ordinated with the recommended upgrades from this study to ensure recommendations are aligned 

between the two studies. 

Due to the timing of the Newcastle City Centre Traffic and Transport Study the infrastructure recommendations in 

this report have not been quantitatively assessed using Newcastle City Council’s traffic model. While the package 

is assumed to facilitate the bus strategy, the future network performance should be tested in due course. 

8.4.1 Newcastle Station Bus Layover Capacity 

The existing layover at Newcastle Station appears to have capacity to handle the additional services proposed 

under the preferred city centre bus strategy, including the City Centre bus loop. 

There are approximately 12 layover spaces located near to the bus stops at Newcastle Station with additional 

room for 6 buses to layover at the stops themselves in Newcastle, totalling 18 layover spaces. This is shown in 

Figure 8.4. 

Figure 8.4: 

Layover at Newcastle Station 

Source: Google Maps, www.google.com.au/maps, accessed April 2010 

To determine if there is capacity for layover of additional loop services (a maximum of 5 buses at any one time), 

the total number of service arriving at Newcastle Station versus the number of services leaving, assuming a 

generous layover time of 10 minutes, was calculated. The number of services in the layover using this 

methodology ranged from 2 through to 15 in the 7:00am to 9:00am period. There are only 3 minutes where the 

three stops located next to the station would be required to be used for layover, i.e. when the layover capacity to 

the north of these stops is greater than the 12 spaces available. This demonstrates that there is sufficient 

capacity for additional city centre loop bus services to layover where appropriate at the layover adjacent to 

Newcastle Station. 

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8.4.2 Honeysuckle Drive / Hannell Street 

The preferred bus strategy increases services north of the railway line, namely along Honeysuckle Drive and 

Workshop Way. Additional right turn bus movements at Honeysuckle Drive and Hannell Street intersection 

necessitates an adjustment to kerbside parking. The swept path analysis of the right turn movement from Hannell 

Street to Honeysuckle Drive requires the removal of two existing parking bays, associated line marking and 

signage along the north side of Honeysuckle Drive adjacent the intersection. The introduction of a bus stop along 

the northern arm will remove a minimum 18 metres of parking for adequate clearance. 

The addition of a signalised pedestrian crossing at Honeysuckle Drive will provide safe access to Wickham 

station. Figure 8.5 illustrates the proposed location for bus stop and signalled pedestrian crossing along 

Honeysuckle Way and the recommended removal of parking adjacent the intersection. 

Figure 8.5: 

Proposed location for Honeysuckle Way bus stop and signalled crossing 

8.4.3 Honeysuckle Drive Bus Stops 

Three more bus stops along Honeysuckle Drive are required to provide a better service to passengers, especially 

with the introduction of more bus services through the Honeysuckle precinct. 

8.4.4 Honeysuckle Drive / Workshop Way 

Swept path analysis of the roundabout at Workshop Way and Honeysuckle Drive indicates the existing westbound 

bus movements mount the roundabout to negotiate the turn. The proposed modification involves the removal of 

the roundabout and the introduction of a priority controlled T-intersection. The modified intersection will provide 

priority to the major movement with the side arm restricted to one way exit only. 

Reconfiguration of median islands on the northern approach are required for the introduction of a southbound, 

right turn bay that will maintain access to the southern side road. Kerb build outs at the existing southern 

approach will reduce access to the intersection maintaining a one way exit only. Figure 8.6 demonstrates the 

swept path of bus movements at Workshop Way roundabout and the option for a priority controlled intersection. 

22 October 2010 54


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Figure 8.6: 

Layout option at Workshop Way and AutoTrack simulation of bus movements 

8.4.5 Workshop Way / Merewether Street 

Increased bus service frequency along Workshop Way and Merewether Street would necessitate modifications to 

the intersection, notably the upgrade of the zebra crossing to a signalled pedestrian crossing. Upgrading the 

pedestrian crossing from zebra to signalised will provide bus priority whilst maintain pedestrian safety with the 

increased in buses. Swept path analysis of the left turn movement from Merewether Street into Workshop Way 

indicates reducing the size of the median island will allow buses to complete the movement without the vehicle 

encroaching over the island. Figure 8.7 shows the location of the pedestrian zebra crossing to undergo the 

proposed upgrade and the swept path analysis of bus movements. 

Figure 8.7: 

Proposed option for intersection at Workshop Way and Merewether Street 

8.4.6 Hunter Street / Mereweather Street 

The additional bus services performing the right turn movement from Hunter Street to Merewether Street may 

require the introduction of a dedicated right turn bay. Pending microsimulation options testing, the proposed 

removal of parking along the southern arm adjacent the intersection allows for two through traffic lanes to be 

maintained, with the performance of the right turn movement improving. Figure 8.8 illustrates the proposed 

modification to create a dedicated right turn bay and the swept path of the proposed bus movements. 

22 October 2010 55


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Figure 8.8: 

Proposed option for intersection at Hunter Street and Merewether Street 

8.4.7 King Street / Watt Street 

The proposed alterations to the bus service routes at Watt Street and King Street include the introduction of left 

and right turn movements linking the northern and western approaches. The proposed option requires 

modification of the existing north south priority intersection into a signalled intersection with pedestrian crossing 

facilities on all arms. 

The AutoTrack swept path analysis indicated adjustments to the median island and parking at the western 

approach are required. The right turn movement from Watt Street to King Street necessitates alterations to the 

island median and removal of a single existing parking space on the southern side of the western approach. The 

introduction of the signalled intersection with pedestrian crossings to all arms will negate the existing zebra 

crossing and therefore can be removed. 

The swept path of the left turn movement to Watt Street encroaches on the southbound traffic lane leading to 

potential conflict with queuing vehicles. The stop line on the northern approach should be set back to avoid this 

conflict and allow for the left turn bus movement. Figure 8.9 outlines the proposed modifications to the Watt and 

King Street intersection to cater for swept path of proposed bus movements. 

Figure 8.9: 

Proposed option for intersection at King Street and Watt Street 

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8.4.8 Stewart Avenue / Beresford Street 

The introduction of bus services eastbound along Beresford Street requires buses to negotiate the left turn 

movement from Stewart Avenue. AutoTrack swept path analysis indicated the movement encroached significantly 

on the opposing westbound traffic lane. The proposed modifications involve the introduction of a kerb build out to 

reduce the eastern approach to exit only. 

Vehicles will be prevented from exiting westbound at Beresford Street to Stewart Avenue. Figure 8.10 illustrates 

the build out required at the intersection of Beresford Street and Stewart Avenue to allow for adequate swept path 

clearance for the proposed bus movements. 

Figure 8.10: 

Proposed option for intersection at Stewart Avenue and Beresford Street 

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9.0 Parking policy 

9.1 Overview 

Newcastle City Council has already given considerable thought to the nature of a parking strategy for the City 

Centre. A review of previous reports, including Council’s 2006 parking review and any recommendations within 

the Traffic and Transport Study was undertaken, and then consultation held with Council to discuss key issues 

and opportunities. 

Parking policies were developed through merging experience of parking solutions in other cities with local 

knowledge of problems and issues, whilst remaining cognisant of the broader TMAP objectives. The development 

of these policies, on a precinct-by-precinct basis, will support the State Plan target for public transport use. 

9.2 Parking supply 

9.2.1 Total parking supply 

The total parking supply in Newcastle City Centre is 10,772 parking spaces, as defined in the Newcastle City 

Centre Parking Strategy (GTA, 2008) produced for Newcastle City Council. This includes all publicly available onand 

off-street parking, private non-residential and private residential. The currency of the parking supply data is 

referenced to 2006. 

Figure 9.1 sets out the Newcastle City Centre area and the 9 parking precincts as defined in the Newcastle City 

Centre Parking Strategy. 

Figure 9.1: 

Newcastle City Centre Parking Districts 

Source: GTA, 2008 

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9.2.2 On-Street Parking 

There are 4,131 on-street parking spaces in Newcastle City Centre 8 . This can be defined as: 

 

 

3,622 restricted spaces (87% of on-street parking capacity) 

509 unrestricted spaces (13% of on-street parking capacity) 

In areas where on-street parking is time restricted spaces are subject to 15 Minutes, 30 Minutes, 1 Hour or 2 Hour 

parking limits. Where parking is unrestricted, there is no limit on permitted length of stay and ‘all day’ parking (or 

longer) parking acts are possible. 

9.2.3 Off-Street Parking 

There are 3,919 publicly available off-street parking spaces in Newcastle City Centre. Table 9.1 provides a 

breakdown of the off-street parking supply in Newcastle City Centre, by facility type and ownership. 

Table 9.1: Off-street parking supply 

Public/ Private 

Type of Parking Facility 

At Grade Multi-Storey Total 

Private 285 1,117 1,402 

Public 1,052 1,465 2,517 

Total 1,337 2,582 3,919 


9.2.4 Private Non-Residential (PNR) and Private Residential 

There are 2,722 private off-street parking spaces in Newcastle City Centre. This comprises: 

 

 

2,266 private non-residential (PNR) spaces; 

456 private residential spaces. 

9.2.5 Parking supply adapted from Newcastle Parking Policy (NELA, 2000) 

The ‘Car Parking Policy for Newcastle’, produced by NELA in 2000, reported a total parking supply in Newcastle 

City Centre of 11,400 spaces (Source: NELA, 2000). This was defined as: 

 

6,887 publicly available on-street parking spaces, comprising: 

- 1,712 paid for (metered) on-street parking spaces; and 

- 5,175 unpaid on-street parking spaces - including: 

• 1,799 time restricted unpaid on-street parking spaces 9 ; 

• 3,376 unrestricted unpaid on-street parking spaces; 

 

2,259 publicly available paid off-street parking spaces, consisting of: 

- 1,502 publicly operated (paid for) off-street parking spaces; 

- 757 privately operated (paid for) off-street parking spaces; 

 

2,219 private off-street (PNR) parking spaces. 

8 

Reference: Newcastle City Centre area and 9 parking precincts as defined by GTA, 2008 (See Figure 1.1). 

9 

The 1,799 time restricted unpaid spaces are subject to 15 Minute, 30 Minute, 1 Hour or 2 Hour parking limits. 

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9.3 Parking Policy and Previous Report Review 

9.3.1 State Policy (NSW) 

Integration of Land Use and Transport (ILUT) (DUAP, 2001) 

The Integrated Land Use and Transport (ILUT) package (DUAP, 2001) provided a framework for State 

government agencies, Councils and developers to integrate land use and transport planning at the regional and 

local levels. 

The ILUT policy package is given statutory force in the planning system under Section 117 of the Environmental 

Planning and Assessment Act 1979 (EP&A Act). Section 117 of the EP&A Act allows the Minister for Planning to 

give directions to councils regarding the principles, aims, objectives or policies to be achieved in the preparation 

of Local Environmental Plans. 

ILUT encouraged the use of parking as a travel demand management tool - by setting maximum parking 

requirements for developments and by limiting the amount of long-stay parking in destinations which have good 

alternative access by public transport, walking and cycling. 

ILUT provided the context for the 2005 NCC DCP Element 4.1 (see Section 10.3.3 below). ILUT recommended 

DCP’s set maximum parking standards to discourage car use in areas with good public transport access, such as 

Newcastle City Centre. Also that DCP’s consider travel demand management (TDM) measures, trip-end cycling 

facilities and taxi provision. 

Sydney Metropolitan Strategy, City of Cities: A Plan for Sydney's Future (NSW, 2005) 

The major centres mentioned in the SEPP/ ILUT package were superseded by the strategic centres identified in 

the NSW Government's 2005 Metropolitan Strategy. 

In 2010, a review of the Metropolitan Strategy was commenced with the release of a discussion paper, Sydney 

Towards 2036. This was the first step in a comprehensive review of the Metropolitan Strategy to assess the 

impacts of significant population, residential and employment growth in the Sydney region. 

RTA Guide to Traffic Generating Developments (RTA, 2002) 

The RTA Guide sets out, in section5, detailed requirements for parking provision at new developments by land 

use, in the context of the traffic generation of new developments. It discusses parking for new developments in 

the context of the balance needed between development viability and local Council’s statutory requirements for 

parking for new developments. The document does state that parking for new development must always be 

considered in the context of the local Council parking policy. 

9.3.2 Regional Policy (Hunter) 

Lower Hunter Regional Strategy (Regional Cities Taskforce, 2006) 

The Lower Hunter Regional Strategy (2006) set out targets for Newcastle City Centre to accommodate an 

additional 6,500 residents and 10,000 jobs over the next 25 years (to 2031). 

One of the key constituent documents (The Newcastle Civic Improvement Plan) set out two key transport and 

access improvements and associated expenditure estimates for these projects as indicated below: 

A multi-storey car park in Burwood Street (Civic Precinct) [$5,000,000]; 

A new park and ride facility west of Newcastle City Centre [$5,000,000]. 

9.3.3 Local Policy (Newcastle City Council) 

Newcastle Development Control Plan (DCP) – 4.1 Parking and Access (NCC, Original 2005, Revised 2009) 

The Newcastle Development Control Plan No. 24 - Car Parking was originally adopted by Newcastle City Council 

in 1990. It was later amended in 1998 and 2003 to incorporate changes to monetary contributions, and integrated 

into the consolidated Newcastle Development Control Plan, 2005, as Element 4.1 Carparking. 

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In 2009, it was further amended and adopted as DCP element 4.1 parking and access, to include a flat rate of 1 

parking space per 60m 2 for all land use developments (excluding residential) within Newcastle City Centre. 

Outside the city centre car differential parking rates by land use type were retained. 

The parking standards in the Newcastle DCP are stipulated as minimum standards, reflecting the minimum 

parking provision required for Newcastle City Council to grant planning permission for new development. Some 

scope for variations can be made subject to additional evidence on parking supply in the locality, provision of a 

travel plan, travel demand management, public transport accessibility, trip-end bicycle facilities, or car sharing. 

Newcastle City Council - Residential Parking 

Newcastle City Council operates 5 on-street residential parking precincts: Newcastle East, Darby, The Hill, Cooks 

Hill, and Central. These precincts give priority to residents to park in close proximity to their homes. In addition, 

Council operates a residential permit exclusion zone which covers the majority of the city centre (excluding the 5 

precincts listed) to maximise the availability of on-street parking for commercial purposes in the city centre. 

9.3.4 Previous Report review 

Newcastle City Centre Parking Strategy (GTA, 2008) 

A review of the existing conditions, existing and future parking supply and demand, and recommended parking 

policy around management of supply and demand, was undertaken by GTA in 2008. 

A summary of the key issues and recommendations is summarised below, while detailed information is contained 

in Appendix D. 

The review of 2006 existing conditions highlighted: 

 

 

 

 

 

 

High on-street demand in City Centre (70-90%) in peak periods; 

On-street commuter parking is extending to the southern fringe of City Centre and is worsening; 

Off-street demand high – Civic, The Delaney, Honeysuckle, Marketown operate at practical capacity at peak 

times; 

Abuse of on-street short term, 1 hour restrictions in central area and 4 hour restrictions in foreshore precinct; 

>70% of drivers able to park within 5 min walk of destination and with a search time of


AECOM 

A methodology assuming existing land use and linear growth in development was used to predict the future 

parking supply and demand, which predicted the City East area precincts (east of Darby Street) to have a 

relatively good balance in supply and demand in 2031. In comparison, in the City West area precincts (west of 

Darby Street), parking demand is anticipated to significantly outstrip supply. Therefore, if the anticipated level of 

development in Newcastle city centre is achieved, and this occurs in the locations suggested, then there will be a 

clear need for additional parking capacity in line with development in the City West area. 

However, if the high predicted levels of growth in employment and population are to be achieved it is more likely 

to be concentrated in a handful of major sites and facilitated by major change, such as truncation of the rail line. 

The methodology also used existing travel demand characteristics, assumed no change in future transport trends 

and did not include any reference to long term planning towards sustainability objectives. Therefore the detailed 

future projections of parking over/ under supply should be treated with caution. The general pattern will be 

retained if future growth is in line with existing land use; however, future development should be used to guide the 

location of any additional future parking supply, but this should take note of surveyed existing under/ over-supply. 

In terms of management of supply and demand, the 2008 review highlighted: 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Creating a maximum or threshold parking provision for Newcastle will have little effect as a travel demand 

management tool to manage traffic flow. It is solely long term parking supply which impacts on vehicular 

demand in the peak periods as travel associated with these spaces tends to be concentrated in the morning 

and evening peaks. Such commuter or long term parking also impacts on the streetscape and available land 

for development, as having a significant number of stationary vehicles in the city centre takes up valuable 

space for development and creates a visual eyesore. 

The majority of any additional parking created in Newcastle in the future should focus on short-term parking 

to maintain and enhance the economic and cultural attractiveness of Newcastle City Centre. Long term 

planning policy should focus on encouraging a modal shift away from long term commuter parking by 

providing suitable public transport alternatives, by transferring long term to short term parking capacity and 

relocating long-term parking to the periphery, possibly in conjunction with park and ride provision, if viable. 

However, some additional capacity will clearly be needed in line with significant growth in Newcastle City 

Centre. The proposed Burwood Street car park would include 100 long term and 300 short term spaces. 

There is scope to increase the amount of parking supply at this site as space for parking is limited in the City 

Centre. 

Newcastle City Council should urgently consider changing their Development Control Policy for parking for 

new developments. If the present flat rate of 1 space per 60m 2 were applied to all proposed development, 

8,000 additional parking spaces would be built in Newcastle City Centre. 

A signage strategy for Newcastle City Centre is required which increases public awareness of the location 

and supply of parking, and of the availability of free spaces. Large static signage or variable message 

signage, as successfully implemented in other locations, could be considered in Newcastle. 

Newcastle City Council could consider implementing a Parking Space Levy, such as a Workplace Parking 

Levy, which could have clear benefits for the funding of public transport and encouragement of sustainable 

travel. This was noted in the GTA report, but included as a recommendation, and is a decision for state 

government. 

The introduction of park and ride for the city centre should be considered as this will 

(a) alleviate the pressure for parking in the city centre (especially long term commuter parking); 

(b) reduce the pressure on the City Centre roads and alleviate congestion; and 

(c) provide environmental benefits for the city centre. 

The fare free zone for public transport in Newcastle City Centre should be retained and supported. 

9.4 Newcastle City Council Consultation 

Consultation was undertaken with Newcastle City Council (NCC) as part of the TMAP process, to discuss the 

future issues and opportunities for parking management in Newcastle, and the role parking could play as part of 

the wider TMAP strategy to achieve the study objectives. 

A summary of the key issues discussed is summarised below, while more detailed information is contained in 

Appendix D. 

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9.4.1 Context 

Visitors to Newcastle are used to paying for parking; Newcastle City Centre was the second city in Australia to 

implement on-street parking charges in the 1950’s. With the exception of a 3 year period in the early 1990’s, onstreet 

parking has been charged ever since. 

The Westfield Kotara and Charlestown Square developments, both with a large amount of free parking 11 and a 

concentrated retail offer, and the Newcastle earthquake, have all contributed to a shift away from comparison 

retail in the City Centre. Newcastle City Centre previously had 5 major anchor stores, but now has only 1 major 

anchor retail store, and has moved to a centre of employment (predominantly office-based), leisure and 

convenience shopping. 

This sets the scene for a demand driven nature of parking. The retail offer has given way to leisure, with a vibrant 

daytime and evening economy focused in The Foreshore, Newcastle East and City East precincts, and also 

Honeysuckle. 

9.4.2 NCC Parking Tariffs, Restrictions, Regulations and Management 

The existing parking management regime specifies tariffs in Newcastle City Centre of 

 

 

$2 per hour for off-street parking; and 

$2.20 per hour for on-street parking. 

Discounts are offered for long stay, commuter parking in off-street car parks with ‘early bird’ tickets priced at 

approximately $6 or $7 per day, depending on the car park location, with the tariff in long stay, peripheral car 

parks cheaper than that of more centrally located parking stations. 

Parking restrictions in Newcastle are well established and their design shows good management to encourage 

short stay parking in the most central areas, especially on-street, with high turnover to support town centre 

economic vitality and viability. Long stay parking is prevented on-street in central areas, although permitted onstreet 

further out but managed through charging, and is provided in off-street car parks, but with charging set to 

encourage peripheral parking and not to take up valuable City Centre capacity and land. 

Council has provided short stay bays in the City Centre to encourage turnover and support retail, by providing for 

convenience shopping trips. The 15- and 30-minute parking bays in the city centre are paid bays, although 

Council members had requested free bays to support local businesses. In practice, due to a problem with the 

supplier of the majority of the on-street meters, patrons are able to effectively receive an additional 15 minutes 

free parking; although they still have to purchase a ticket. 

Overspill long stay, paid parking for City Centre commuters is permitted in City Centre fringe precincts, i.e. The 

Hill and Newcastle East, charged at $3 or $3.50 per day. This was implemented following the 2000 parking review 

and 2002 council recommendations; however, only 70 out of approximately 350 streets have been incorporated to 

date. Commuter parking also takes place outside the existing on-street controlled parking areas and is notes as a 

problem. 

Figure 9.2 shows the extent of the adopted strategy for on-street parking and the current extent of what has been 

implemented. 

11 

The privately owned out-of-town alternative retail ‘destinations’ at Charlestown Square and Kotara are free for at least 3 

hours, or free all-day with a $50 minimum spend. 

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Figure 9.2 

Area of adoption and implementation of on-street parking controls 

9.4.3 Assets 

In a recent review of Council assets and functions, it was recommended to Council that the three primary offstreet 

car parks be sold as assets, as Council management of these was deemed unnecessary. This would 

appear short sighted, as at present Council owns and operates the majority of parking provision in Newcastle and 

therefore has the ability to manage parking (i.e. to set tariffs, regulations and restrictions and to manage supply in 

relation to demand) so that parking can be used as an effective part of the strategic transport system. 

The sale of these car park assets would not likely realise replacement supply of a similar type or function. The 

private car park market in Australia typically operates on a lease or operational management business model; 

they do not own the assets. Therefore, if these car parks are put up for sale there is not likely to be like for like 

replacement parking on these sites. This would have an adverse effect on parking supply in Newcastle City 

Centre unless alternative solutions are provided, especially for long stay commuter trips. 

9.4.4 Additional information 

If emerging development proposals proceed, additional parking will be provided in the city centre; however. this 

would be designed for retail customers and not to replace any parking lost through asset release. 

A successful park and ride system currently operates in Newcastle. Established by John Hunter Hospital, it 

operates as a shuttle bus park and ride service between the Energy Australia Stadium and John Hunter Hospital. 

The development of additional park and ride sites for Newcastle City Centre has been raised previously and also 

proposed by the Business Chamber, although previous suggestions have centred on sites which are too close to 


Park and ride, possibly in combination with express bus services from the near region, is seen as a solution with 

much potential to serve Newcastle City Centre’s long term and commuter parking market and, if well designed, 

could work well with the distributed employment catchment. Hexham and Charlestown are two sites which would 

capture significant demand on key routes and are the right operational distance from the City Centre. 

The design and implementation of a new signage strategy for Newcastle, possibly a variable message signing 

(VMS) system, has the potential to reduce town centre traffic volumes, by removing circulating traffic, as well as 

providing advance information to motorists and improving the attractiveness of Newcastle City Centre. VMS has 

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been implemented successfully elsewhere in Australia with widespread use globally. The main city centre offstreet 

car parks have counter loops which would easily facilitate their incorporation and use in such a system. 

9.5 Parking Management Options 

To achieve a modal split of 20% travel by public transport into Newcastle City Centre in the morning peak period, 

a step change is required. This could include: 

 

 

 

increasing accessibility and permeability – through designing for pedestrian and cycle permeability – and 

potential truncation of the rail line reducing severance and releasing land for development in the city centre; 

increasing suburban bus patronage by providing high frequency, fast, cheap public transport; and 

through reduction and distribution of long-term parking trips by moving long term parking to the city fringe 

and using park and ride and express bus routes. 

At present, the parking needs of Newcastle’s residents, business, workers and tourists are well served by the 

existing availability of a large amount of accessible, cheap central and peripheral parking, spread throughout offstreet 

parking stations and on-street. 

The existing parking management regime has at its core good principles of parking management. The principle of 

charging for on-street is long established and is priced, and regulated, to encourage or allow short stay parking to 

support the vitality and viability of the City Centre retail. 

In future, in line with proposed population ad employment growth, pressure on parking will undoubtedly increase, 

with a less favourable balance of supply to demand than at present. At current levels of demand and car driver 

behaviour, this is clearly unsustainable. The focus for parking should be to facilitate growth and local economic 

prosperity, but with the aim of a redistribution of trips (especially commuter and long term trips to the City Centre) 

towards public transport, cycling and walking. 

With a large rural hinterland, which would be impossible to serve comprehensively by public transport, Newcastle 

will continue to have an element of demand by car. However, the focus should be on relocation of such trips to the 

city fringe with onward access by park and ride. Central Newcastle can then be a focus for regeneration, a 

pleasant amenable environment to live and work, in an environment which is not car-dominated. 

Any additional parking in future should be located on key strategic corridors with good access to the strategic road 

network, minimising City Centre traffic flow, circulation and central area road congestion, wherever possible. 

Additional developments in the City Centre or in areas with good access to public transport, and within easy 

walking and cycling distance of local shops and services, employment and onward public transport modes should 

minimise the requirements for additional parking in central areas. 

Any increase in the cost of parking should be done carefully, and any tariff regime should be sensitive to the local 

context and the objectives which it is designed to achieve. In Newcastle, tariffs and charging should encourage 

and support local economic prosperity, town centre vitality and provide access to the foreshore and beaches for 

leisure. Therefore, short term parking should be encouraged through the pricing regime, especially on-street and 

in the vicinity of key trip attractors. On-street charges should be set at a level which is higher than the equivalent 

off-street price, to facilitate high turnover in the most convenient parking locations and to maximise the potential of 

all central area on-street capacity. 

Short stay parking should also be supported in off-street car parks in the central area, with lesser priority given to 

long stay parking in off-street car parks. Lower charges can be afforded to long stay off-street car parks in the 

periphery or city centre fringe. Such a pricing strategy should work well with long stay parking on the outskirts of 

the city centre for commuters, in conjunction with the provision of park and ride bus services, if supported by a 

reasonable fare and pricing strategy (comparable to alternative central area parking) and supported by travel time 

savings, afforded by bus priority on key corridors. 

In line with significant regeneration and growth proposed in Newcastle City Centre, appropriate Development 

Control Policies need to be enacted to restrict the future ratio of parking provided for new development to exercise 

a greater degree of control over parking and car travel demand. The renewal of Newcastle City Centre provides a 

timely opportunity to reassess and rebalance parking supply and demand to support the regeneration of the City 

Centre and to enhance the attractiveness for residents, business and visitors. 

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In terms of restricting parking for new employment uses, there are benefits to be derived from pursuing workplace 

travel planning and travel demand management (TDM) or travel behaviour change (TBC) policies to encourage 

and support more informed modal choice and greater uptake of sustainable travel modes in Newcastle. 

9.5.1 Proposals and Recommendations 

In general terms there are some operational changes which could be used to tweak the way parking is used as a 

demand management tool, but this should only be considered in conjunction with the provision of viable 

alternatives – such as a comprehensive bus strategy which provides a realistic alternative to the car and 

encourages patronage through, fast, frequent, reliable and competitively priced services and a comprehensive 

network covering the same town centre catchment. Park and Ride and express bus services should be 

considered to provide alternative options for people who presently (or may in future) drive and park for long-stay 

periods for employment purposes. 

Recommendation: Parking revenues should be ring fenced to be used to help support the strategic 

transport function of Council. This should include both tariff revenues and City centre parking 

enforcement penalty or enforcement notices. These revenues can be used to support alternative modes, 

for instance through supporting park and ride free bus services (with minimal all day parking fees say $4) 

and extending the provision of central area free CBD travel tickets and increasing services and coverage. 

In addition consideration could be given to the provision of a free loop shuttle bus to key community trip 

attractors, such as the Hospitals and Universities. 

To achieve major changes in travel behaviour, experience elsewhere suggest that supply side initiatives such as 

bus network improvements only work if implemented alongside demand side initiatives to encourage change by 

influencing people’s perceptions of the true costs of travel. This can be achieved by methods such as congestion 

charging and also parking management. In terms of parking management this is managing the relationship 

between supply and demand, the spatial location of supply in relation to demand drivers, and the pricing, time 

restrictions and regulations used to govern the use and availability of parking. Combining these measures with 

adequate alternatives can have a significant effect on behaviour. 

Recommendation: All planned on-street parking commuter parking controls are adopted and 

implemented as soon as possible for the remainder of the streets previously identified to improve 

management and gain better control of long stay parking. AND Consideration should be given to how the 

extent of the on-street parking controls relates to the CBD fare free zone. It is recommended that on-street 

parking controls extend a suitable distance beyond the CBD fare free boundary as long stay parkers 

would otherwise be encouraged to drive to the boundary, park and catch the free bus causing amenity 

and safety issues around the boundary of this zone. Such consideration is also needed to discourage 

long-stay commute trips into the city centre from the city fringe. 

The reasons why people will typically not switch to public transport until congestion reaches extreme levels are 

that the perceived cost of public transport travel, its unreliability and the ‘additional’ travel time are much greater 

than the perceived costs of car travel. This is partially due to the fact people do not fully calculate the total costs 

involved with a car trip but are also often stem from a poor perception of the alternatives or are the result of a poor 

experience of the public transport alternative. Therefore demand side measures, such as parking restraint are 

only one such measure, which like bus priority have a direct impact on people’s perception of car travel and the 

benefits of the public transport alternative. 

Indirect parking policies can be used over the medium and long-term to facilitate such change in a less 

‘confrontational’ manner and can be considered more politically acceptable. Such policies could include workplace 

parking levies and land use- transport policies, such as development control parking standards. These are 

definitely policies which should be considered for Newcastle alongside the major growth, employment and 

residential land uses, which are proposed over the medium and long-term and are the main drivers of change in 

Newcastle city centre. 

Recommendation: Workplace parking levy – a parking levy is implemented to fund transport 

improvements and improve public transport accessibility to the city centre. This relies on levy’s being 

ring-fenced and hypothecated to alternative transport modes and to support city centre access by 

sustainable modes. 

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As per state policy it is recommended that Newcastle City Council not only adopt maximum parking standards to 

discourage car use in areas with good public transport access, such as Newcastle City Centre, but also that NCC 

consider revising the standards to provide for more stringent controls on parking for new developments. 

Recommendation: Newcastle City Council development control parking standards are changed from 

minimum to maximum provision to encourage a reduction in the provision of parking for new 

developments. This recommendation is to alleviate congestion, encourage uptake of sustainable modes, 

support additional public transport infrastructure and reduce the overall level of parking supply in 

relation to land use (and changed in line with other authorities – to be confirmed). 

Consideration should be given to the impact of the truncation of the rail line on city centre parking demand, 

especially to the provision for accessibility for the elderly and disabled. To address this, alternative public 

transport services should be fully accessible and provide a comprehensive network, to facilitate direct journeys 

wherever possible and where interchange is necessary these should be fully accessible and over short distances. 

Adequate provision of disabled parking provision should be maintained in the city centre and consideration should 

be given to increasing the disabled parking provision (for new developments) in council’s DCP standards. 

Recommendation: To be a viable alternative to car travel for the elderly and disabled, public transport to 

Newcastle city centre should include fully accessible bus services and a comprehensive network. 

Recommendation: Revision of the Newcastle City Council development control parking standards to 

increase the provision of disabled parking provision for new developments. 

Pricing, tariffs and penalties should be used to support the overall principles and objectives which parking needs 

to sustain. The following recommendations are therefore suggested. 

Recommendation: NCC consider revising their charging structure in future in line with city centre growth 

to encourage high turnover of city centre on-street parking and most centrally located off-street parking 

for shoppers, visitors etc. Pricing for long stay parking in central areas is increased with appropriate 

discounts for city fringe long stay parking stations. Consideration should also be given to more stringent 

restrictions on the present system of city fringe all-day long stay parking in fringe residential zones. Long 

stay parking should be encouraged towards the periphery and could be serviced by park and ride 

services on strategic corridors into Newcastle. 

Recommendation: Parking compliance should be returned to the parking function, within the planning 

and transportation department, to ensure management in line with transport objectives and that parking 

revenues be consolidated and used to support transport, land use planning, streetscape, economic 

development and environmental goals. 

9.5.2 Summary of Recommendations 

A summary of the proposed recommendations is included below in Table 9.2. 

Table 9.2: Summary Parking Recommendations 

Reference 

P1 

P2 

P3 

P4 

P5 

P6 

P7 

Recommendation 

Parking revenues used to fund strategic transport priorities 

All planned on-street parking controls are adopted. When planned adoptions are 

implemented, consider extension related to CBD fare free zone. 

Workplace parking levy used to fund strategic transport improvements 

Revise DCP standards from minimum to maximum provision for new 

developments 

Revise DCP standards to increase parking provision for the mobility impaired 

Consider revising tariff structure to encourage turnover and reduce long stay 

parking 

Parking compliance managed through parking/ transport function of council 

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10.0 Conclusions 

10.1 Study summary 

AECOM has been engaged by Transport NSW to produce a TMAP in support of the Newcastle City Centre 

Renewal. 

This report documents Phase 1 of the two-phase TMAP study. The intent of the TMAP is to produce an 

implementation plan for a package of measures to improve the transport system in Newcastle, in support of the 

renewal of the City Centre and to meet the State Plan mode share target for the City Centre. 

The Newcastle City Centre Renewal Report (Hunter Development Corporation, March 2009) sets out a strategy 

for the renewal of the Newcastle City Centre, encompassing the truncation of the rail line at Wickham, and the 

creation of a business centre, cultural/civic/university precinct and a tourist/heritage/retail precinct . The City 

Centre Plan for Newcastle proposes 10,000 new jobs and 6,500 new residents over the next 25 years. 

This TMAP has been developed for both scenarios of retaining and removing the rail line from Wickham Station to 

Newcastle Station. The final position of whether the rail line is to be truncated at Wickham Station is planned to be 

taken by others after the completion of this study. 

Phase 1 of the TMAP study focuses on the development of a City Centre Bus Strategy, which is consistent with 

the State Plan journey to work public transport mode share target of 20% by 2016 12 . 

The existing journey to work peak period mode share is 14.1%, with a fairly even split between bus and train 

modes. Car-based journey to work travel mode share is currently 79.3%. Newcastle City Centre is served by 

public transport as follows: 

 

 

 

Rail 

- Newcastle & Central Coast Line (connecting to the Central Coast and Sydney) – 3 services per hour in 

the peak 

- Hunter Line (connecting to Maitland and the Hunter Valley) – 3 services per hour in the peak 

- 3 train stations in the City Centre – Wickham, Civic and Newcastle Stations 

Bus 

- 28 bus routes radiate from the City Centre: 8 to the north, 11 to the west and 9 to the south 

- 48 services per hour in the peak into the City Centre 

- Most services terminate at Newcastle Station 

Ferry 

- Services between Stockton and City Centre 

- 3 services per hour in the peak 

A mode share model was developed to test the impact of changes to the transport network and services. The 

model is an analytical, spreadsheet-based tool, incorporating direct demand modelling and binary logit modelling, 

under the central principle of generalised cost. 

Bus routing and service options were generated and assessed to identify the preferred City Centre Bus Strategy. 

The study brief specifically requested the consideration of a dedicated City Centre bus loop and the use of the 

former rail corridor as part of the future bus strategy (if the rail line was removed). The options generated 

included: 

12 Note: The target relates to trips to the City Centre (defined by travel zones 3208, 3209, 3210 and 3211) in the AM peak period 

(06:30-09:30) and from the City Centre in the PM peak period (15:00-18:00) 

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City Centre Options 

- City Centre Bus Loop (Existing Services) 

- City Centre Bus Loop (Interchange at Wickham) 

- Bus Rapid Transit (Existing Services) 

- Bus Rapid Transit (Interchange at Wickham) 

 

Principal Route Bus Options 

- Go Zones (Merewether & Mayfield East) 

- Outer Newcastle Express (Beyond Jesmond, John Hunter & Charlestown) 

- No Timetable 

 

Customer Service Improvement Options 

- Prepay Only 

- Gold Coin ($1) Flat Fare 

- Bus Priority: Broadmeadow to City Centre 

- Bus Fleet Improvements 

- Real Time Information 

A rapid appraisal exercise was carried out on the above options, and they were ranked according to preliminary 

costs and the estimate change in patronage to meet the State Plan journey to work public transport mode share 

target. A rapid appraisal workshop was held with stakeholders (Transport NSW, Newcastle Buses and State 

Transit Authority) to discuss the options, rankings and develop a preferred bus strategy. 

From the analysis undertaken and workshop held, a preferred bus strategy was developed, consisting of: 

 

A two-way, free City Centre Loop service operating at 10 minute headways, with amendments to existing 

service routings; 

Increased service frequencies to 15 minute headways on three strategic bus corridors into the City Centre – 

Route 100 (Charlestown via Jesmond), Route 363 (Glendale) and Route 320 (Charlestown); 

 

 

 

 







The bus strategy is operational under both scenarios of retaining or removing the rail line. Figure 10.1 and Figure 

10.2 present the amended service and frequencies for the City Centre Bus Strategy. The preferred City Centre 

Bus Strategy does not preclude proposed increase in service levels for Hunter Valley Buses as part of the 

Integrated Network Plan. 

In terms of contribution to the mode share target, it is estimated that the City Centre Bus Strategy will increase the 

journey to work public transport mode share by 0.5% to a total of 14.6% (with the rail line) and 13.8% (without the 

rail line). This indicates that other measures are required as part of the total package to reach the State Plan 

target of 20%. This result is consistent with findings indicating that the provision of bus capacity and increased 

service levels does not in itself attract sufficient demand to drive the required change in mode split. 13 

It is apparent that while a new bus strategy of dedicated services and increased frequencies will assist in 

improving the attractiveness of bus as a journey to work mode, it will not enable the increase in patronage to meet 

the State Plan mode share target. Additional measures would include improvements to the quality of the journey 

and management of supply and price of parking. 

13 Parsons Brinckerhoff, NSW State Plan bus fleet requirements (draft), April 2010 

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Figure 10.1: 

Preferred City Centre Bus Strategy – City Centre 

Figure 10.2: 

Preferred City Centre Bus Strategy – Principal Routes 

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To bring about a step change in attitude towards public transport, an intensive marketing campaign will be 

required to alert people to the improvements to the bus service. Branding of buses and bus corridors would also 

play an important role in making it easier for people to use buses for their journey. 

A review of the parking policy in Newcastle City Centre was undertaken to assess the existing commuter and 

employee parking within the City Centre. On-street parking charging is long established in Newcastle and is 

priced and regulated to encourage and allow short stay parking to support the City Centre retail. Long stay 

parking is encouraged in off-street car parks, with higher parking charges in more centrally located areas. 

Policy recommendations with regard to commuter parking in the City Centre to support the State Plan targets are: 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Parking revenues should be used to fund strategic transport priorities. 

All planned on-street parking controls are adopted. When planned adoptions are implemented, consider 

extension related to CBD fare free zone. 

Workplace parking levy is implemented to fund strategic transport improvements. 

Newcastle City Council DCP standards are changed from minimum to maximum provision for new 

developments, and revised to increase parking provision for the mobility impaired. 

Newcastle City Council considers revising tariff structure to encourage turnover of city centre parking and 

reduce long stay parking. 

Parking compliance should be managed through the Council parking/transport function. 

A review of the impact of the rail line truncation at Wickham Station was undertaken, along with options for the 

future role of the corridor, if it is removed. The corridor is approximately 2.4km long with buildings facing away 

from the rail corridor, with frontages to Honeysuckle Drive to the north and Hunter Street to the south. The 

environment adjacent to the rail corridor offers relatively poor amenity, with laneways, parking and service areas 

creating an inactive street frontage. 

If the rail line is truncated at Wickham, it is likely that the journey to work public transport peak period mode share 

would decrease from 14.1% to 13.3%. Three options for the rail corridor were assessed, namely: 

 

 

 

Option 1: Pedestrian and Cycleway 

Option 2: Bus Corridor (Existing Services) 

Option 3: Bus Corridor (Shuttle Services) 

The analysis identified that requiring passengers to interchange to city services at Wickham would reduce the 

attractiveness of public transport in Newcastle City Centre. Therefore, the rail corridor should not be used for a 

dedicated shuttle bus service. Distributing passengers throughout Newcastle City Centre would be better 

achieved by a loop bus, using existing streets. 

Rationalising existing bus services into the rail corridor would slightly increase public transport patronage by 

increasing average travel speeds, and city centre coverage would not be significantly reduced because Newcastle 

City Centre is fairly narrow. However, removing buses from existing streets would reduce pedestrian movements 

and is likely to counteract efforts to achieve regeneration, particularly in Hunter Street. 

Further detailed analysis to this TMAP would be required to fully compare options. 

The work produced in this Phase 1 of the TMAP study will be taken forward and built on in Phase 2. The main 

deliverable of Phase 2 will be an implementation strategy for a package of measures considered necessary to 

deliver the vision for Newcastle City Centre, and support the State Plan mode share targets. 

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Appendix A 

Background Technical Report Summary 

Figure A.1 provides a time line of the background studies provided for review, followed by a summary of the 

various reports. 

Figure A.1 Background Study Timeline 


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Stewart Avenue Overpass, Concept Report – SKM, October 1994 

SKM were commissioned by The Honeysuckle Development Corporation to develop a concept design for the 

Stewart Avenue Overpass. The purpose of the report was to document the traffic and transport need and 

justification for the Stewart Avenue Overpass and its most likely configuration. 

A previous report, the Honeysuckle Transport Study 1991, evaluated a range of transport networks to serve the 

Building Better Cities project including road and public transport based systems. One of the key transport network 

links identified was the need to improve the road link between Stewart Avenue and Hunter Street to Hannell 

Street as part of the collector road system to serve the new development and an extension of Stewart Avenue 

was recommended as the preferred location for this link because of its ability to serve both the honeysuckle 

development and the port and industrial facilities to the north. 

The report stated that the new/upgraded route through the study area was justified as it would improve levels of 

service, satisfy community travel demands, remove constraints on economic developments and facilitate urban 

development plans for the area, improve road safety and reduce the overall cost of travel to the community. 

The report investigated alternative configurations for the Stewart Avenue Overpass and prepared cost estimates 

based on options for the bridge structure. Cost estimates were based on the following: 

 

Road/bridge cross section 

- on road cycle ways 

- travel lanes 

- footway/cycleway 

- barriers and handrails 

- right turn lane if needed 

 

 

A signalised intersection at Hunter Street 

A signalised T intersection at Stewart Avenue / Hannell Street and Lee Wharf Road. 

1. Pedestrian Network Strategic Plan, Stage 1 Report – The City of Newcastle Transport and Traffic 

Section Engineering Services Division, September 1996 

The City of Newcastle’s Transport and Traffic Section, Engineering Services Division undertook the Pedestrian 

Network Strategic Plan project to involve the community in the identification of future pedestrian facilities within 

Newcastle. It assessed the facilities through a set of criteria for prioritising works for immediate and future 

implementation. The project was initiated following the development by Newcastle City Council of a pedestrian 

network strategy that ascertained the requirements throughout its area for further pedestrian facilities. 

A system of priority criteria and their relative weighting was developed to prioritise works identified in the study 

(applicable to on carriageway and on footway works). The criteria were based on 5 categories; 

 

 

 

 

 

Land use; 

Traffic Impact; 

Safety; 

Facility benefits; and 

Continuity of route. 

The criteria, when applied to 158 projects analysed in the study allowed priorities between the projects to be 

clearly identified. A total of 45 projects scored over 500 points under the assessment system, 13 footway projects 

and 32 on carriageway projects. The highest priority project was identified as being the kerb extensions and 

raised threshold project in Church Street, The Hill at Newcomen Street. Other high priority projects included: 

 

 

 

 

Pedestrian nibs – Brunker Road (north of Coolah Road) Adamstown; 

Pedestrian refuge – Glebe Road (east of Belmore Street), Adamstown; 

Pedestrian refuge – Royal Street (at Lambton Road), New Lambton; and 

Kerb extension – Church Street (at Wolfe Street), The Hill. 

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2. Transit to a Better City, Newcastle Chamber of Commerce 

The Newcastle Chamber of Commerce prepared a concept report which offered a solution to the revitalisation of 

Newcastle’s CBD by proposing a transit system utilising a commercially viable light rail system linking Newcastle 

station to the University and integrating selected developments on idle State Rail Authority and other land. 

The concept study looked into the following: 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Retaining rail to Newcastle station 

Preserving Newcastle’s heritage and maximising tourism 

Opening up the city CBD to the foreshore 

Further developing SRA and other idle properties 

Developing a commercial transit system that integrates the city 

Linking the university to the city by a fast transit system that encouraged cars to be left out of the city 

Proposing a light rail / rail / bus interchange at Woodville Junction (Hamilton North), but encouraging a bus / 

light rail interchange within the CBD 

The conclusions drawn from the study were that the concept deserved serious consideration and that a 

development of the section between Newcastle Station to Woodville Junction at an early stage had a lot of 

advantages within the CBD and Honeysuckle precincts. It was found that there was a total of underutilised SRA 

land valued at $21 million which could have attracted further added value developments of up to $80 million. 

Three options were then proposed to progress the proposal: 

 

 

 

The SRA adopting and managing the changes; 

The Government setting up a separate authority to manage the changes; and 

The Government selling SRA properties into private business which can complete the project as a whole or 

in parts. 

3. Proposal for Light Rail Transit in Central Newcastle, Revised Draft Assessment Report, NSW 

Department of Transport, October 1996 

In August 1995, Newcastle Chamber of Commerce publically launched ‘Transit to a better city’ in which the key 

proposal was to replace heavy rail operations east of Woodville Junction with light rail services, and to extend 

such a service westward towards Newcastle University. 

This report followed the initial report and was based on two alternative scenarios based on differing assumptions 

about the operating environment into which the LRT was to be introduced. Scenario A assumed that current 

levels and patterns of public transport use remained in force on the commencement of LRT operations and 

Scenario B assumed the LRT would be integrated into a reformed public transport network. 

Conclusions from the report were that the proposal had some initial appeal as an alternative public transport 

mode however the main conclusion from the assessment work and consultations undertaken with relevant local 

organisations was that the proposal was impractical and unlikely to achieve many of the outcomes expected by 

the Chamber of Commerce. The proposal was not supported for the following reasons: 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The proposal was predicated on SRA-owned land being made available at little or no cost and then redeveloped 

to yield over $31 million. 

Capital construction costs were significantly under estimated and some major capital costs (the interchange 

at Woodville Junction) had not been estimated accurately. 

Significant costs such as land costs, access charges, services relocation, landscaping etc had been omitted. 

Vehicle numbers and costs had been understated. 

The proposed operating patterns were optimistic and difficult to achieve. 

The projected savings on train and bus operations, rolling stock/vehicles and staff could not be verified. 

There would have been additional costs involved for CityRail and Newcastle buses in adjusting their services 

which had not been taken into account by the proposal. 

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The introduction of LRT would have required rail and bus passengers to interchange to travel into Newcastle 

city centre, potentially disadvantaging public transport users yet further to relative to private car travel. 

The proposal assumed highly optimistic patronage levels. 

4. Newcastle City Council and State Rail Authority Landscaping Strategy, 1997 

This strategy was initiated by Newcastle City Council in association with CityRail in 1996 and the purpose of the 

study was to provide a landscape improvement strategy for the railway corridors of Newcastle to improve the 

‘green image’ of these major entrances into Newcastle. The report provides recommendations for landscape 

improvements along the railway corridor as well as guidelines for ongoing maintenance and possible future 

funding avenues. The study area encompassed the railway corridor from Newcastle Station in the city centre to 

Adamstown Station in the south, including the stations of Civic, Wickham, Hamilton and Broadmeadow. 

The landscaping opportunities identified were categorised into units which included: 

 

 

 

 

 

Newcastle station to Hannell Street, including Civic and Newcastle stations; 

Hannell Street to Hamilton Street, including Wickham station; 

Hamilton North rail interchange (Hamilton station to Donald Street); 

Donald Street to Broadmeadow station; and 

Lambton Road to Adamstown station. 

The landscape improvement options identified in the study were as follows: 

 

 

Planting options – widespread plant establishment including; 

- Planting of seedlings; 

- Advanced plants; 

- Artwork, murals etc 

Planning options – opportunity to develop planning guidelines for land in private ownership adjacent to the 

railway line. They could take the form of a development control plan. The main opportunity for this is the 

Honeysuckle site which forms the northern boundary to the railway line between Wickham and Civic 

stations. 

5. Newcastle Transport Community Workshops Report, Newcastle City Council, 1999 

Newcastle City Council prepared a report on the compilation of feedback from the Newcastle community reading 

transport solutions in the Hunter Region. The information in the report was obtained through community 

workshops and suggestion boxes. 

The report addressed the following criteria: 

 

 

 

 

Perception 

- Meeting the needs of all public transport users 

- Raising awareness of the impacts of vehicle emissions 

- Raising the image of non-car alternatives 

Policy 

- Local incentives for better transport choices 

- Local transport planning in a regional context 

Process 

- Better community involvement in transport planning 

- Development of better transport targets and measures 

Provision 

- Private sector funding of transport infrastructure 

- Public sector funding of transport services 

- What transport structure should they build 

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The report indicated that the highest number of responses the community suggestion box received was in relation 

to bus transport. The most frequently raised issues relating to buses were bus timetables and routes, the 

provision of better bus services and bus driver etiquette. Of particular mention were: improved timetables to cater 

for early/late times (for the University), ‘cross connecting buses for travel between areas not incorporating the 

CBD (e.g. Jesmond to Garden City), general improved timing of services and more buses to outlying 

areas/shopping centres. 

The report stated that the most popular ‘new idea’ was the reintroduction of trams in Newcastle. 

6. Traffic Issues in Newcastle, Honeysuckle/CBD Accessibility and Integration Report, Sinclair Knight 

Mertz, December 1999 

SKM were commissioned by the City Of Newcastle in 1999 to undertake the Honeysuckle/CBD Accessibility 

Report. The report was undertaken in two parts, the first part was a Local Connections paper and the second part 

was Traffic Modelling Technical paper. Part 1 of the report summarised ongoing technical investigations of 

alternative access arrangements between Honeysuckle and the CBD that explored and supported the planning 

principles adopted in urban planning. Part 2 of the report included the modelled results of various road network 

changes in Newcastle in terms of travel times and distances travelled. Part 2 of the report also aimed to examine 

the implication of changes to the existing transport infrastructure based upon simulated traffic volumes on the 

existing and future road network. 

Part 1 of the report identified potential infrastructure needs in the form of local road connections between Hunter 

Street and Wharf Boulevard which would have had the following positive effects: 

 

 

 

Improved local connectivity and access, shortening trips for all road users (vehicles, cyclists, pedestrians); 

Allowed more direct access to concentrated parking facilities in Honeysuckle; and 

More direct access would have led to a higher integration with central Newcastle. 

Part 2 of the report considered in great detail the impact of the following network changes: 

 

 

 

 

 

A railway crossing at Worth Place; 

A railway crossing at Steel Street; 

An at-grade link connecting Stewart Avenue to Hannell Street; 

The closure of Workshop Way; and 

The implementation of a central car park with the capacity to hold 1000, 1500 and 2000 cars. 

The findings of the report were as follows: 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A railway crossing at Worth Place reduces the pressure on the intersection of Worth Place and Honeysuckle 

Drive. This crossing would also reduce traffic volumes along Hannell Street and Merewether Street and their 

intersections with Hunter Street. 

A Worth Place crossing improves the accessibility to and from the central car park rather than serving northsouth 

through movements between Hunter Street and Honeysuckle Drive. 

A Steel Street railway crossing improves connections between Hunter Street and Honeysuckle Drive 

reducing pressure on other intersections such as Workshop Way / Merewether Street and Stewart Avenue / 

Hunter Street. 

Closure of Workshop Way would increase traffic volumes along a new link between Stewart Avenue and 

Hannell Street. 

The removal of Workshop Way without the necessary improvements to the existing road network would be 

detrimental to the quality of future road access in central Newcastle. 

Improvements to the existing road network are necessary in the event of the implementation of the 

Honeysuckle development. 

Improvements to the existing road network would greatly improve pedestrian access within the centre of 

Newcastle, particularly between the existing CBD and the waterfront area. 

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7. ‘To Bus or Not to Bus, That is the Question’ – Attitudes and Experiences of Public Bus Use in 

Newcastle, NSW, Dane Roberts, November 2000 

This thesis was written by Dane Roberts in November 2000 and it examined the factors influencing patronage of 

public buses in Newcastle. It focused on the quality of the service in an effort to better understand people’s 

decisions to use, or not to use buses. The research explored Novocastrian’s attitudes and perceptions about 

public buses, as well as their views about the weaknesses and strengths of the then current service. The thesis 

was written in response to the steadily declining patronage of public buses in Newcastle in the years previous to 

2000. 

Perceptions of residents along two routes with different levels of bus patronage (low and high) were examined 

with regards to factors such as service frequency, crime and safety and convenience. The study found issues 

relating to quality influenced patronage. The study found that the quality of service was the key determinant of bus 

use. The most important issues of quality included frequency of service, the time taken by buses to complete their 

journeys and the directness of the routes. Other concerns which influenced bus patronage included perceptions 

about crime and safety in relation to bus travel, fare structures discouraging short journeys, and problems and 

concerns with access, comfort and amenity. 

8. Newcastle CBD Accessibility Study, Maunsell, March 2001 

In March 2001, Maunsell prepared the Newcastle CBD Accessibility Study for the Department of Transport. The 

report highlighted the new development in the Honeysuckle area would trigger the need for at least one additional 

vehicular crossing point between the Wickham and Civic area to cater for the additional growth and at least two 

crossing points for pedestrians between Stewart Avenue and Merewether/Darby Streets. 

A key element of the study was to integrate the CBD and the waterfront despite the presence of the railway. The 

objective of the study was to identify the benefits and costs of a range of future options that improved connectivity 

and integration, in a way that achieved an agreed outcome between affected parties including the Department of 

Transport’s Safety Bureau and the Rail Access Corporation. 

Four options for at grade crossing locations, combined with two options for rail operations were tested. The 

options included: 

 

 

 

 

Base case – the construction of no new level crossings apart from the Stewart Avenue opening which 

replaced the Hannell Street option. 

Option 1 – tested the effect of a single new crossing. Option 1a at Worth Place and Option 1b at Steel 

Street. 

Option 2 – vehicular and pedestrian crossings at both Steel Street and Worth Place, retaining the 

Merewether Street crossing. 

Option 3 – new crossing at Worth Place, closure of Merewether Street and a new crossing at Darby Street. 

Findings showed that Option 1a, Worth Place, was the best option as it provided the best pedestrian accessibility 

while still serving vehicular traffic well. For excellent pedestrian access it was found that a supplementary gradeseparated 

crossing would be required in the vicinity of Hannell Street. 

Key recommendations of the report were as follows: 

 

 

 

Any additional pedestrian crossings be grade-separated, either footbridges or underpasses and be 

constructed to facilitate access for cyclists and mobility impaired persons; 

Grade separated crossings points should be reinforced by making activity centres along streets and 

walkways accessing them and creating a focus for retail and commercial development; and 

Development attracting significant number of people should be discouraged near at-grade crossings to 

minimise the risk to pedestrians. 

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9. Activating Public Transport in the Newcastle Region, Issues Paper, Towards a Public Transport 

Strategy, Transit Planners, May 2001 

This issues paper was prepared for Newcastle City Council and Lake Macquarie City Council by Transit Planners. 

The paper was designed to stimulate debate on how the Vision (an effective public transport service is essential 

for Newcastle to become an efficient, equitable and well planned city) would be achieved. It examined the public 

transport situation in the urban area and discussed some models that might be studied for future management of 

transport systems. It also suggested some projects that could be undertaken in the short term to demonstrate the 

effectiveness of better public transport. 

The report identified the following ways to improve public transport in Newcastle: 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Using the two major rail corridors as the nucleus of a regional public transport system and developing vacant 

rail corridors as transit ways to supplement the rail network. 

Effective integration and management of the regions public transport systems to deliver improved services. 

Regional management of public transport – developing regional models for service delivery and operations. 

Outputs of urban design studies to be developed into urban design guidelines. 

Changes to improve public transport services based on good data sets and surveys. 

Developing an up to date transport model for Newcastle to test the transport impacts of new developments, 

various urban management strategies and changes in modal choice. 

Gaining agreement on what service standards should be to achieve the desirable modal splits to achieve 

sustainable development targets. 

Network design and service reviews. 

Demonstration projects. 

Direct truck service between regional centres. 

District feeder services, local services, late night services. 

Transport integration and interchanges. 

Service information systems. 

Promotions and Marketing. 

10. Integrated Transport Planning Project, An Outline of a Process to Achieve Regional Transport 

Integration for the Hunter and Hinterland Regions, Hunter Planners Network, November 2001 

This report was prepared by the Hunter Planners Network in response to the Hunter Region having the most 

diverse range of transport infrastructure of any region in Australia. The report discussed that there is considerable 

benefit to be gained from a Project that examines the transport infrastructure implications of various planning 

strategies and major developments throughout the region and such a project can suggest ways that integration 

can increase the job creation opportunities and economic prospects for not only the Hunter Region but also the 

Hinterland regions. The report outlines a project designed to achieve the objective. 

The report was prepared to: 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Identify the processes that need to be undertaken to achieve the desired level of integration and regional 

benefit; 

Provide a framework for the planning and development activities that were being undertaken by regional 

bodies; 

Stimulate an interest in suitable investigations being undertaken so as to foster the development of transport 

infrastructure improvements; 

Provide a basis for project proposals to be presented to various government agencies (federal, state and 

local); 

Create a structure for the conduct and overview of regional transport investigations; 

Identify the research that is needed to ensure that the appropriate infrastructure projects are approved for 

the Hunter and Hinterland regions; 

Describe the appropriate studies that need to be undertaken; and 

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Identify the outcomes by which the reports and information produced by the Project are disseminated into 

the regional planning processes. 

11. Evaluation of Woodville Junction Proposal, SGS Economics and Planning, December 2002 

This report by SGS Economics in conjunction with Maunsell reviews a submission put to the Council by the 

Transport Reference Group that advocates a transport interchange at Woodville. The report documents that the 

previous report outlined the following vision for the transport interchange: 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The interchange would allow services for all key destinations to meet; 

The improved integrated transport system would increase patronage and solve key access problems such 

as the John Hunter Hospital, the University and Foreshore; 

Newcastle trains would terminate at the interchange to be replaced by a frequent shuttle bus. The rail line 

could be used as a ‘transport corridor’; 

Bus routes would be rationalised; 

The interchange would provide a high level of service to users; 

The city centre would be better connected to the harbour and Honeysuckle. 

The review undertaken as part of this report made the following observations: 

 

 

 

 

The Woodville proposal appears to be highly meritorious and a prima facie case is made out to this effect; 

The report met the terms of its brief but the brief did not require the necessary full evaluation against all 

options; 

The report did not deal extensively with the ‘urban village’ aspects of the Newcastle Urban Strategy; 

Key reports confirmed that a ‘project initiated’ approach to achieving an integrated transport system may well 

fail. 

12. Sustainable Transport in the Lower Hunter Region , Vol 1: Action Strategies, Issues Paper, Transit 

Planners Pty Ltd, April 2003 

This issues paper is a strategic vision document prepared by Transit Planners Pty Ltd for the Councils in the 

Lower Hunter Region including; Cessnock City Council, Lake Macquarie City Council, Maitland City Council, 

Newcastle City Council and Port Stephens City Council. The paper focuses on an action plan for achieving 

sustainable transport in the Lower Hunter. 

With regards to the Newcastle CBD, the following suggestions have been made in the paper: 

 

 

 

The bus services along Hunter Street offer an ideal opportunity for people to use public transport to move 

from one part of the CBD to the other; 

There needs to be some form of City Centre ticket that encourages and allows unlimited travel within the 

CBD. This could be linked to parking station fees and could be an add on to the normal bus and train fares; 

An inner city loop bus, particularly at peak shopping times like Christmas. It should be integrated with bus, 

train and ferry fares as well as parking station fees. 

With regards to rail the paper states that the NSW Government has undertaken investigations for upgrading the 

Newcastle – Sydney rail line. Its stated aim in 1998 was to reduce travel times by 30 mins within 10 years. This 

would involve: 

 

 

 

Realigning sections of the rail line where the curvature restricts the speed of trains; 

Increasing the separation of passenger and freight trains; 

Building new stations at Warnervale, Glendale and Kotara. 

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The upgrade would provide the opportunity to operate a high frequency regional passenger train service between 

Warnervale and Newcastle to meet local needs. The trains would be designed to stop at minor stations and 

connect at interchanges with the fast trains between Newcastle and Sydney. In March 2003 the state government 

announced it was not committed to proceeding with this project. 

The paper states that several former rail corridors are vacant and could be developed as transit corridors to 

supplement the rail network. Potential transit corridors include; Newcastle East – Woodville Junction, Woodville 

Junction – Hanbury Junction, Hanbury Junction – University – Wallsend, University – Mayfield, Wallsend – 

Glendale, Warnervale – Morisset – Newcastle. 

The paper also highlights potential trunk bus routes which include; City Centre – University, University – Glendale, 

City Centre – John Hunter Hospital – Glendale, University – John Hunter Hospital – Charlestown, City Centre – 

The Junction – Charlestown, City Centre – Garden City – Charlestown, City Centre – Wallsend. The paper also 

states that the RTA was evaluating potential sites for bus lanes and transit lanes on arterial roads. 

13. Newcastle Late Night Transport Strategy, Transit Planners Pty Ltd, August 2003 

In August 2003 Transit Planners prepared the Newcastle Late Night Transport Strategy for Newcastle City 

Council that aimed to address late night problems in Newcastle and provided a comprehensive range of 

integrated solutions for the City Centre and Hamilton. The management process is known as NightLink and it 

coordinates city services, security, road safety and transport for late night entertainment in Newcastle City Centre 

and Hamilton. 

The report includes details of the strategy which include: 

 

 

 

Coordinated services to encourage greater and safer use of public transport and taxis; 

Replacement of existing Night Owl buses and Night Rider loop bus with a more comprehensive integrated 

bus network; and 

Use of four managed ranks in the City Centre and Hamilton for all bus, train and taxi departures. 

The report states that the managed ranks were to be located at Newcastle interchange, Perkins Street, Civic and 

Hamilton Station. Transport modes included the following: 

 

 

 

 

 

Buses 

- 12 routes covering all of Newcastle / Lake Macquarie, including Toronto and West Wallsend and 

extending to Port Stephens; 

- Hourly services on each route with memory timetables; and 

- Buses along Hunter Street every 5 mins (low and normal), every 3 mins (peak). 

Trains 

- Hourly services on Maitland and Wyong lines. 

Taxis 

- Allocated supervised space at managed ranks. 

Roam vehicles 

- Small buses operating from managed ranks to specific suburbs and will depart at regular intervals. 

Specific suburbs include; Bar Beach, Merewether, Adamstown, Hamilton, Broadmeadow, Wickham, 

Carrington. 

NightLink shuttle 

- Free buses operating on a regular timetable between the venues and managed ranks – covers City 

Centre and Hamilton 

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14. Hunter Regional Strategy: Transport Profile, Final Report, Glazebrook & Associates, October 2003 

Glazebrook & Associates were commissioned by the Department of Infrastructure, Planning and Natural 

Resources to prepare a transport profile and strategic directions paper for the Hunter region. The purpose of this 

paper was to demonstrate long-term regional transport needs for both passengers and freight and outline 

strategic directions to guide the development of a long-term regional transport framework. 

The report summarises the key regional goals relevant to transport which include: 

 

 

 

 

 

To stimulate economic growth and job creation; 

To improve integration of land use and transport; 

To maximise the social benefits of transport; 

To maximise environmental quality for the region; and 

To achieve financial sustainability and value for money. 

Strategies arising from these goals include: 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Resolve the current options for the rail line between Woodville Junction and Newcastle; 

Support the development of Glendale through allocation of funds for the new rail station, bus interchange, 

overpass and associated facilities and the redesign of bus services to better service the new centre; 

Develop an integrated transport-land use plan for the Hunter to maximise accessibility, economic efficiency 

and environmental quality; 

Improve the coverage, frequency and integration of scheduled public transport; 

Introduce demand-responsive and flexible forms of public transport which can operate in low demand 

locations or times and provide more affordable door to door travel than taxis; 

Improve passenger information systems; and 

Expand park and ride facilities at stations and key bus nodes. 

The report also looked at options for improving the financial sustainability of public transport including; 

 

 

 

Tram-train; 

Ultra light rail; and 

Demand responsive services. 

15. Newcastle Transport Options Planning Study, Final Report and Summary Report, KBR, October 2003 

KBR were commissioned by the Department of Infrastructure, Planning and Natural Resources to prepare the 

Newcastle Transport Options Planning Study report. The report identifies the impacts of transport options on 

planning for central Newcastle and provides an assessment of all options and their implications for future 

development and land use patterns in the city. The study and report however does not rank the transport options 

nor identify a preferred option. 

The options identified for assessment in the study and presented in the report are either alterations to the public 

transport network in central Newcastle or the improvement of public transport frequency. There were 9 options 

which include: 

 

 

 

Option 1: Status Quo – do nothing. 

Option 2: Improved services – status quo with improved bus, rail and ferry services and coordinated 

timetables, and an integrated ticketing system. Frequencies of peak hour bus and train services doubled. 

Rail feeder bus services and direct bus services have improved 10-15 min headway. 

Option 3: Broadmeadow Interchange and existing services – a new multi modal interchange in the 

Broadmeadow area (possibly at Woodville Junction) with rail services continuing into the city as current. All 

rail services stop at an additional rail station at Woodville and all passing bus routes stop for interchange at 

Woodville. 

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Option 4: Broadmeadow Interchange and terminating intercity services – a new multi modal interchange in 

the Broadmeadow area with larger inter-city trains no longer continuing into the city centre but regional 

services maintaining current routes. All inter-city rail services terminate at Woodville. A city spur rail line 

operates between Woodville and Newcastle via Hamilton, Wickham and Civic. The spur rail and inter-city rail 

service schedules are coordinated. All passing bus routes stop to interchange at Woodville. 

Option 5: Broadmeadow Interchange and public transport corridor - a new multi modal interchange in the 

Broadmeadow area with a dedicated public transport route on the alignment of the current rail line. Two 

alternatives to this option are: 

- Option 5a: Broadmeadow Interchange and Light Rail 

- Option 5b: Broadmeadow Interchange and Busway 

Same as option 4 except an LRT/Busway service will operate between Woodville and Newcastle via 

Hamilton, Wickham and Civic. Three additional LRT/busways stops are introduced between 

Hamilton/Wickham, Wickham/Civic and Civic/Newcastle. 

Option 6: Civic Interchange and terminating inter-city services – a new multi modal interchange in the vicinity 

of Civic Station with larger inter-city trains no longer continuing into the city centre but regional services 

maintaining current routes. 

Option 7: Civic Interchange and public transport corridor – a new multi modal interchange in the vicinity of 

Civic Station with a dedicated public transport route on the alignment of the current rail line. Two alternatives 

to this option are: 

- Option 7a: Civic Interchange and Light Rail 

- Option 7b: Civic Interchange and Busway 

Option 8: Re-alignment of existing heavy rail line – lowering of rail line between but not including Wickham 

and Newcastle stations and potential re-alignment (of corridor or line only). There is no change to rail or bus 

services in this option. 

Option 9: Broadmeadow Interchange and Central Newcastle Light Rail loop - a new multi modal interchange 

in the Broadmeadow area with a dedicated public transport (light rail) circuit through Central Newcastle, 

using the current rail corridor and main roads through the Junction, Glebe and Adamstown. An LRT loop 

service will operate via 18 stations including existing stations at Hamilton, Wickham, Civic and Newcastle. 

The key findings of the option assessment were as follows: 

 

 

 

 

Status Quo – would not enable full realisation of the desired future vision for central Newcastle. Retaining 

the rail line in its current form would maintain the existing severances and would not encourage the desired 

linkage of activities between Hunter Street Mall and the Civic Cultural Precinct. 

Civic Station Terminus – terminating the rail line at Civic Terminus frees up a multi use movement corridor 

along its current route from Civic to Newcastle Station. This multi use corridor would be used for pedestrian 

and cycle movement, with bus and vehicle transport remaining on Hunter and King Streets. Creating a new 

terminus would require upgrading of the station to cater for increased train movements. The Civic Terminus 

would enhance the role of the CBD as the regional centre. 

Woodville Interchange – this option would maximise the future redevelopment potential of the Woodville and 

Broadmeadow localities, however this would be achieved at the expense of restricting the potential 

residential and commercial growth of the CBD and Honeysuckle precincts. The elongated linear CBD urban 

form would be exacerbated by the creation of an additional new commercial centre for Newcastle. This 

would further erode the role of the CBD as the primary regional centre. However, the freeing up of the rail 

corridor between Woodville and Newcastle would enable creation of a multi use transit corridor which would 

be less visually obtrusive than the existing rail line. 

Broadmeadow Terminus – this option would achieve reasonably high population and employment growth in 

the combined Woodville and Broadmeadow precinct. It would have a lower impact on the potential maximum 

levels of development in the CBD and Honeysuckle which would occur with the Civic rail terminus option and 

it would provide competing CBD retail/commercial and employment focus. It would further elongate the CBD 

and dilute the role of the CBD as a regional centre. To achieve seamless and efficient connectivity between 

Broadmeadow terminus and the CBD will be the need to keep the current rail line between Broadmeadow 

and Woodville operational. This means that section of the rail corridor would not be available for the shuttle 

bus connection, pedestrian and cyclist connection. 



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16. Broadmeadow Transport Interchange Feasibility Study, Transport Infrastructure Development 

Corporation (TIDC), November 2004 

This feasibility study report was prepared by TIDC in collaboration with seven other firms who all formed part of 

the feasibility study team. The feasibility study into the proposed Broadmeadow Transport Interchange was in 

response to a recommendation of the Lower Hunter Transport Working Group. The recommendation was the 

removal of the heavy rail line from Broadmeadow to Newcastle CBD and replacement with a free bus service, 

subject to further detailed study to demonstrate the feasibility of establishing an efficient new interchange in the 

vicinity of Broadmeadow on the western side of the rail line and an effective replacement bus service. 

After considering several options, the report presents a preferred option for the Broadmeadow Transport 

Interchange. The preferred option has a reconfigured rail station with a new station platform; additional station 

facilities and bus pick up and drop off provided on a widened Lambton Road bridge. A transport corridor would be 

retained following the route of the existing Newcastle branch line linking Hamilton Junction to Newcastle CBD. 

The rail operations plan for the preferred option provides a passenger train frequency at Broadmeadow similar to 

the current train timetable with a new platform servicing the majority of the Hunter Valley diesel trains. 

17. Lower Hunter Integrated Transport Plan Draft Report, Mark Waugh Pty Limited, October 2005 

The Lower Hunter Integrated Transport Plan presents an opportunity to shape the regions land use and its 

transport system to better serve the emerging needs of the Lower Hunter Region over the next 30 years. The plan 

includes a series of strategies and actions aimed at steering the development of the transport system in line with 

the needs of the Lower Hunter regional economy. 

The plan discusses a land use framework which: 

 

 

Concentrates development in and around key existing transport corridors; and 

Encourages development along the identified strategic transport corridors. 

The plan also discusses better public transport and getting more out of the existing systems. Strategies 

concerned with this include: 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Concentrate development around the key public transport corridors and centres; 

Maximise the use of existing corridors and operations by: 

- Improving service quality and operations in line with increased development and patronage potential; 

- Improving information and ticketing systems. 

Provide a hierarchy of interchange opportunities that improve service connectivity and passenger choice: 

- Key interchanges at Charlestown, Glendale/Cardiff, City, University 

- Local interchanges in all key regional activity centres across the Lower Hunter 

Develop an inner city interchange that enhances the role of the Newcastle Regional Centre and provides 

maximum opportunity for transport choice across the region: 

- Reinforce the role of heavy rail as the regions key line haul public transport system; 

- Locate interchange facilities that allow effective and efficient interchange between modes; 

- Retain the flexibility to allow new technology and/or alternate modes 

- Retain the Woodville junction to Newcastle corridor for transit and soft transport (cycling and walking) 

uses that are compatible with the role of the regional centre and its full range of land use , urban 

design, transport and environmental goals. 

Develop a series of park and ride sites across the region to encourage mode shift from private car travel; 

Encourage the opportunity for alternate transport where it can be demonstrated as a real improvement to the 

overall transport network. 



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Cycling and walking strategies discussed in the plan include: 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Develop a Regional Cycle Plan to support and enhance local bike plans; 

Complete as a priority key regional cycle links; 

Support cycling to key activity centres and transport nodes with bike lockers and other supporting facilities; 

Ensure all new development has appropriate all in house end use facilities; 

Improve the level of attractiveness of walking facilities in all key existing and emerging centre; and 

Ensure walking infrastructure is provided to acceptable minimum standard in all new development. 

18. Decision to Close the Newcastle Branch Rail Line, Independent Review of Transport Reports, 

Professor Graham Currie, November 2005 

This report by Professor Graham Currie of the Institute of Transport Studies Department of Civil Engineering at 

the Monash University details the findings of an independent review of reports regarding the NSW State 

Government’s decision to close the rail line to Newcastle Station. The reports reviewed and findings presented in 

this report include: 

 

 

 

Lower Hunter Transport Working Group: 

- First Report – 19 September 2003 

- Second Report – 21 November 2003; and 

- Final Report – 22 December 2003 

Consultants reports: 

- Broadmeadow Transport Interchange Feasibility Study – TIDC November 2004 

- Economic Impact of Rail Closure in Newcastle – GHD November 2004 

The State Governments decision to close the Newcastle Branch Line in terms of its consistency with the 

Metropolitan Strategy. 

The key findings of the review presented in the report were as follows: 

 

 

 

The reports of the Lower Hunter Transport Working Group are clearly limited in terms of meeting the terms 

of reference they were given. The reports displayed bias in favour of consideration of the closure of the rail 

line to Newcastle in exclusion of almost anything else. No options have been considered which improves 

public transport and services to passengers. 

The consultants’ reports reviewed with regards to the planning for the proposed Broadmeadow Interchange 

in general meet their terms of reference. Significant issues associated with the safety of the interchange 

design were identified. In addition the rail demand and revenue forecast was found to be flawed. 

Consistency with the Metropolitan Strategy – major points of poor consistency were identified. There was 

found to be a substantive gap between the desires of the Metropolitan Strategy for growth associated with 

quality public transport and the poor sustainability which will result if rail services are closed and car 

dependency encouraged. 

19. Honeysuckle Precinct Development Corporation Traffic and Parking Investigations, Paramics 

Modelling Report, Mark Waugh Pty Limited, January 2006 

Mark Waugh Pty Limited was commissioned by Honeysuckle Development Corporation to prepare a Traffic and 

Parking Impact Assessment for the proposed final stages of the development of the Honeysuckle precinct. The 

report presents findings of a Honeysuckle traffic model and the impacts of alternative parking and access 

scenarios. Recommendations on the most appropriate access strategy for the ongoing development of 

Honeysuckle are made. 

The key findings of the report were that with continued traffic generation and traditional levels there is an absolute 

need to upgrade access for the precinct. The options for upgrading access are limited to some improvement of 

the Honeysuckle Drive / Hannell Street intersection and the inclusion of an additional access either at Worth Place 

or Steel Street (or both). 



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Other key findings include: 

 

 

The introduction of additional traffic capacity becomes paramount if the effects of the existing railway level 

crossings remain unchanged. 

If the railway operation were to be eliminated then it is possible to cater for full development access by 

improving the Hannell Street intersection alone. 

Key recommendations of the report include: 

 

 

The planned road connection in the vicinity of Worth Place continue to be pursued as the most appropriate 

strategy for long term access arrangements for the Honeysuckle Precinct. 

An interim solution would be to upgrade turning capacity at the Hannell Street / Honeysuckle Drive 

intersection. 

20. Hunter Transport Taskforce Report, February 2006 

The Hunter Transport Taskforce report prepared in February 2006 includes the following: 

 

 

 

 

Review of previous and current studies on transport options for public transport for the Newcastle CBD; 

Brief consultation process with key stakeholders to refine previous work; 

Advice on a sustainable, practical future for public transport in the CBD; and 

Advice to the Premier on a strategy which could be incorporated in the 2006/07 budget. 

Conclusions drawn from the review of current/previous studies were that the conundrum caused by the fact that 

the public transport system (Newcastle Rail Line) divides the old business centre from the Honeysuckle 

redevelopment of the old harbour precinct and impedes the flow of traffic. The studies that focused on public 

transport to and from the centre therefore deliver different recommendations than studies that focus on the 

development of the city centre. The report states that no solution other than undergrounding the train line will 

please everyone however the patronage is insufficient to justify the expense of putting the line underground. Any 

practical and affordable solution will require compromise between the competing requirements of public transport 

access to the centre and north-south connectivity issues. 

Key conclusions arising from stakeholder consultation were that local stakeholders overwhelmingly favour 

retention of a rail service to Newcastle Station. Some stakeholders insisted that the direct heavy rail service must 

be retained to avoid the interchange, others would be happy to see it removed, provided it is replaced by a light 

rail service. There was no local stakeholder support for replacement of rail with bus services. All stakeholders 

agreed that the heavy rail line barrier is a problem and if the heavy rail line is retained improvements to the 

crossings and the corridor itself are essential. 

The report includes an assessment of options against certain criteria, however the report concludes that despite 

all the reports and studies completed on public transport to the Newcastle CBD there is not (at this stage) an 

alternative to the status quo that could be said to be clearly preferable and has a scope of works, benefits and 

costs determined to the detail to be recommended. 

The report also presents the following additional conclusions: 

 

 

 

The recent proposals to use diesel trains as light rail is attractive as it enables rail services to continue to the 

CBD but enables removal of the visually intrusive infrastructure required to operate electric trains. 

The preferred solution at this time is to maintain the existing heavy rail services with some capital 

enhancements to minimise traffic delays at level crossings and to provide other improvements to the 

connectivity between the CBD, the Honeysuckle precinct and the water front. 

There should also be a determined effort to increase patronage on the current rail system through such 

things as integrated ticketing. 



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21. Lower Hunter Integrated Transport Strategy, A Concerted Forward Direction, March 2007 

This strategy was prepared in March 2007 and states that the vision of the strategy is the development and 

implementation of an integrated transport system to progressively deliver the needs outlined in the Governments 

Lower Hunter Regional Strategy by incorporating the following parameters: 

 

 

 

A sustainable integrated transport system; 

Quality infrastructure with consideration for accessibility, convenience and reliability; and 

A regional transport authority to plan and implement the strategy. 

The report states that a sustainable integrated transport system implies the following principles: 

 

 

 

 

Integrated ticketing across modes and providers; 

Co-ordinated timetabling; 

A geographic focus based on the Local Government Areas (LGAs) incorporated in the Lower Hunter 

Regional Strategy, i.e. Lake Macquarie, Newcastle, Cessnock, Maitland and Port Stephens, together with 

connectivity to adjoining areas e.g. Dungog, Singleton and Wyong; 

Common branding based on the “Hunter” region. 

The report states that quality infrastructure implies a transport system which is: 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Accessible, convenient and reliable; 

Safe and clean; 

Timely such that quality repeat experiences are generated; 

Well informed; 

Demand responsive; 

Flexible in choice of transport modes, recognising the need for disability services. 

22. Warabrook Terminus and Modified Light Rail Investigation, Stage 1 Framework – Further 

Investigations Report, Worley Parsons Rail, November 2007 

This report was prepared for RailCorp by Worley Parsons and investigates a proposal of the Hunter Business 

Chamber to improve the permeability across the Newcastle branch line by electrification of the railway line to 

Warabrook and re-orientation of Sydney services to Warabrook, De-electrification of the line between Hamilton 

and Newcastle and using modified Hunter rail cars to run in the manner of a light rail system between Hamilton 

and Newcastle. 

This report is a follow on from a preliminary assessment undertaken in May 2007 and this report presents 

additional investigations to complete this study, rather than a detailed investigation. The key findings of the 

previous report with regards to framework investigations have been documented and are as follows: 

 

 

Electrification to Warabrook 

- seems to be possible but very expensive; 

- costs do not justify the number of users which would or could benefit from a direct service 

- transfer between lines could be improved with an island platform at Hamilton 

Modified light rail option 

- Feasibility requires further investigation 

- Deceleration (emergency braking), overheating and crash performance are major issues 

- Improvement of permeability to be investigated 

- Not enough Hunter rail cars currently available 



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Train services 

- Current services are irregular and at low frequency 

- Regional train services could be improved with a Hunter Region focused operation, clock face 

departures, higher frequency achievable with better rolling stock utilisation, and better coordination 

with the bus network with a small number of focussed interchanges. 

Capacity and operation 

- Additional passenger services could affect capacity for freight trains 

- Empty diesel train movements during the day could be eliminated if decanting can be done during the 

night. This would require new infrastructure. 

Transport and land use planning 

- Coordination required to support better rail infrastructure 

- 10,000 new jobs at Wickham an opportunity for rail. 

The conclusions drawn from the further investigations and presented in the report are as follows: 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The braking performance of Hunter rail cars is not sufficient for light rail operation. Therefore a speed limit of 

only 15km/hr is required. 

Driving the Hunter rail car at 15km/hr would be difficult. 

An additional six Hunter sets would need to be purchased to cover strengthening of services and extended 

running times. 

Electrification of the rail line to Warabrook requires an adjustment of the structure gauge, the 

lifting/replacement of two road overbridges and two pedestrian footbridges. 

Construction of an island platform at Waratah and of two terminating platforms at Warabrook is feasible, but 

expensive at $25,5 million for Waratah and $19,5 million for Warabrook. 

The strengthening of peak services, additional staff to cover for the extended running times into Newcastle 

and additional stabling movements would increase operating costs by $5.1 million per year. 

The reduction of rail traffic on the Newcastle Branch would increases the opening times of the level 

crossings, thereby saving time for car travellers. 

The need to change services for passengers from south of Broadmeadow to Newcastle at Waratah and the 

increased running times into Newcastle would significantly increase travel times for rail passengers. The 

total travel time extension for rail passengers would be of a similar amount as the time savings for car 

travellers at level crossings. 

The increase in travel times, e.g. Central – Newcastle +12%, Morisset – Newcastle +37%, Maitland – 

Newcastle +18% would likely have an associated loss in patronage. 

 

The high-level Net Present Value calculation, including the two sensitivity checks, result in highly negative 

numbers. 

The final conclusion of the report is that based on the assessment, the proposal of the Hunter Business Chamber 

does not deliver net economic developments. 

23. Revitalising Newcastle, City Centre Plan – Vision, NSW Government Department of Planning, 2008 

This document describes a vision for the city centre of Newcastle, provides information on the history and 

development context and includes an action plan to facilitate the city’s growth. It sets a strategic framework for the 

city centre to grow into a prosperous, vibrant and attractive city. A key action set out in the report includes 

concentrating new development along the railway near Cottage Creek to preserve important view corridors within 


The vision with regards to transport includes strengthening public transport. The report states that transport hubs 

will be the focus of increased activity to improve access throughout the city centre. Pedestrian access across the 

rail corridor will provide connection from the harbour to Hunter Street. More people will live, work and recreate 



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closer to these public transport hubs. Public car parking will be located in the city centre and at the edge close to 

public transport hubs to manage congestion and provide a greater interaction with public transport. 

The reports also highlights a city centre public domain strategy that will provide for a network of footpaths, 

laneways and plazas designed to provide accessibility for all and permeability through and across the city. 

Chapter 7 of the report discusses transport and infrastructure. The report states that growing the city centre will 

bring an accompanying increase in traffic and a corresponding demand for car parking and reduction in the 

demand for parking can be achieved by the following: 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Concentrating employment and residential development within proximity to public transport to maximise 

transport access; 

Efficiencies through reduced fragmentation of parking supply using consolidated parking stations located in 

key corridors; 

Promotion of public transport use; 

Continued provision of an efficient, reliable bus service between the city centre and suburban areas in 

Newcastle and Lake Macquarie to meet the needs of people in Newcastle city centre; 

Creating more pedestrian routes through long city blocks, particularly those close to public transport 

connections; and 

Implementing pedestrian, cycle, public transport and traffic strategies to support sustainable transport 

modes. 

Actions arising from the plan include: 

 

 

Improve transport management facilities near Wickham station for future growth by: 

- Integrating rail, bus and ferry services; 

- Providing pedestrian connections between Newcastle West and Honeysuckle; and 

- Continue to implement traffic calming, place making and landscaping initiatives. 

Work with the State Government to provide a world class integrated public transport system into and within 

the Newcastle City Centre: 

- The public transport system should be a combination of inter city, rapid metro and reliable and regular 

local services; 

- Transport nodes within the city centre should be designed to accommodate easy transfer of 

passengers between rail, bus and ferry; 

- The rapid metro service should link centres of employment and activity in the Lower Hunter including 

Newcastle airport, the University and John Hunter Hospital. 

24. Revitalising Newcastle, City Centre Plan – Civic Improvement Plan, NSW Government Department of 

Planning, 2008 

The Civic Improvement plan for the Newcastle city centre provides a description of the civic infrastructure needed 

to support the growth and development of the city centre. 

The report discusses the key objectives to improve access which one of which is as follows: 

 

To reduce private car use in the city centre by improving public transport and facilities for pedestrians and 

cyclists. 

The key initiatives to support this are: 

 

 

 

 

Provision of commuter cycle lanes and paths on key streets leading to the city centre and station; 

Improvement to bus waiting facilities and better integration into the streetscape; 

Continuous accessible paths of travel in streets and public spaces; and 

Park and ride facilities. 



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With regards to access, public domain and transport the report discusses that safe and efficient access is critical 

to the functioning and operation of Newcastle city centre. Improvements to access, transport and traffic 

management are needed to accommodate growth and development in the city centre. This will include a mix of 

measures and facilities for cars, buses, bicycles, pedestrians, and traffic management. This includes the following: 

 

 

 

 

A multi-storey car park in Burwood Street; 

A new park and ride facility in Newcastle West; 

Bikeways in accordance with Council’s bike plan; and 

Public transit node precinct improvements including bus shelters. 

25. City Centre Traffic and Transport Study, Specification, The City of Newcastle, October 2008 

This document prepared by the City of Newcastle Council is the specification for the City Centre Traffic and 

Transport Study. 

The document sets out an overall objective of the project which is to assess the capacity of the existing networks 

in the City Centre to manage current and future demand and to provide recommendations for measures to 

accommodate anticipated growth. The specification sets out the following study aims: 

 

 

 

 

 

Develop a traffic model of the city centre to assess the long term traffic and transport implications arising 

from redevelopment of the City Centre and to test various scenarios; 

Assess the AM and PM peak operation of the road network servicing the study area with response to the 

existing, approved and potential development permissible under the Newcastle City Centre Local 

Environmental Plan 2008; 

Review the performance of the existing public transport networks and provide recommendations for 

improvements to cater for future growth and demand; 

Identify the current issues and determine traffic management and infrastructure improvements that can be 

made to the operation of the road network based on the current and future levels of development; 

Prepare a prioritised Schedule of Works, with design and construction costs and development nexus, for 

inclusion in Council’s Section 94A Development Contributions Plan and/or planning agreements. 

26. Newcastle, Towards a Sustainable and Vibrant City, A Proposal for CBD Integration, Save Our Rail 

NSW, December 2008 

This document prepared by Save Our Rail NSW presents solutions aimed at retaining sustainable transport while 

overcoming the need to connect new commercial and residential developments with established business areas 

for Newcastle. 

The proposals made by Save Our Rail in the report are as follows: 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Pedestrian level crossings at intervals between Wickham and Civic stations, the most important being on 

Steel Street and Worth Place. Further pedestrian level crossings at key locations between Civic and 

Newcastle stations, especially at Perkins and Market Streets would enhance retail success in Hunter Street. 

Grade separation of rail and road at Stewart Avenue, a major arterial road. This can be achieved by building 

a rail viaduct or by lowering the line to allow a low level road overpass. 

Re-development of Civic station to create an open landscaped concourse. The station could be rebuilt to the 

west behind existing buildings. An alternative could be to build an underground station. 

Improved access to Newcastle Station could be gained by re-opening doorways leading to Bolton Street and 

a ramp to Newcomen Street. A Wharf Road exit towards Queens Wharf and the reconnection of the existing 

overpass would enhance passenger movement between platforms and to the bus interchange. 

Rail line beautification with landscaping of the remaining visible CBD sections of the rail corridor and a new 

Harbourlink Station near the mall would further commercial prospects within the precinct. 

Sustainable transport connection to new land releases – park and ride stations and rail promotion measures. 



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27. Introduction to the Lower Hunter Tram – Train Network, Newcastle Transport Business Development, 

January 2009 

This report prepared by the Newcastle Transport Business Development, is based on the Lake Macquarie 

Transport Taskforce’s proposal for a tram-train in 2007. This report investigates and develops this proposal 

further. 

The report states that the proposal to cut the railway line at Wickham Station fails to consider the most important 

element of transit orientated development, which is more efficient use of valuable urban space through reduction 

in the average allocation of parking spaces required per pedestrian and that the tram-train network addresses 

these issues. 

The report proposes a Newcastle city tram-train which is a clear alternative to cutting off the railway line at 

Wickham Station. It supports a local tram-train route between Newcastle Station and Hamilton Station, connecting 

the Beaumont Street district, the Newcastle West district, the western Honeysuckle district, the Civic district, the 

Junction district, the Cooks Hill district, the Newcastle Mall district and the Queens Wharf district. The tram-train 

required would be dual mode, electric and diesel hybrid-electric vehicle. 

The advantages of the tram-train proposal for Newcastle discussed in the report are as follows: 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Addresses the perceived ‘barrier’ issue between the CBD and the foreshore by opening up and landscaping 

the rail corridor. 

Allows increased connectivity with additional level crossings - both vehicle and pedestrian; 

Eliminates the need for an expensive overpass at Stewart Ave or interchange at Wickham. 

Allows the existing Stewart Ave level crossing to operate with tram activated traffic lights which can be 

coordinated with the Hunter St traffic lights; 

Provides a new transport system which can be gradually extended across the Lower Hunter as population 

growth demands. Can be built in stages as required; 

Provides the light rail system that Novocastrians have continually requested in public opinion polls; and 

Retains all the benefits of direct heavy rail into the Newcastle CBD and beaches. 

The report also discusses that to ensure the full benefits of the tram-train proposal are realised, a fully integrated 

ticketing system would need to be implemented integrating the existing heavy rail and bus systems with the 

proposed tram/train and tram/bus system. 

As well as this, the report identifies that a key component of the tram-train proposal is the provision of additional 

level crossings at Worth Place and Steel Street and a pedestrian only crossing at Wolfe, Brown or Markets streets 

in the CBD. 

The report proposes the following staging: 

Stage 1, Phase 1, Newcastle City Rail Shuttle 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Level crossings at Argyle/Darby Street, Steel St and Worth Place 

Free Bus Zone gateway parking and City bus parking at Maitland Road site 

Newcastle Coach Terminal at Hamilton Station, with gateway parking 

Access improvements, Newcastle Beach, Civic, Newcastle West, and Hamilton Stations 

In-corridor tram/train platforms at: 

- Brown/Perkins/Wolfe Street pedestrian crossing 

- Railway Street level crossing 

- Honeysuckle Road pedestrian crossing 

- Maitland Road Overpass 

Establish Newcastle CBD shuttle, Broadmeadow / Newcastle Beach Station. 

Release Enterprise Prospect site for development on completion of Stage 1, Phase 1 



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Stage 1, Phase 2 (Newcastle City Tram-Train): 

 

 

 

 

 

Church Street Tramline 

The Junction Tramline 

Hamilton Terminal Loop Tramline 

Acquire initial Tram/Trains 

Establish Newcastle City Tram/Train, replacing Newcastle CBD Shuttle 

Stage 2 (Urban Tram-Trains / Tram-Buses): 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Charlestown Tram/Bus terminal at Shortland Station 

In-corridor tram/train platforms at: 

- Clyde Street level crossing 

- Maud Street overpass 

- Bridge Street underpass 

- Charlestown Road/Tickhole Tunnel 

- Main Road overpass 

- Glendale Centre 

- Argenton 

- Glendale Terminal Loop at Cockle Creek 

University Tramline 

Acquire initial Tram/Trains and Tram/Buses 

Establish Charlestown/University Tram/Bus 

Establish Glendale and University Tram/Train, replacing Newcastle CBD Shuttle 

Stage 3: (Lower Hunter Regional Tram-Trains / Tram-Buses) 

 

 

 

 

 

Extension of Lake Macquarie service to Wyong 

Toronto Tramline 

Maitland City tramline 

Establish Cessnock, Raymond Terrace, Airport Tram/Bus routes 

Establish Toronto/City and Maitland/City Tram/Train 

28. Newcastle CBD Integrated Transport – Identification of Preferred Scheme, PB, March 2009 

This report undertaken by PB for the Hunter Development Corporation details a review of the transport options for 

Newcastle and presents a preferred option. The report and study identifies what the most efficient network of 

transit for Newcastle is now and as is develops, what the new hierarchy of public transport access to a revitalised 

CBD should be and what the best use or combination or uses the land currently occupied by the rail line should 

be. 

The report presents the following options for rail in Newcastle: 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Retain heavy rail – retention of the heavy rail along its current alignment 

Subsurface heavy rail – reconstructing the rail line underground (cut and fill) from Wickham to Newcastle 

Elevated heavy rail – reconstructing the heavy rail line as an elevated structure allowing vehicle and 

pedestrian movement underneath 

Heavy gauge tram-train – retention of the heavy rail track with the substitution of conventional heavy rail cars 

with a tram-train 

Light rail – retention of the heavy rail track with the substitution of conventional heavy rail with light rail 

Termination of the heavy rail at Broadmeadow or Woodville Junction – replacement of rail with an alternative 

public transport system 



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Termination of the heavy rail east of Stewart Avenue - replacement of rail with an alternative public transport 

system 

Termination of heavy rail west of Stewart Avenue - replacement of rail with an alternative public transport 

system 

The report discusses that the study identified two options that appeared to satisfy the general urban design and 

land use requirements for a future rail service. Both options had the rail line shortened to the general area of 

Wickham but one option had it terminate between Wickham and Civic and the other had it terminate between 

Wickham and Hamilton. 

However the preferred option was a terminal west of Stewart Avenue because of the centrality it would give the 

terminus as a future transport interchange within the transit network of the region, the accessibility and road 

capacity benefits for the CBD, the catalyst options from the development of a modern, gateway station, and the 

additional savings to long term rail operations and maintenance. The new station becomes the central hub for 

transit travel in the region. Good access would be available to move between rail and bus and car. The surplus 

rail corridor offers opportunities for improved cycle and pedestrian facilities. 

29. Newcastle CBD Traffic Study, Bitzios Consulting, 2010 

This report discusses integrated transport options for Newcastle CBD. The options discussed are a ‘PT Focussed’ 

option and a ‘Balanced’ option. 

Key public transport assumptions listed in the report include: 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Rail is not a long term competitive mode – both origins and destinations are disperse; 

Bus based system caters better for land use structure but right of way is needed to bypass CBD congestion 

choke points. All traffic corridors will be full of traffic and bus will not be competitive if routed on these 

corridors; 

Terminate the rail line at a new Wickham Station to the west of Stewart Avenue 

Route relevant bus services to the new station then onto the rail corridor (as a bus priority corridor) 

Shrink and signalise bus priority crossings at existing (and additional) corridor crossings 

Maintain existing rail stations for the busway. 

The PT focused option would include the following traffic upgrades: 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Termination of heavy rail line and new Wickham bus/rail interchange; 

Rail line converted to a busway; 

Additional left turn lane on Honeysuckle Drive at the Hannell Street / Honeysuckle Drive intersection and a 

bus only right turn lane from Hannell Street southbound into Dangar Street; 

Roundabout at Merewether Street / Workshop Way intersection; 

Re-opening of Hunter Street mall to traffic; 

Traffic signals at Church Street / Watt Street Intersection 

Traffic signals at Parry Street / Union Street intersection 

Roundabout at Parry street / Steel Street intersection. 

The balanced option would include the following traffic upgrades: 

 

 

 

 

 

Committed works; 

Conversion of some parking to clearways; 

Heavy rail terminating at new Wickham rail-bus interchange; 

Rail line converted to bus way with existing level crossings and three additional crossings converted to 

signalised intersections; 

Targeted intersection improvements. 



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The report concludes with an option comparison which includes the following: 

 

 

PT focused option 

- Very difficult to achieve without some tough parking measures 

- Travel times under the PT focused option rely on 35% mode split to PT and 19% mode split to 

walk/cycle 

- Bus congestion and widening of the rail corridor will be required 

- No additional parking may be perceived as unrealistic. 

Balanced option 

- 20% PT by 2031 would be a reasonable ‘stretch target’ 

- Allows for 50% more traffic 

- A little more congestion at the extremities expected than under a more constrained option 

- Clearways are the primary change – some intersection upgrades. 



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Appendix B 

Population and 

Employment Maps 

22 October 2010 B


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Appendix B 

Population and Employment Maps 

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Appendix C 

Mode Share Model 

Development 

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Appendix C 

Mode Share Model Development 

Model parameters 

Wickham-Newcastle rail line 

The impact of removing the rail line was assessed with direct demand model by applying an elasticity of demand 

with respect to generalised cost. 

Removing the Wickham-Newcastle rail line (closing Civic and Newcastle stations) will reduce the accessibility of 

the eastern part of the City Centre and therefore is expected to reduce train patronage to the City Centre. 

Development and application of the direct demand model is described below: 

a) The City Centre zone system was refined from 4 zones to 80 zones (shown in Figure C.1) to better assess 

the change in egress walk time from each station; 

b) Commuting trips to each zone was estimated from existing land-use and application of a gravity model that 

was calibrated to a weighted average egress time of 8 minutes; 

c) The generalised journey time between each origin and destination (in the City Centre) was calculated with 

and without Civic and Newcastle stations available; 

d) An elasticity of demand with respect to generalised time of -0.74 (source: RailCorp 14 ) was applied to each 

origin-destination pair to determine the impact on demand; 

e) Diversion to car or bus was apportioned according to existing revealed preference data. (Note: this 

assumes that rail patronage is not lost, but merely shifts mode.) 

Figure C.1 City Centre TMAP zones 

Source: MapData Sciences 2010; Google Maps 2010 

14 Douglas Economics (2006) Value and Demand Effect of Rail Service Attributes 

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Bus service improvements 

Improvements to bus services in Newcastle through the introduction of hard and soft measures (hard: journey 

time, wait time, etc; soft: information, comfort, etc) will serve to reduce the generalised cost of travel by bus 

relative to car and will therefore increase bus patronage. 

The impact of various bus service improvements were assessed with a binary logit model. This is a common 

method of assessing mode choice, where the probability of using one mode is defined in terms of the difference in 

generalised cost between two alternatives (as shown in Figure C.2). 

Figure C.2 Logit curve 

Development and application of the logit model for the Newcastle TMAP is described below: 

a) A binary logit model of bus versus car was estimated from census journey-to-work origin-destination demand 

data and calculated generalised costs by mode (see Figure C.3); 

b) The generalised cost for each origin-destination pair was updated for each bus option; 

c) The logit model was applied to the revised generalised cost to assess the diversion to/from car for each 

origin-destination pair. 

Figure C.3 Logit equation 

Pb = 1 / (1 + exp (-(Cc + - Cb)) 

where: 

Pb = Probability of choosing bus 

= Dispersion parameter (0.017) 

= Mode constant (67 minutes) 

Cc = Generalised cost of travelling by car 

Cb = Generalised cost of travelling by bus 

Note: The same logit curve will be used in Stage 2 of the Newcastle TMAP to assess the impact of changes in 

generalised cost to car (e.g. increased parking costs). 

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Appendix D 

Rapid Appraisal 

Workshop Outcomes 

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Appendix D 

Rapid Appraisal Workshop Outcomes 

No Bus Option Discussed Action 

B1/B2 City Centre Bus Options: Bus loop – existing services / 

interchange at Wickham 

Possibility of using King Street instead of Hunter St 

Terminal does not necessarily need to be at Wickham 

Some people inconvenienced by clockwise loop 

Bus captive bus users may affect modelling results 

Noted that not much demand to beach area 

B3 

B4 

B5 

B6 

B7 

B8 

B9 

B10 

B11 

B12 

Bus Rapid Transit option 

Not discussed 

Bus Rapid Transit option 

Not discussed 

Principal Route Options: Go Zone Loops 

It was felt that same result could be obtained by increasing the 

frequencies on existing services 

Noted that current frequencies are only about 30 mins – if 

changing to 10 mins, means 3 times the investment 

Principal Route Options: Outer Newcastle Express 

Noted that demand to Newcastle CBD is low, therefore 

probably not support express services 

Preference is to increase frequency along key corridors to 

build patronage, and then possibly introduce express services 

– staged approach 

Consider principal routes to Charlestown and then express to 

Newcastle CBD 

Principal Route Options: No timetable 

Not much slack in timetable after review in 2006 

Customer Service Improvements: Prepay only 

Surprise expressed at 7% travel time saving – only about 30% 

of boardings are cash fares 

Customer Service Improvements: $1 flat fare 

Contrary to NSW fares policy, which tries to ensure 

consistency across regions 

Customer Service Improvements: Bus Priority: Broadmeadow 

to City 

Other pinch-points on the network were noted, such as on 

Newcastle Road near Jesmond and around the University 

PTIPS may be able to identify pinch-points 

Customer Service Improvements: Bus fleet improvements 

Query over 46% over 20 years old – RW to confirm 

STA recommending to NSTI to progressively move to 10 year 

average bus fleet age 

No real operational savings from new buses, but 

environmental gains 

Treasury constraints 

Customer Service Improvements: Real time information 

PTIPS is close to allowing real time information to be provided 

Option to be developed that is a 

hybrid of the existing services and 

city centre loop: 

Extend some services through 

Honeysuckle – not all 

Loop service (possible fare free like 

Sydney’s 555) 

Some services relocated to King 

Street 

Assess routes which Increase in 

frequencies would maximise the 

demand 

Assess routes which Increase in 

frequencies would maximise the 

demand 

Option not preferred 

More sensitivity testing needed 

around the parameters 

Option not preferred 

To be recommended as part of 

package, but not likely to have impact 

on mode share 

Potential locations to be assessed 

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No Bus Option Discussed Action 

Difference of opinion on whether information should be 

provided on website. mobile phones or at the bus stops 

Perhaps money better spent in providing more frequency 

Merit in providing at selected locations – not valuable if 

service is only every hour 

Workshop outcomes - options to be assessed in detail: 

City Centre: 

Option to be developed that is a hybrid of the existing services 

and city centre loop: 

Extend some services through Honeysuckle – not all 

Loop service (possible fare free like Sydney’s 555) 

Some services relocated to King Street 

Principal Routes: 

Assess routes which Increase in frequencies would maximise 

the demand 

Customer Service Improvements: 

Prepay parameters to be retested 

Fleet upgrade to be recommended 

Potential RTI locations to be assessed 

PR campaign will be important 

Other 

Good ideas that may not assist CBD mode share target 

should be captured for inclusion in Hunter Regional Transport 

Strategy. 

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Appendix E 

Parking Strategy Review 

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Appendix E 

Parking Strategy Review 

E1: Newcastle City Centre Parking Strategy Review (GTA, 2008) 

A review of the existing conditions, existing and future parking supply and demand, and recommended parking 

policy around management of supply and demand, was undertaken by GTA in 2008. 

Existing conditions 

The GTA review of existing conditions highlighted some key issues, summarised below: 

 

 

 

 

 

High on-street demand in city centre (70-90%) in peak periods; 

On-street commuter parking is extending to the southern fringe of City Centre and is worsening; 

Off-street demand also high 

- Civic, The Delaney, Honeysuckle, Marketown operate at practical capacity at peak times; 

Abuse of on-street short term, 1 hour restrictions in central area and 4 hour restrictions in foreshore precinct; 

>70% of drivers able to park within 5 min walk of destination and with a search time of


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Figure E.1 summarises the estimated parking demand/ supply surplus for short- and long-term parking in 

Newcastle by precinct for 2006. 

Figure E.1: 2006 parking supply/ demand assessment 


Future parking supply/ demand in Newcastle (to 2013 and to 2031) 

GTA took the future land use development projections from the NSW Department of Planning (DoP) and assumed 

anticipated future development distributed in Newcastle based on existing land uses and an even development 

over time (taking 25year predictions to 2031). This method assumes natural growth in development, whereas if 

the high predicted levels of growth in employment and population are to be achieved it is more likely to be 

concentrated in a handful of major sites and facilitated by major change such as truncation of the rail line. Hence, 

the GTA methodology was logical using limited information available. However, the detailed future projections of 

parking over/ under supply by precinct in Figure E.2 should be treated with caution. The general pattern will be 

retained if future growth is in line with existing land use, however, future development should be used to guide the 

location of any additional future parking supply, but this should pay note surveyed existing under/ over-supply. 

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Figure E.2: 2013 parking supply/ demand assessment 


The GTA parking model predicts the City East area precincts (east of Darby Street) to have a relatively good 

balance in supply and demand of both short-term and long-term parking in 2031. A small short-term parking 

supply deficit could be seen in these precincts, but this is only of the order of 200 spaces. 

In comparison, in the City West area precincts (west of Darby Street), parking demand is anticipated to 

significantly outstrip supply. The deficit is anticipated to total nearly 3,000 spaces, comprising a deficit of 

approximately 1,800 short term spaces and 1,000 long term spaces. Therefore, if the anticipated level of 

development in Newcastle city centre is achieved, and this occurs in the locations suggested, then there will be a 

clear need for additional parking capacity in line with development in the City West area. This also uses existing 

travel demand characteristics and assumes no change in future transport trends – and does not include any 

reference to long term planning towards sustainability objectives. 

Parking Policy – Management of Supply and Demand 

The GTA report noted the observations of Newcastle City Council Facilities Management staff that: 

 

 

Since adoption of the Parking Strategy, June 2002, most parking stations appear to operate near capacity; 

The modifications to the fee structure in the 2005/06 Management Plan, designed to free up parking spaces 

have proved effective. 

The second observation highlights the potential role for well designed policy interventions to fee structure, 

regulation and restriction to manage parking supply and demand to achieve wider objectives. 

The idea of creating a maximum or threshold parking provision for Newcastle will have little effect as a travel 

demand management tool to manage traffic flow. It is solely long term parking supply which impacts on vehicular 

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demand in the peak periods as travel associated with these spaces tends to be concentrated in the morning and 

evening peaks. Such commuter or long term parking also impacts on the streetscape and available land for 

development, as having a significant number of stationary vehicles in the city centre takes up valuable space for 

development and creates a visual eyesore. 

The majority of any additional parking created in Newcastle in the future should focus on short-term parking to 

maintain and enhance the economic and cultural attractiveness of Newcastle city centre. Long term planning 

policy should focus on encouraging a modal shift away from long term commuter parking by providing suitable 

public transport alternatives, by transferring long term to short term parking capacity and relocating long-term 

parking to the periphery, possibly in conjunction with park and ride provision, if viable. 

Having said this some additional capacity will clearly be needed in line with significant growth in Newcastle City 

Centre. The proposed Burwood Street car park would include 100 long term and 300 short term spaces. There is 

scope to increase the amount of parking supply at this site as space for parking is limited in the city centre. 

Newcastle City Council should urgently consider changing their Development Control Policy for parking for new 

developments. If the present flat rate of 1 space per 60m2 were applied to all proposed development, 8,000 

additional parking spaces would be built in Newcastle city Centre. 

A signage strategy for Newcastle City Centre is required which increases public awareness of the location and 

supply of parking, and of the availability of free spaces. Large static signage or variable message signage, as 

successfully implemented in other locations could be considered in Newcastle. 

Newcastle City Council could consider implementing a Parking Space Levy, such as a Workplace Parking Levy, 

which could have clear benefits for the funding of public transport and encouragement of sustainable travel. This 

was noted in the GTA report, but included as a recommendation, and is a decision for state government. 

The introduction of park and ride for the city centre should be considered as this will (a) alleviate the pressure for 

parking in the city centre (especially long term commuter parking) and (b) will reduce the pressure on the city 

centre roads and alleviate congestion and (c) provide environmental benefits for the city centre. 

The fare free zone for public transport in Newcastle City Centre should be retained and supported. 

E2: Newcastle City Council Consultation 

Consultation was undertaken with Newcastle City Council (NCC) as part of the TMAP process, to discuss the 

future issues and opportunities for parking management in Newcastle, and the role parking could play as part of 

the wider TMAP strategy to achieve the study objectives. 

Newcastle City Centre - context 

Newcastle City Centre is characterised by a large business district with office, industrial and mixed use, a 

predominantly civic quarter, and a leisure, tourism and heritage quarter with beaches and a marine foreshore. 

Newcastle City Centre is and will continue to develop as a centre with precincts of distinct character with different 

trip attractors and demands on parking. 

Visitors to Newcastle are well used to paying for parking; Newcastle city centre was the second city in Australia to 

implement on-street parking charges back in the 1950’s. With the exception of a 3 year period in the early 1990’s, 

on-street parking has been charged ever since. 

The Westfield Kotara and Charlestown Square developments, both with abundant parking 16 and a concentrated 

retail offer, and the Newcastle earthquake, have all contributed to a shift away from comparison retail in the City 

Centre. Newcastle which previously had 5 major anchor stores now has only 1 major anchor retail store, and has 

moved to a centre of employment (predominantly office based), leisure and convenience shopping. This sets the 

scene for the demand driven nature of parking. The retail offer has given way to leisure, with a vibrant daytime 

and evening economy focused in The Foreshore, Newcastle East and City East precincts, and also Honeysuckle. 

16 

The privately owned out-of-centre alternative retail ‘destinations’ at Charlestown Square and Kotara are free for at least 3 

hours, or free all-day with a $50 minimum spend. 

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NCC Parking Tariffs, Restrictions, Regulations and Management 

The existing parking management regime specifies tariffs in Newcastle City Centre of $2 per hour for off-street 

parking and $2.20 per hour for on-street parking. Although discounts are offered for long stay, commuter parking 

in off-streets car parks with ‘early bird’ tickets priced at approximately $6 or $7 depending on the car park location, 

with the tariff in long stay peripheral car parks cheaper than that of more centrally located parking stations. 

Parking restrictions in Newcastle are well established and their design shows good management to encourage 

short stay parking in the most central areas, especially on-street, with high turnover to support town centre 

economic vitality and viability. Long stay parking is prevented on-street in central areas, although permitted onstreet 

further out but managed through charging, and is provided in off-street car parks, but with charging set to 

encourage peripheral parking and not to take up valuable town centre capacity and land. 

Council has provided very short stay bays in the city centre to encourage turnover and support town centre retail, 

by providing for convenience shopping trips. The 15- and 30-minute parking bays in the city centre are paid bays, 

although Council members had requested free bays to support local businesses. In practice though, due to a 

problem with the supplier of the majority of the on-street meters, patrons are able to effectively receive an 

additional 15minutes free parking, although still have to purchase a ticket. 

Overspill long stay paid parking for city centre commuters is permitted in city centre fringe precincts, i.e. The Hill 

and Newcastle East, charged at $3 or $3.50 per day. This was implemented following the 2000 parking review 

and 2002 council recommendations; however, only 70 out of 350 (approx.) streets have been incorporated so far. 

Commuter parking also takes place outside the existing on-street controlled parking areas and is a problem which 

needs to be addressed. Figure E.3 shows the extent of the strategy for on-street parking which has been adopted 

and the current extent of what has been implemented. 

Figure E.3 

Area of adoption and implementation of on-street parking controls 

Parking enforcement and compliance for Newcastle City Centre was taken over by Council from the police 

following the 2000 review and was managed until July 2009, when enforcement was removed, following the 

external consultant review of Council operations, and placed in a separate compliance function. Compliance and 

enforcement has suffered as a result. When parking compliance was managed by the parking function, the 

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enforcement team comprised 9 permanent staff supplemented by casual and part time officers, and up to 10 

parking compliance officers’ were on-street at any one time. Parking compliance, a lack of enforcement and 

abuse of short stay restrictions, especially on-street were highlighted by the 2000 parking policy review. Although 

this was addressed it seems the situation has declined since 2009. 

Newcastle City Council - assets 

In a recent review of all Council assets and functions, external consultants recommended to Council that the three 

primary off-street car parks be sold as assets, as Council management of these was deemed unnecessary. This 

review seems short sighted. At present Council owns and operates the majority of parking provision in Newcastle 

and therefore has the ability to manage parking (i.e. to set tariffs, regulations and restrictions and to manage 

supply in relation to demand) so that parking can be used as an effective part of the strategic transport system. 

Whilst the recent parking strategy for Newcastle (GTA, 2008) and the preceding parking policy for Newcastle 

(NELA, 2000) both reported an oversupply of parking in Newcastle City Centre at present, both reports and our 

own analysis show that, in line with future land use change, parking supply in Newcastle will soon become an 

acute issue under peak conditions. 

The sale of these car park assets would not likely realise replacement supply of the similar type or function. The 

private car park market in Australia typically operates on a lease or operational management business model; 

they do not own the assets. Therefore, if these car parks are put up for sale there will be no like for like 

replacement parking on these sites. This would have an adverse effect on parking supply in Newcastle City 

Centre unless serious alternative solutions are provided, especially for long stay commuter trips. 

Additional information 

If emerging development proposals proceed, additional parking would be provided in the city centre, however this 

would be designed for retail customers and not to replace any parking lost through asset release. 

A successful park and ride system already operates in Newcastle. This is set up by the John Hunter Hospital and 

operates as a shuttle bus park and ride service between the Energy Australia Stadium and John Hunter Hospital. 

The development of additional park and ride sites for Newcastle City Centre has been raised previously and also 

proposed by the Business Chamber, although previous suggestions have centred on sites which are too close to 

the city centre. Park and Ride, possibly in combination with express bus services from the near region, is seen as 

a solution with much potential to serve Newcastle City Centre’s long term and commuter parking market and if 

well designed could work well with the distributed employment catchment. Hexham and Charlestown are two sites 

which would capture significant demand on key routes and are the right operational distance from the city centre. 

The design and implementation of a new signage strategy for Newcastle, possibly a variable message signing 

(VMS) system, has the potential to reduce town centre traffic volumes, by removing circulating traffic, as well as 

providing advance information to motorists and improving the attractiveness of Newcastle City Centre. VMS has 

been implemented successfully elsewhere in Australia with widespread use globally. The main city centre offstreet 

car parks have counter loops which would easily facilitate their incorporation and use in such a system. 

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Newcastle City Centre Renewal - Transport for NSW - NSW ...

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