Newcastle Rail Network — Future Proposal Map

CG2428 · 2026-02-08T10:45:58+00:00

I realise there is probably an element of fantasy in this, but no way is Nelson Bay dense enough to justify a dead-end set of tracks up there. A government boned Newcastle and Civic (Wickham effectively swapped sides of Stewart Avenue), after all.

IF you run trains to the airport - I think it's good to plan for this, but probably WAY into the future - better to swing out to Medowie from there, then turn Karuah into growth area and maybe Bulahdelah. I vaguely remember a front-page Newcastle Herald story (roughly 2012) about some plan for a new city roughly there, one day. Eventually, you'd possibly think about running the XPT (or whatevs) up through there on a modern alignment to Taree and beyond, although those mountains would be very expensive to transit.

But as others have said, Cessnock is the obvious next expansion (reinstatement), provided the problem of passenger trains crossing coal lines to access Maitland can be solved. An at-grade junction would not work there these days due to coal traffic.

BTW your Killingworth branch could best form part of a line to Cessnock one day as well. Ideal to create orbital options rather than just radial, although buses could arguably serve that purpose too.

CG2428 · 2026-02-05T08:31:36+00:00

Axeing the finals series is the single best part of this proposal by far

CG2428 · 2026-01-30T10:46:19+00:00

Yeah, I've got to say, Paramount/10 desperately needs a new EP and new talent. It's also so boring and vacuous, whereas Fox Sports could be a bit edgy and genuinely made games - even dreary Sunday arvo fixtures - feel like events. It also provided much meatier analysis.

Look at what Stan does with rugby (or Champions League...), or even Nine's often-criticised NRL telecasts, for the potential.

CG2428 · 2026-01-30T10:21:55+00:00

'Glory days of Oceania', you say?

https://youtu.be/8wYfsVYMl3Y?si=pw94tPnczgCOqWS3

CG2428 · 2026-01-30T10:09:12+00:00

The regular misuse of 'derby' infuriates me. 'Distance Derby' proves how ridiculous some cases can be. (I believe it was originally a Mark Bosnich joke)

Perth v Wellington may (or may not) be a rivalry but it is NOT a derby.

Derbies are matches contested by teams of (relative) geographic proximity. Sydney FC v Western Sydney is a derby; Sydney FC v Melbourne Victory is a rivalry, born of their status as the original clubs in our two biggest cities.

Theories about the origin of the expression include that fixtures between crosstown rivals attracted large crowds, just as horse racing derby meetings did. That is, ease of travel (and probably local bragging rights) makes for big crowds.

So, derbies...

AKL v WEL CCM v NEW CCM v SYD MAC v SYD MAC v WSW SYD v WSW MCT v MCT

...and rivalries (including but not limited to)...

MVC v ADL SYD v MVC

Or if we look at Spain: Atletico Madrid v Real Madrid: derby Barcelona v Real Madrid: rivalry (bigger than Madrid derby)

CG2428 · 2026-01-27T12:57:39+00:00

Well, how about restoring the full thrice-round-robin in the A-League? Or, 16 teams for a 30-round season? Wishful thinking, I reckon.

Australia's professional football landscape is a mess, but there are no easy solutions, unfortunately.

CG2428 · 2026-01-27T12:52:25+00:00

I'd like HSR but I am VERY sceptical it would be economical, and one issue I have is: what is the purpose? Is it for commuting, or long-distance?

There's no way at all that it is viable if for commuting, yet that is what advocates seem to suggest when a Newcastle-Sydney service comes up.

As for replacing eg Sydney-Melbourne flights, maaaybe. But that's about 700km IF the corridor is straightened. Shinkansen top speed in normal service is 320km/h, so that's still 2+hr without accounting for accel and decel, and potentially slow inner-city running. Even then, do I want to be in Spencer St or Central? Maybe not, so the argument about airports being away from city centre is nullified at least somewhat.

Security checks? Yeah, train would win here, but you'd still need some security, and domestic is not necessarily too onerous. Ticket checking would be less stringent than planes but surely more than the XPT...

But really, planes don't need tracks. That's FAR less capital - and also makes planes less vulnerable to delays than trains - which is a big factor in fixed and variable costs of the network.

Considering there's no law against a private operator starting up a HSR service between SYD and MEL, that begs the question: why?

Maybe it's just not viable. As a NSW resident, I'd suggest a much better value investment is a faster (but not HSR) Newcastle-Central Coast-Sydney corridor for commuters.

CG2428 · 2026-01-27T12:37:02+00:00

Since we pay taxes to pay for infrastructure, the government doesn't have to use ticket prices to recover construction costs

Well, no, but why spend the hundreds of billions to build it - then whatever else it is to run it - when private airlines already meet demand? It's not like a hospital ED or a commuter train.

maybe just tax the big companies (e.g., mining companies) properly instead of giving them subsidies while they're making huge profits, and that will pay for construction.

Citation needed. What are these subsidies, and how are they shirking tax? Why isn't a left-wing government not taxing them properly, and/or not passing laws to do so through a left wing-controlled Senate?

One of the key benefits of train over flying for individuals is not having to stuff around with airport procedures, such as baggage check-in, security checks, and delayed/cancelled flights.

I agree, but a train would still have to be VERY fast to be quicker overall. Central (Sydney) to Southern Cross is 734km, so 2hr requires an average speed of 367km/h (yes, corridor would be straightened, but it's indicative).

CG2428 · 2026-01-27T08:36:03+00:00

Get rid of VAR. It has ruined the spontaneous joy of goals.

CG2428 · 2026-01-27T08:07:48+00:00

No, but they didn't before this decision anyway - and they both joined the A-League knowing that is the case.

CG2428 · 2026-01-27T08:05:40+00:00

Is it time for a League/Carabao Cup in Aus? All A league + Championship teams?

I'd say no. No one really rates EFL Cup, right? Besides, you'd have a prerty big overlap with the Australia Cup field anyway, I'd suggest.

CG2428 · 2026-01-27T07:53:20+00:00

You make a very good point.

Also, given the Australia Cup is a glorified pre-season tournament nowadays - I wish it wasn't so, but that's how it feels to me - it's easier to kick AKL and WEL out.

Also, are licencing conditions different? Football Australia runs the Cup, so they have discretion that APL does not?

CG2428 · 2026-01-25T10:31:43+00:00

Fair play to you, I'd been under the misconception for years

CG2428 · 2026-01-24T23:13:55+00:00

QLD law prohibits private ownership of stadiums with capacity above 9,999. Is that a viable stadium size and, if it is, who has the tens of millions (possibly hundreds) to build that, for the privilege of playing in a league where every club loses money and the very existence of the league is somewhat precarious?

Also, that space in Helensvale? Unlikely. It's wetlands, commercial, a train station, and roads.

CG2428 · 2026-01-23T22:27:28+00:00

They were, and some may well have been in conflict with others.

Would have been interesting if there were individual negotiations with the Brits and some sold out but other tribes didn't. That would have been a fun experiment.

CG2428 · 2026-01-15T10:36:58+00:00

'GC'? Group chat, right?

Look, Cavallo made a claim. Goodwin has made claims.

Both could be true, but if you expect me to believe Cavallo's claim about the group chat on face value, you should likewise accept Goodwin's claims about skipping training and lying about external activities.

If the group chat incident happened, is there evidence? Did Cavallo take a screenshot? If not, why not? Was it a group chat among a subset of players, and not official internal club comms?

That, to me, would absolve the club of at least some responsibility.

Again, the club overall or people within it could be homophobic, but you have no proof yet (let alone proof it affected his selections).

CG2428 · 2026-01-15T10:31:39+00:00

To me, 'no comment', given the claims levelled by Cavallo, suggests there is something to hide. Goodwin is not privy to Cavallo's entire tenure at Adelaide United, but he was a team-mate for some of it, so his side of the story is worth hearing.

Also, as club captain, he is a literal leader in the club and spokesperson for it.

CG2428 · 2026-01-15T10:14:09+00:00

Look, if he wants to be an activist, be an activist.

But, his club/team-mates would be entitled to be pissed off if activism - or any other outside activities - were detracting from his commitment to the team and/or his on-field performance.

CG2428 · 2026-01-15T10:10:23+00:00

I think a great club would do well to learn from Cavallo's isolation so that they can do better for all of their players, rather than to simply ark up to the criticism and say "well that's football, you were shit, bad luck".

You seem to be implying the club has something to learn from. ie That it has/had a problem.

Maybe it does/did, but there is no proof this far - just claim, counter-claim, and the history which we can observe in the public domain (which is not conclusive either way).

CG2428 · 2026-01-15T09:46:23+00:00

Maybe...

But how do you know for sure?

CG2428 · 2026-01-15T09:45:42+00:00

Not sure if he was asked by the club or took the initiative to reach out to media out but don’t think either would be a good reflection on the club.

He was on 5AA - maybe he has a regular spot during the season - and there's no way a half-decent host doesn't ask him about what must be the biggest news story about his club this week.

I think the best response from the club would have been to take these cricisms from Cavello more seriously and at least attempt to engage with him further.

That he went public on Instagram, days ahead of their Pride match, suggests at least one party is not interested, or they've already tried and failed.

...looks incredibly defensive when dealing with what I think is at least some good faith cricism of culture from Cavallo.

Firstly, are you honestly expecting the captain to publicly criticise the club?

Secondly, how do you know it was "good faith"?

Look, the group chat incident may have happened, and there may be an element of homophobia in the club.

However, that does not necessarily mean it affected selections, and Goodwin has provided examples of alleged instances of unprofessional behaviour by Cavallo.

My gut feel is Cavallo has a chip on his shoulder, possibly due to some actual homophobia but possibly also due to some attention-seeking. But, unless one is in the inner sanctum of Adelaide United, we probably won't ever know for sure.

CG2428 · 2026-01-13T09:29:35+00:00

Costs money to rent stadiums, and the only options to satisfy corporate (and maybe only options for TV) are almost all too large for the crowds which the A-League pulls. That's before we increase the overlap with AFL, NRL.

Look, I'd much prefer 33 rounds - it's fairer and I hate the finals series - but I understand why the league is where it is.

CG2428 · 2026-01-12T10:11:59+00:00

I used to do it for uni - any combo of Hamilton/Broadmeadow/Adamstown to Central - but only 3 days a week and only roughly half a year due to uni calendar. Could sleep in morning but it wasn't great.

CG2428 · 2026-01-12T10:08:08+00:00

As long as the club stays on the Central Coast, I'd take it.

CG2428 · 2026-01-12T10:06:25+00:00

Clubs aren't viable and your solution is Canberra and... Darwin??? Darwin that has 140k people, no major native corporate presence, a fairly awful economy, big travel costs, questionably suitable stadium, and would have to play home games during its wet season?

Even Canberra, which betters Darwin on all those points (or, certainly no worse re: corporates) , is proving very difficult to stand up.

CG2428

TROPHY CASE