Minister for Transport Gladys Berejiklian said the work represented the start of a new era for Newcastle, when the train line would no longer divide the city.
Train services will no longer run into the city and the Newcastle, Civic and Wickham train stations have already stopped running.
“With trains no longer operating in the city centre, the boom gates on Stewart Avenue and Merewether Street will now be open, which will see an improvement to the traffic flow in these areas,” she said.
“Construction of a brand new $73 million train, bus and light rail interchange at Wickham will also get under way. This is an exciting time for Newcastle, providing new opportunities for revitalisation and economic growth.
“While we recognise that there will be changes for our customers, there will be long term benefits with the construction of a new transport interchange at Wickham and light rail in the city centre.”
All trains will temporarily terminate at the Broadmeadow station while work to upgrade Hamilton Station is completed.
“On January 5, Hamilton Station will reopen and all trains will operate to and from Hamilton Station until the Wickham interchange is completed, with shuttle buses to transfer customers between Hamilton Station and city centre,” NSW TrainLink acting chief executive Kieron Ritchard said.
Construction of the transport interchange and stabling facilities is expected to be completed in late 2016.
The start of works has not been without controversy, however.
The NSW government has been told to seek parliamentary permission to tear up the Newcastle railway lines in a Supreme Court ruling that followed court action from the Save our Rail protest group.
The government tried to circumvent laws prohibiting sale by transferring ownership from RailCorp to the Hunter Development Corporation to avoid statutory prohibition, and likely blocks by the Green and Labor parties in the parliament.
So, while the train line has been shut down, removing much of the existing infrastructure is problematic and could spell doom for the construction of a new transport interchange at Wickham.
Works including removal of some boom gates and some rail power lines have been approved for safety reasons.
Save Our Rail has indicated that it will pursue the matter in the High Court.
The group wants to retain the existing heavy rail network as the backbone of an expanded train system, arguing that commercial development of the foreshore is the government’s aim and raising concerns that the new facilities will favour cars.
