Kiama is a heritage-listed
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
Kiama, New South Wales
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 ...
,
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 ...
diesel multiple unit
A diesel multiple unit or DMU is a multiple-unit train powered by on-board diesel engines. A DMU requires no separate locomotive, as the engines are incorporated into one or more of the carriages. Diesel-powered single-unit railcars are also ...
trains traveling south to and
electric multiple unit
An electric multiple unit or EMU is a multiple-unit train consisting of self-propelled carriages using electricity as the motive power. An EMU requires no separate locomotive, as electric traction motors are incorporated within one or a numbe ...
trains north to 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 ...
. Early morning and late night services to and from stations to the south are provided by train replacement bus services.
[ It was added to the ]New South Wales State Heritage Register
The New South Wales State Heritage Register, also known as NSW State Heritage Register, is a heritage list of places in the state of New South Wales, Australia, that are protected by New South Wales legislation, generally covered by the Heritag ...
on 2 April 1999.
History
As a seaside town, Kiama was initially reliant on coastal shipping for its links to Wollongong and Sydney. The railway first arrived in the Kiama district in November 1887, with the opening of a new station at (since renamed Bombo), on the town's northern outskirts. The terminus was only a temporary arrangement, however: the NSW Government Railways had already signed contracts to further extend the railway south the previous year. Kiama was the northernmost station on that extension, built by firm of W. Monie & J. Angus between 1886 and 1893. The new station opened in June 1893.
Kiama was built as a passenger station and combined signal box on an island platform in the centre of the town. The goods yard was also opened and a locomotive sub-depot south of the station. From the timber footbridge, an elaborate landing and covered stair led down to the platform and the brick station was the first example of its type, the design of which was used at many stations built over the next 30 years. The design of the footbridge and stairs (plans dated 1892) were signed by Henry Deane. The line remains a single track with a crossing loop at the station.[
The Kiama Railway Station yard was originally huge, extending from Terralong Street at the north end to Barney Street to the south. NSW Railways plans dated 1925 for "Station Arrangements" show (from north to south): a cottage south of Terralong Street; platform extensions and removal of a lamp room from the platform; retaining walls; a cream loading platform on the east side of the yard, east of the platform; tanks under the Bong Bong Street overbridge and a rest house southeast of the overbridge; a cattle yards and weighbridge southeast of the overbridge; and further south, stock yards and an engine shed and turntable (west of rail lines); a goods shed with platform and loading stage, and east of these, another rest house. At the far southern end of the yard, on the south-eastern side, was the Station Master's residence and the Dairy Farmers Co-operative Milk Company building (just north of the Barney Street overbridge).][
Structures that have since disappeared include the footbridge and stairs, the Station Master's residence, the Bong Bong Street overbridge, the goods shed and the engine shed. A Dairy Farmers Co-Op siding and a N.S.W. Produce Company siding opened in 1947 are also no longer used. Ash pits are shown in the 1925 plan of the station arrangements, north of the turntable: one within the (no longer extant) engine shed and one north of the engine shed.][
Electric trains began operating on the line from ]Dapto
Dapto is a suburb of Wollongong in the Illawarra region of New South Wales, Australia, located on the western side of Lake Illawarra and covering an area 7.15 square kilometres in size. As at the , the suburb had a population of 10,730.
History
...
to Kiama in November 2001, but the line to the south has remained as non-electrified single track. Since 2001, northbound trains from Bomaderry terminate at Kiama, requiring passengers to change to electric multiple unit
An electric multiple unit or EMU is a multiple-unit train consisting of self-propelled carriages using electricity as the motive power. An EMU requires no separate locomotive, as electric traction motors are incorporated within one or a numbe ...
services heading north. In 2005, the then Minister for Transport
A ministry of transport or transportation is a ministry responsible for transportation within a country. It usually is administered by the ''minister for transport''. The term is also sometimes applied to the departments or other government ag ...
, John Watkins, announced that electrification would be extended to the terminus at Bomaderry at an unspecified future date, but the proposal did not progress.
Kiama Station was upgraded to be wheelchair-accessible in 2005, with a lift to the platform completed with a concrete footbridge link to Eddy Street and concrete stairs.[ In 2014, electronic ticketing in the form of the Opal smart card became available at the station. Planning is currently underway to extend the platforms by about 8 metres to accommodate 10 car D sets.
]
Platforms & services
Kiama has one island platform with two faces. It is serviced by 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 ...
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 . T ...
electric services from 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 ...
and diesel multiple unit services from Bomaderry
Bomaderry (locally known as "Bommo") is a town in the Shoalhaven council district area of New South Wales, Australia. At the , it had a population of 8,718 people. It is on the north shore of the Shoalhaven River, across the river from Nowra, the ...
. Services to Sydney Central & Bomaderry usually depart from platform 2, while platform 1 is used for terminating services.
Transport links
Premier Illawarra operates one route via Kiama station:
*71: Stockland Shellharbour to Kiama Hospital
Kiama Coaches operate two routes via Kiama Station:
*125: to Seven Mile Beach via Gerringong
Gerringong () is a town located about ten minutes drive south of Kiama, and about twenty minutes north of Nowra in the Illawarra region of New South Wales, Australia in the Municipality of Kiama. At the , Gerringong had a population of 3,966. O ...
& Gerroa
Gerroa is a coastal town in the Municipality of Kiama, in the Illawarra region of New South Wales, Australia 133 kilometres south of Sydney. It is considered to be the southernmost town in the Illawarra region. Nearby towns are Gerringon ...
*126: to Minnamurra
Minnamurra is a suburb in the Illawarra region of New South Wales, Australia, in the Municipality of Kiama. It has a station (opened 1891) on City Rail South Coast line. The Minnamurra River flows into the ocean at Minnamurra. There is a sa ...
Falls via Jamberoo
Jamberoo is a village on the South Coast of New South Wales, Australia in the Municipality of Kiama. It is approximately 11.3 km inland from Kiama. At the , Jamberoo had a population of 1,667. The town's name is derived from an Aboriginal ...
Description
The station complex includes the platform building and island platform (1893), turntable (1897), Bong Bong Street overbridge ( 1990 and footbridge (2005).[
;Platform building (1893)
This is a single storey painted brick building (painted in heritage colors: brick color for walls; drab for stucco reveals to windows and doors; manilla for window frames and doors) with a gabled corrugated steel roof with timber tongue & grooved boarding to ]gable
A gable is the generally triangular portion of a wall between the edges of intersecting roof pitches. The shape of the gable and how it is detailed depends on the structural system used, which reflects climate, material availability, and aesth ...
ends. The building has timber framed double hung windows with 9 paned top sashes
Sashes Island is an island in the River Thames in England at Cookham Lock near Cookham, Berkshire. It is now open farmland, but has Roman and Anglo-Saxon connections.
The island is located between Hedsor Water and the present navigation cha ...
with colored glass panes to top sashes and frosted glass to bottom sashes. The majority of doors are timber paneled, and there are some timber paneled double doors, all with multipaned fanlight
A fanlight is a form of lunette window, often semicircular or semi-elliptical in shape, with glazing bars or tracery sets radiating out like an open fan. It is placed over another window or a doorway, and is sometimes hinged to a transom. Th ...
s (some fanlights covered over). Door and window openings have elaborate sandstone
Sandstone is a clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate grains. Sandstones comprise about 20–25% of all sedimentary rocks.
Most sandstone is composed of quartz or feldspar (both silicates) ...
reveals and triangular pediment
Pediments are gables, usually of a triangular shape.
Pediments are placed above the horizontal structure of the lintel, or entablature, if supported by columns. Pediments can contain an overdoor and are usually topped by hood moulds.
A pedimen ...
s. The awnings
An awning or overhang is a secondary covering attached to the exterior wall of a building. It is typically composed of canvas woven of Acrylic fiber, acrylic, cotton or polyester yarn, or vinyl laminated to polyester fabric that is stretched tig ...
on both sides of the building have corrugated steel skillion roofs and elaborate decorative steel awning
An awning or overhang is a secondary covering attached to the exterior wall of a building. It is typically composed of canvas woven of acrylic, cotton or polyester yarn, or vinyl laminated to polyester fabric that is stretched tightly over a lig ...
brackets
A bracket is either of two tall fore- or back-facing punctuation marks commonly used to isolate a segment of text or data from its surroundings. Typically deployed in symmetric pairs, an individual bracket may be identified as a 'left' or 'r ...
, mounted on sandstone wall brackets.[
There is a small ]weatherboard
Clapboard (), also called bevel siding, lap siding, and weatherboard, with regional variation in the definition of these terms, is wooden siding of a building in the form of horizontal boards, often overlapping.
''Clapboard'' in modern Americ ...
addition to the south end of the main platform building which has 4 early stop chamfered timber posts at each corner, indicating that this is a weatherboard infill structure within an originally open awning structure. There are modern security screens to windows, and some modern timber flush doors. There is a brick screen wall to the north end of building to screen the entry to men's toilets.[
Internally, the waiting area has modern floor tiling, and modern ticket windows, timber panelled double doors both sides with frosted glass 8 paned fanlights, a later ceiling with timber ]batten
A batten is most commonly a strip of solid material, historically wood but can also be of plastic, metal, or fiberglass. Battens are variously used in construction, sailing, and other fields.
In the lighting industry, battens refer to linea ...
s, and later timber veneer panelling to around 2m height internally to the waiting room. Offices also have later ceilings and later timber veneer panelling to around 2m height (indicating possible presence of rising damp).[
;Platform (1893)
The island platform generally has a concrete face but its face is open at the northern end. The platform surface is asphalt.][
;Turntable (1897) and ash pits
A turntable located southeast of the southern end of Eddy Street. The turntable is a sunken circular brick edged structure with a single rail on timber sleepers running around the inside, and a cast iron turntable machine in the centre of the circle marked "William Sellers & Co. Philadelphia No. 1327". The brick edging of the turntable has a soldier course capping, but is otherwise in stretcher bond.][
Two rectangular ash pits were reportedly located to the north of the turntable, one of which was formerly within the now no longer extant engine shed. These were described in an earlier study and on historic plans, but were not confirmed to be extant at the time of the station's heritage listing.][
;Footbridge (2005)
A modern concrete, steel and glass structure with lift and ]stairs
Stairs are a structure designed to bridge a large vertical distance between lower and higher levels by dividing it into smaller vertical distances. This is achieved as a diagonal series of horizontal platforms called steps which enable passage ...
to platform, also modern canopy connecting platform building to the footbridge.[
;Bong Bong Street Overbridge ( 2005)
A modern concrete road overbridge with concrete ]piers Piers may refer to:
* Pier, a raised structure over a body of water
* Pier (architecture), an architectural support
* Piers (name), a given name and surname (including lists of people with the name)
* Piers baronets, two titles, in the baronetages ...
, located south of the footbridge. Excluded from listing.[
;Landscape/natural features
There are views from the Station footbridge and platform to the southeast to the ocean and Norfolk Island pine plantings along the Kiama ocean frontage respectively.][
;Condition
The platform building and island platform were in good condition at the time of the heritage listing, with the modern footbridge and overbridge in very good condition. The condition of the turntable was unknown, and it was unclear if the ash pits were still extant.][
The platform and platform building are intact except for minor additions (modern platform canopies). The yard structures at Kiama (with the exception of the turntable and possibly the ash pits) have been removed.][
]
Heritage listing
Kiama Railway Station group - including the platform, platform building, turntable and ash pits - are of State heritage significance. Kiama Railway Station is of historical significance as the first railway station on this section of the Bankstown Line completed in 1893 from Central to Lidcombe and for its role as a transport hub for the town of Kiama since 1893. The turntable and ash pits are remnant structures from a once substantial yard layout which served the dairying and pastoral industries. The Kiama Railway Station 1893 platform building is of aesthetic significance as the first example of an island platform building that became the model for the standard plans for this building type, known as A8-A10, issued by the NSW Railways in 1899. The building has particularly fine detailing to platform facades and awnings. The Kiama turntable is rare (one of only 3 turntables now extant on the Illawarra line - Bomaderry, Waterfall and Kiama) and of technical significance.[
Kiama railway station was listed on the ]New South Wales State Heritage Register
The New South Wales State Heritage Register, also known as NSW State Heritage Register, is a heritage list of places in the state of New South Wales, Australia, that are protected by New South Wales legislation, generally covered by the Heritag ...
on 2 April 1999 having satisfied the following criteria.[
The place is important in demonstrating the course, or pattern, of cultural or natural history in New South Wales.
Kiama Railway Station is of historical significance as the first railway station on this section of the Illawarra line completed in 1893 from Bombo to Bomaderry, and for its role as a transport hub for the town of Kiama since 1893. The yard remains are remnant structures from a once substantial yard layout which served the dairying and pastoral industries.][
The place is important in demonstrating aesthetic characteristics and/or a high degree of creative or technical achievement in New South Wales.
The Kiama Railway Station's 1893 platform building is of esthetic significance as the first example of an island platform building that became the model for the standard A8-A10 plans issued in 1899. The building has particularly fine detailing to platform facades and awnings. The turntable is of technical significance as evidence of late 19th century railway technology.][
The place has strong or special association with a particular community or cultural group in New South Wales for social, cultural or spiritual reasons.
The place has the potential to contribute to the local community's sense of place, and can provide a connection to the local community's past.][
The place possesses uncommon, rare or endangered aspects of the cultural or natural history of New South Wales.
The Kiama turntable is rare (one of only 3 turntables now extant on the Illawarra line - Bomaderry, Waterfall and Kiama).][
The place is important in demonstrating the principal characteristics of a class of cultural or natural places/environments in New South Wales.
The Kiama Railway Station platform building is considered a fine representative platform building of the design later known as A8-A10, predating the issue of the standard designs in 1899, and forming a model for platform buildings of this design.][
]
References
Attribution
External links
*
Kiama station details
Transport for New South Wales
{{Transport for New South Wales railway stations, South Coast=y, state=collapsed
Easy Access railway stations in New South Wales
Railway stations in Australia opened in 1893
Regional railway stations in New South Wales
New South Wales State Heritage Register