Gerringong railway station

Gerringong is a single-platform intercity train station located in Gerringong, New South Wales, Australia, on the South Coast railway line. The station serves NSW TrainLink diesel multiple unit trains travelling south to Bomaderry and north to Kiama.[4] Early morning and late night services to the station are provided by train replacement bus services.[4] In the past, the station precinct also catered to freight trains carrying dairy products.[5]

Gerringong
Location	Belinda Street, Gerringong New South Wales Australia
Coordinates	34.7451°S 150.8172°E / -34.7451; 150.8172
Owned by	Transport Asset Holding Entity
Operated by	NSW TrainLink
Line(s)	South Coast
Distance	128.560 km from Central[1]
Platforms	1, 80 metres[1]
Train operators	NSW TrainLink
Construction
Structure type	At-grade
Parking	Yes
Bicycle facilities	Yes
Disabled access	Easy Access
Architectural style	Inter-war functionalism
Other information
Website	Transport for NSW
History
Opened	2 June 1893[2]
Traffic
Passengers (2013)	50 (daily)[3] (Sydney Trains, NSW TrainLink)
Rank	264
Services
Preceding station   NSW TrainLink   Following station Berry towards Bomaderry South Coast Line Kiama towards Bondi Junction

History

The NSW Government Railways opened its South Coast Line extension, from Bombo to Bomaderry, on 2 June 1893. The town was initially served by both the main Gerringong Station and a smaller, unmanned stop called Omega, two kilometres to the north.[6] The timing was fortuitous: the district's main link to Sydney, the jetty at Boat Harbour, had been destroyed in a storm two years previously. The arrival of the railway marked the end of coastal shipping to Gerringong after close to half a century of service.[7]

The Gerringong district was home to a highly productive dairy industry. The opening of the railway dramatically improved local producers' access to the lucrative Sydney market, so the then Gerringong Co-Operative Dairy Society moved its operations to a site neighbouring the station in 1908. The factory's rail siding was extended in 1936.[5]

On the night of 18 August 1941, lightning struck wiring leading to Gerringong's weatherboard station building, setting it alight. A report in the local Kiama Reporter says that 150 townsfolk gathered at the scene, and a firehose was run from the adjacent factory to fight the blaze, but the building was lost – only the brick chimney and an iron safe remained. "The train from Sydney ... was held up for about twenty minutes on account of the fire," the Reporter recorded.[8] A new brick station building was built in its place in 1942 in the functionalist style; it remains on the site in modified form today.[9][10]

Over time, freight declined in importance for the railway, and cost pressures led to the closure of low-patronage stations across the network.[11] By 1986, the Omega railway station had closed, and in 1991 the dairy co-op abandoned its siding in favour of road transport.[5][12]

Operations

The South Coast Line south of Kiama is non-electrified single track. Since 2001, northbound trains from Gerringong terminate at Kiama, requiring passengers to change to electric multiple unit services to Wollongong and Sydney. In 2005, then Minister for Transport John Watkins announced that electrification would be extended to the terminus at Bomaderry at an unspecified future date, but the proposal did not progress.[13]

Gerringong Station was upgraded to be wheelchair-accessible in 2012.[14] In 2014, electronic ticketing in the form of the Opal smart card became available at the station.[15]

Platforms & services

Gerringong has one platform. It is serviced by NSW TrainLink South Coast line services travelling between Kiama and Bomaderry.[4]

Platform	Line	Stopping pattern	Notes
1	SCO	services to Kiama & Bomaderry	[4]

References

1. Asset Standards Authority (30 April 2015). "Train Operating Conditions (TOC) Manual – Track Diagrams (version 3.0)" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 23 September 2015. Retrieved 19 August 2015.
2. Bozier, Rolfe. "NSWrail.net: Gerringong Station".
3. Bureau of Transport Statistics. "Train Statistics 2014" (PDF). Transport NSW. Retrieved 15 July 2018.
4. "South Coast line timetable". Transport for NSW.
5. Office of Environment & Heritage (16 September 2013). "NSW heritage register: Gerringong Railway Dairy Siding Remains". Retrieved 16 August 2015.
6. Bozier, Rolfe. "NSWrail.net: Omega Platform".
7. "Gerringong history". Archived from the original on 11 September 2004.
8. "Gerringong sensation. Railway station struck by lightning. Building burnt to ground". The Kiama Reporter and Illawarra Journal. 20 August 1941.
9. "Railway station at Gerringong". The Kiama Reporter and Illawarra Journal. 17 June 1942.
10. Singleton, C. C. (1984). Railway history in Illawarra New South Wales. Wollongong: Illawarra Historical Society.
11. Longworth, Jim (November 2004). "A changing network: the historical context of lines and closures" (PDF).
12. Free State Rail Timetable: Sydney – Wollongong – Moss Vale – Nowra. Sydney: State Rail Authority. June 1986.
13. "Govt announces Kiama-Bomaderry rail electrification". ABC News. 1 July 2005.
14. Transport for New South Wales. "Transport Access Program – completed works". Archived from the original on 11 February 2014.
15. Opal card available on all Sydney trains by next Friday Sydney Morning Herald 20 March 2014

External links

• Media related to Gerringong railway station at Wikimedia Commons
• Gerringong station details Transport for New South Wales