With recent changes made to the North Coast line southern limit of the Country Pensioner Excursion (CPE) boundary, it is now possible to travel from as far north as Tweed Heads right through to Dungog for just $2.50.
Once you’ve reached Dungog, you’re in the Opal area and can tap on and travel through to Sydney or anywhere in the Opal area for just another $2.50 using your Seniors Opal card (the yellow one) This brings the total cost of a journey from Tweed Heads, or anywhere in between to Sydney to just $5.
If you study the timetable below you’ll see that the best service to use is the service that departs Tweed Heads at 05:15. and arrives at Dungog at 16:38. Change at Dungog and you’ll have a 23-minute wait to connect with the 17:01 (Opal) service to Newcastle. Change again at Newcastle for the (Opal) service to Sydney.
The timetable below is for the Monday to Friday services. Please click on the timetable links for weekend and public holiday services.
| Depart Tweed Heads | 05:15 | 15:13 | North Coast Timetable | |
| Arrive Casino | 08:09 (X) | 18:39 (X) | ||
| Depart Casino | 08:20 | 19:30 | ||
| Depart Grafton | 05:15 | 09:53 | 20:58 | |
| Arrive Dungog | 12:06 (X) | 16:38 (X) | 03:25 (X) | Hunter Line Timetable |
| Depart Dungog | 15:26 | 17:01 | 06:48 | |
| Arrive Newcastle Interchange | 16:52 (X) | 18:30 (X) | 08:07 (X) | |
| Depart Newcastle Interchange | 17:24 | 18:34 | 08:24 | Sydney - Newcastle Timetable |
| Arrive Sydney Central (X) Change trains | 19:59 | 21:29 | 10:59 |
A week before departure, don’t forget to book your ticket to Dungog with NSWTrainLink. You can do this online.
Or call NSWTrainlink on 13 22 32. Before calling make sure you have your Seniors card and a credit or debt card ready to pay. The amount will come to $2.50. If you’re quoted a higher amount, assure the representative that you are after the Country Pensioner Excursion (CPE) fare.
Happy travelling.