Loftus is a suburb, in

southern Sydney Southern Sydney is the southern metropolitan area of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Southern Sydney includes the suburbs in the local government areas of Georges River Council and part of Bayside Council (collectively known ...

, in the state of

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

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 ...

. Loftus is 29 kilometres south of the

Sydney central business district The Sydney central business district (CBD) is the historical and main Central business district, commercial centre of Sydney. The CBD is Sydney's city centre, or Sydney City, and the two terms are used interchangeably. Colloquially, the CBD or c ...

, in the

local government area A local government area (LGA) is an administrative division of a country that a local government is responsible for. The size of an LGA varies by country but it is generally a subdivision of a State (administrative division), state, province, divi ...

of the

Sutherland Shire Sutherland Shire is a local government area in the southern region of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Sutherland Shire comprises an area of and as at the had an estimated population of . Sutherland Shire is colloquially ...

History

Loftus was named after Lord Augustus William Frederick Spencer Loftus, governor of New South Wales between 1878 and 1885. The Illawarra railway line to Sutherland was completed in 1885. The next station south was Loftus Junction, which opened on 9 March 1886. The name was changed to Loftus ten years later and in 1979 the station moved to the present site. The

Sydney Tramway Museum The Sydney Tramway Museum (operated by the South Pacific Electric Railway) is Australia's oldest tramway museum and the largest in the southern hemisphere. It is located at Loftus, New South Wales, Loftus in the southern suburbs of Sydney. Hist ...

at Loftus (a non-profit community organisation run entirely by volunteers) was created in 1950, in a large tram yard shed beside the rail tracks that ran across the Princes Highway into the Royal National Park. During the latter years of

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 ...

this had been an army camp site, with the national park used as a training ground. The public school opened in January 1953. The official post office opened in July 1953 but closed in 1980.

Heritage listings

Loftus has a number of heritage-listed sites, including: * Illawarra railway:

Loftus Junction railway signal box The Loftus Junction railway signal box is a heritage-listed disused railway signal box on the Illawarra line at Loftus in the Sutherland Shire local government area of New South Wales, Australia. It was built during 1886. The property is own ...

Population

In the 2016 Census, there were 4,135 people in Loftus. 86.1% of people were born in Australia. The next most common country of birth was England at 3.3%. 92.3% of people spoke only English at home. The most common responses for religion were Catholic 29.5%, No Religion 26.3% and Anglican 23.0%.

Geography

Loftus is a residential suburb with a bushland atmosphere, adjacent to the

Royal National Park The Royal National Park is a protected national park that is located in Sutherland Shire in the Australian state of New South Wales, just south of Sydney. The national park is about south of the Sydney central business district near the local ...

that flanks Sydney's south-eastern boundary. The western border is formed by Loftus and Fahy Creeks. Prince Edward Park and Woronora Cemetery form the northern border.

Transport

The

Princes Highway Princes Highway is a major road in Australia, extending from Sydney via Melbourne to Adelaide through the states of New South Wales, Victoria (Australia), Victoria and South Australia. It has a length of (along Highway 1) or via the former ...

runs along the eastern border.

Loftus railway station Loftus, previously ''Lofthouse'', was a railway station on the Whitby, Redcar and Middlesbrough Union Railway. It was opened on 1 April 1875 as the terminus of a line from Saltburn, and served the town of Loftus. When the line to Whitby was o ...

is on the

Sydney Trains Sydney Trains is the operator of the suburban passenger rail network serving the city of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. The network is a hybrid urban- suburban rail system with a central underground core that covers over of track and 170 ...

Illawarra line The South Coast Railway (also known as the Illawarra Railway) is a commuter and goods railway line from Sydney to Wollongong and Bomaderry in New South Wales, Australia. Beginning at the Illawarra Junction, the line services the Illawarra a ...

and serves as an interchange for

Transdev NSW Transdev NSW is a bus operator in the northern, southern and western suburbs of Sydney, Australia, operating on behalf of Transport for NSW. It is a subsidiary of Transdev Australasia. It is a different subsidiary to Transdev John Holland, whi ...

bus services to the area. Loftus is also home to the

(also known as the South Pacific Electric Railway), which operates the Royal National Park branch line that was constructed in 1886 and closed to suburban trains in June 1991. The service provided by the museum is a most popular means of access to the Royal National Park."National Park Line" ''Railway Digest'' May 1992 p. 194 The line runs from the museum to

Royal National Park railway station Royal National Park railway station is located in Audley, New South Wales and services travellers to the Royal National Park. It is the terminus of the Royal National Park railway line, formerly part of the Sydney commuter rail network and now ...

Schools

Loftus Public School is located in National Avenue. The Southern Sydney Institute of

TAFE Technical and further education or simply TAFE (), is the common name in English-speaking countries in Oceania for vocational education, as a subset of tertiary education. TAFE institutions provide a wide range of predominantly vocational cours ...

, Loftus Campus and the University of Wollongong, Loftus Campus are located next to the railway station. Camp Wonawong is a youth camp located beside Loftus Creek.

Services

Loftus Rural Fire Service
is situated opposite Loftus train station and protects the bush interface of Loftus, Yarrawarrah, Sutherland, Jannali, Como and the Royal National Park. Luke’s Pet Services

Sport and recreation

Loftus has various social and sporting clubs which include: *Loftus Yarrawarrah Rovers Football Club *Loftus Zircons Netball Club *1st Loftus Scouts *West Shire Combined Venturer Unit * Loftus Underground Organisation (LUGOS) * Loftus Bandits * Pit Masters *Grommies *Sutherland Loftus United (Rugby League)

Notable residents

Adam Hills Adam Christopher Hills (born 10 July 1970) is an Australian comedian, radio and television presenter. In Australia, he hosted the music quiz show '' Spicks and Specks'' from 2005 to 2011, and again in 2021 onwards, and the talk show ''Adam Hi ...

, comedian * Warren Brown, cartoonist

References

{{Sydney Sutherland suburbs Suburbs of Sydney Sutherland Shire