Originally Posted by
shillard
3. As above but with the SYD-NTL component via train. This sucks, the train service is horribly unrelaiable, consistently late, and the trains are rife with human refuse.
There is another option - the same trip, but on the XPT. It's much more limiting in terms of time (2 a day), and costs a little more, but it's a much more pleasant trip - especially if you pay the few dollars more for First.
The XPT doesn't go directly to Newcastle but only to Broadmeadow, but it's only a 5-10 min trip on the normal Newcastle trains from Broadmeadow to Newcastle if that's where you really need to go.