Coniston is an

intercity train Inter-city rail services are express passenger train services that run services that connect cities over longer distances than commuter or regional trains. There is no precise definition of inter-city rail; its meaning may vary from country ...

station located in

Coniston, New South Wales Coniston ( ), is a suburb of Wollongong in New South Wales. At the , it had a population of 2,268. Coniston is just north of the Port Kembla Steelworks and includes the Greenhouse Park, a one time waste pile converted into a natural park area ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

, on the South Coast railway line. The station serves

NSW TrainLink NSW TrainLink is a train and coach operator in Australia, providing services throughout New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory, along with limited interstate services into Victoria, Queensland and South Australia. Its primary interc ...

trains travelling south to

Port Kembla A port is a maritime facility comprising one or more wharves or loading areas, where ships load and discharge cargo and passengers. Although usually situated on a sea coast or estuary, ports can also be found far inland, such as Ha ...

Kiama Kiama () is a coastal town 120 kilometres south of Sydney in the Illawarra. One of the main tourist attractions is the Kiama Blowhole. Kiama features several popular surfing beaches and caravan parks, and numerous alfresco cafes and restaurants ...

and north to

Wollongong Wollongong ( ), colloquially referred to as The Gong, is a city located in the Illawarra region of New South Wales, Australia. The name is believed to originate from the Dharawal language, meaning either 'five islands/clouds', 'ground near wate ...

and

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...

History

Coniston Railway station Platform 1 entrance

The district south of central Wollongong began to develop as an industrial area at the beginning of the 20th century. In 1916, the NSW Government Railways opened a branch line from the main South Coast line south of Wollongong to the new wharves at

. The branch's sole passenger station was Mount Drummond, but it closed in 1923, reopening as Coniston in 1925. A "Coniston Station Estate" surrounding the station, consisting of industrial and residential allotments, was subdivided in 1939. The branch line assumed increased significance with Australia's entry into

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, with a dramatic increase in steel production prompting the Railways to duplicate the line from Wollongong to

Cringila Cringila is a southern suburb of the city of Wollongong, New South Wales, Australia. The suburb is bounded by Berkeley, Unanderra, Lake Heights and Warrawong. The suburb is planned on a north-south residential/commercial strip and the east wes ...

. Coniston Station was demolished in 1941 and replaced with a new two-platform station at its present-day, main line location. The new station included three single-storey buildings: a ticket office at street level on Gladstone Avenue, and two identical platform buildings containing a waiting room and toilets. The buildings were constructed in the

functionalist style Functionalism may refer to: * Functionalism (architecture), the principle that architects should design a building based on the purpose of that building * Functionalism in international relations, a theory that arose during the inter-War period * ...

from dichromatic brick using iron oxide and clinker bricks with soldier courses. The platform buildings feature distinctive

Art Deco Art Deco, short for the French ''Arts Décoratifs'', and sometimes just called Deco, is a style of visual arts, architecture, and product design, that first appeared in France in the 1910s (just before World War I), and flourished in the Unite ...

style vertical 'fins' extending above the awnings at both ends. While all three buildings remain today, the exteriors have been painted over and the original internal fit-outs removed. The station is deemed to have local heritage significance.

Platforms & services

Coniston has two side platforms. It is serviced by

South Coast line The South Coast Line is an intercity rail service operated by NSW TrainLink that services the Illawarra region of New South Wales, Australia. The service runs from , and runs the entire length of the eponymous South Coast railway line to . Th ...

services travelling between Sydney Central,

Bondi Junction Bondi Junction is an eastern suburb of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. It is 6 kilometres east of the Sydney central business district and is part of the local government area of Waverley. Bondi Junction is a largely comme ...

and

, as well as local services from

Waterfall A waterfall is a point in a river or stream where water flows over a vertical drop or a series of steep drops. Waterfalls also occur where meltwater drops over the edge of a tabular iceberg or ice shelf. Waterfalls can be formed in several wa ...

and

Thirroul Thirroul () is a northern seaside suburb of the city of Wollongong, Australia. Situated between Austinmer and Bulli, it is approximately 13 kilometres north of Wollongong, and 73 km south of Sydney. It lies between the Pacific Ocean and ...

Transport links

Premier Illawarra operates one route via Coniston station: *11:

University of Wollongong The University of Wollongong (abbreviated as UOW) is an Australian public research university located in the coastal city of Wollongong, New South Wales, approximately 80 kilometres south of Sydney. As of 2017, the university had an enrolment of ...

References

External links

*
Coniston station details
Transport for New South Wales {{Transport for New South Wales railway stations, South Coast=y, state=collapsed Buildings and structures in Wollongong Railway stations in Australia opened in 1916 Railway stations in Australia opened in 1941 Regional railway stations in New South Wales