THE last train to make the trip from the Austar colliery west of Bellbird was in March 2020. Since then, the ownership of the line from Maitland changed, and it has lain dormant, bar for the storage of coal wagons.
The rail was known mainly for the transport of coal since the 1890s, but there were both private and state-run passenger services linking the people of Cessnock to the rest of the state, including a special Cessnock Express from Sydney.
