Overnight passenger trains will resume running on the Hunter Line from Monday 15 July, after services were suspended for more than two weeks due to safety risks relating to ongoing illegal protest activity in the rail corridor.
The Hunter Line has been disrupted by illegal protest activity since Tuesday 25 June, with more than 20 separate incidents that stopped rail traffic. NSW Police has made 33 arrests and laid 96 charges to date.
A risk-based, multi-agency approach was used to inform the decision to shut down overnight passenger rail services to ensure the safety of the travelling public, train crews, and emergency service workers who needed to enter the rail corridor to conduct rescues.
It has now been deemed safe to run trains again following five nights of no incursions in the rail corridor.
From 28 June, buses replaced passenger trains on the Hunter Line from 7pm to 7am for 17 nights. This impacted passengers travelling on all intercity services and some XPT services, which still ran but to reduced speeds through the impacted area.
The safety of its passengers and staff is a top priority for Sydney Trains. Transport for New South Wales thanked passengers for their patience and understanding during this time of protest disruption.
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