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Cockle Creek railway station

Cockle Creek
Southbound view of the station platforms from the Lake Road overpass, November 2023
General information
LocationLake Road, Boolaroo
Australia
Coordinates32°56′34″S 151°37′25″E / 32.942695°S 151.623725°E / -32.942695; 151.623725
Owned byTransport Asset Holding Entity
Operated byNSW TrainLink
Line(s)Main Northern
Distance150.63 km (93.60 mi) from Central
Platforms2 side
Tracks2
Connections
Construction
Structure typeGround
AccessibleNo
Other information
Station codeCCK
WebsiteTransport for NSW
History
Opened15 August 1887; 137 years ago (1887-08-15)
Rebuilt1957
ElectrifiedYes
Passengers
2023[2]
  • 25,500 (year)
  • 70 (daily)[1] (Sydney Trains, NSW TrainLink)
Services
Preceding station NSW TrainLink Following station
Cardiff Central Coast & Newcastle Line Teralba
towards Central

Cockle Creek railway station is located on the Main Northern line in New South Wales, Australia. It serves the City of Lake Macquarie suburb of Boolaroo. The station is on the eastern side of Cockle Creek and a balloon loop exists west of the creek for the Teralba Colliery.

History

The station opened on 15 August 1887.[3] It was rebuilt on its present site in 1957 when a new bridge was built immediately south of the station.[4] The station buildings were demolished in March 1993.[5]

The station originally opened with 4 platforms (two side, one island), with the southern track pair being part of the Main Northern Line and the northern track pair part of the former privately owned Caledonian Collieries railway line to West Wallsend, Seahampton, Killingworth, Barnsley and the now vanished town of Fairley, which joined the government line at Cockle Creek. This line carried mixed traffic, including passenger and freight trains, but was largely used for coal traffic until the last working mine, West Wallsend Extended Colliery at Killingworth was closed during an industrial slump in 1962.

Although the area surrounding the railway station was once an industrial area, the eventual station's isolation has led to low patronage (getting just 20 passengers a day in 2013). A large Bunnings Warehouse store opened across the road from the station in 2015, and a new residential development immediately south of the station is finishing completion, but when the large Bunnings store opened, a large roundabout was installed at the nearby intersection, making the pedestrian access to the station dangerous and inconvenient.

Platforms and services

Cockle Creek has two side platforms. It is serviced by NSW TrainLink Central Coast & Newcastle Line services travelling from Sydney Central to Newcastle.[6]

Platform Line Stopping pattern Notes
1 services to Gosford & Sydney Central [6]
2 services to Newcastle [6]

Hunter Valley Buses operates two bus routes via Cockle Creek station, under contract to Transport for NSW:

Newcastle Transport operates one bus route via Cockle Creek station, under contract to Transport for NSW:

References

  1. ^ This figure is the number of entries and exits of a year combined averaged to a day.
  2. ^ "Train Station Monthly Usage". Open Data. Retrieved 26 January 2024.
  3. ^ Cockle Creek Station NSWrail.net
  4. ^ Cockle Creek Former Railway Station and Bridge Piers NSW Environment & Heritage
  5. ^ Railway Digest May 1993 page 199
  6. ^ a b c "Central Coast & Newcastle line timetable". Transport for NSW.
  7. ^ "Hunter Valley Buses route 270". Transport for NSW.
  8. ^ "Hunter Valley Buses route 271". Transport for NSW.
  9. ^ "Newcastle Transport route 46". Transport for NSW.