Albion Park railway station

Albion Park
NSW TrainLink intercity train station
Dapto · Oak Flats
Albion Park Station
Location Princes Highway, Albion Park Rail
New South Wales
Australia
Coordinates 34°33′48″S 150°47′57″E / 34.5633°S 150.7991°E / -34.5633; 150.7991Coordinates: 34°33′48″S 150°47′57″E / 34.5633°S 150.7991°E / -34.5633; 150.7991
Owned by RailCorp
Operated by NSW TrainLink
Line(s) South Coast
Distance 103.341 km from Central[1]
Platforms 2 side (212 and 196 metres)[1]
Train operators NSW TrainLink
Bus operators
Connections Coach
Construction
Structure type At-grade
Parking Yes
Bicycle facilities Bike racks
Disabled access Easy Access
Architectural style Late Victorian[3]
Other information
Website Sydney Trains
History
Opened 9 November 1887[4]
Electrified 17 November 2001[5]
Previous names Oak Flats[4]
Traffic
Passengers (2014) 85,333[6]
Rank 220th of 307[7]

Albion Park is a railway station located in Albion Park Rail, New South Wales, Australia, on the South Coast railway line.

History

The station in 1940

Engineers choosing the alignment for the Illawarra railway line in the 1880s sought the shallow grades required by the steam locomotives of the time. As a result, when a route through the Municipality of Shellharbour was chosen, it was some way from the two major towns, Albion Park and Shellharbour. The future Albion Park Station opened as "Oak Flats" on 9 November 1887. At the same time, an "Albion Park" station opened three kilometres to the north. The following year, "Albion Park" was renamed Yallah and "Oak Flats" became Albion Park. (An Oak Flats station opened in 1890. Yallah Station closed in 1974.)[8][3]

As a centre for the pastoral and dairy industries, the station precinct grew, gaining a signal box and goods yard in 1890, and a dairy factory and associated siding in 1913.[3] As the closest point on the railway to Albion Park, the area around the station grew into a small town in its own right and was named Albion Park Rail in 1921[3] – one of three localities in NSW to be named in this way (the others are Eungai Rail on the Mid-North Coast and Warialda Rail in New England).

In 2001, the line from Dapto to Kiama was electrified. A second platform, with awning and waiting shed, was constructed to provide a crossing point for trains and increase the line's capacity. In 2013, the pedestrian level crossing between the two platforms was modified to meet wheelchair access requirements.[3]

Platforms and services

The platform building is weatherboard with a gabled corrugated-steel roof, decorative timber valances and two brick chimneys. The building was one of the last to be built before the design for such structures was standardised – one of the reasons for its heritage significance.[3]

The station serves NSW TrainLink trains travelling south to Kiama and north to Wollongong and Sydney.[9] Premier Illawarra operates connecting bus services from the station to Oak Flats, Shellharbour and Wollongong. Under contract to NSW TrainLink, Roadcoach operates a connecting coach service to meet Canberra Xplorer trains at Moss Vale Station.[10][11]

References

  1. 1 2 Asset Standards Authority (30 April 2015). "Train Operating Conditions (TOC) Manual – Track Diagrams (version 3.0)" (PDF).
  2. "New NSW TrainLink Rural Coach Service Contracts". Australian Bus (68). March 2015. p. 20.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Office of Environment & Heritage (15 June 2011). "Albion Park railway station group".
  4. 1 2 Bozier, Rolfe. "NSWrail.net: Albion Park Station".
  5. "Electrifying news". South Coast Register. 20 November 2001.
  6. Bureau of Transport Statistics (March 2015). "Summary of train journeys (official patronage figures)".
  7. Bureau of Transport Statistics (November 2012). Compendium of Sydney Rail Travel Statistics, 8th Edition.
  8. Bozier, Rolfe. "NSWrail.net: Yallah Station".
  9. Sydney Trains (October 2014). "South Coast Line – Bomaderry or Port Kembla to Central and Bondi Junction".
  10. "New NSW TrainLink Rural Coach Service Contracts". Australian Bus (68). March 2015. p. 20.
  11. NSW TrainLink. "Things to do in Canberra".

External links

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