South Brisbane railway station is a heritage-listed
railway station
Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a prep ...
at 133 Grey Street,
South Brisbane
South Brisbane is an inner southern Suburbs and localities (Australia), suburb in the City of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. In the , South Brisbane had a population of 7,196 people.
Geography
The suburb is on the southern bank of the Brisba ...
,
City of Brisbane
The City of Brisbane is a local government area (LGA) which comprises the inner portion of the metropolitan area of Brisbane, the capital of Queensland, Australia. Its governing body is the Brisbane City Council. Unlike LGAs in the other mainlan ...
,
Queensland
)
, nickname = Sunshine State
, image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg
, map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia
, subdivision_type = Country
, subdivision_name = Australia
, established_title = Before federation
, establishe ...
, Australia. It is one of two stations serving the
South Brisbane
South Brisbane is an inner southern Suburbs and localities (Australia), suburb in the City of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. In the , South Brisbane had a population of 7,196 people.
Geography
The suburb is on the southern bank of the Brisba ...
area, the other being
South Bank. It was built from 1891 to 1918, making it the second oldest railway station in central
Brisbane
Brisbane ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Queensland, and the third-most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of approximately 2.6 million. Brisbane lies at the centre of the South ...
. It is also known as Cultural Centre Station, Melbourne Street Station, and South Brisbane (Interstate) Station. It was added to the
Queensland Heritage Register
The Queensland Heritage Register is a heritage register, a statutory list of places in Queensland, Australia that are protected by Queensland legislation, the Queensland Heritage Act 1992. It is maintained by the Queensland Heritage Council. A ...
on 21 October 1992.
Services
South Brisbane station is served by
Beenleigh
Beenleigh is a town and suburb in the City of Logan, Queensland, Australia. In the , the suburb of Beenleigh had a population of 8,252 people.
A government survey for the new town was conducted in 1866. The town is the terminus for the Beenl ...
,
Cleveland
Cleveland ( ), officially the City of Cleveland, is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located in the northeastern part of the state, it is situated along the southern shore of Lake Erie, across the U.S. ...
and
Gold Coast
Gold Coast may refer to:
Places Africa
* Gold Coast (region), in West Africa, which was made up of the following colonies, before being established as the independent nation of Ghana:
** Portuguese Gold Coast (Portuguese, 1482–1642)
** Dutch G ...
railway lines.
Services by platform
Transport links
Adjacent to the station lies the
Cultural Centre busway station
Cultural Centre busway station is located in Brisbane, Australia serving the South Bank precinct. It is located directly south of Victoria Bridge and close to South Brisbane railway station.
The station takes its name from its location within ...
that is served by
Brisbane Transport
Transport for Brisbane, previously called Brisbane Transport'','' is an organisational division of the Brisbane City Council, responsible through its related Council Committee for providing policy and advice to Brisbane City Council, and for de ...
services.
Adjacent attractions
The station is very convenient to the
Queensland Cultural Centre
The Queensland Cultural Centre is a heritage-listed cultural centre at Grey Street, South Brisbane, City of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. It is part of the South Bank precinct on the Brisbane River. It was built from 1976.
The major compon ...
, including the
Queensland Museum
The Queensland Museum is the state museum of Queensland, dedicated to natural history, cultural heritage, science and human achievement. The museum currently operates from its headquarters and general museum in South Brisbane with specialist m ...
, the
Queensland Performing Arts Centre, and the
State Library
A national library is established by the government of a nation to serve as the pre-eminent repository of information for that country. Unlike public libraries, they rarely allow citizens to borrow books. Often, they include numerous rare, valuab ...
.
The station is also very conveniently located to the
Queensland Conservatorium
Queensland Conservatorium Griffith University (formerly the Queensland Conservatorium of Music) is a selective, audition based music school located in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia, and is part of Griffith University.
History
The Conservatori ...
and
Suncorp Piazza
The South Bank Piazza is a multipurpose venue located in the South Bank Parklands in Brisbane, Australia. The Courier-Mail was the naming rights sponsor of the venue from 2013, prior to which it was known as the Suncorp Piazza and is currently ...
, which are both situated within the
South Bank Parklands
The South Bank Parklands are located at South Bank within the suburb of South Brisbane in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. The parkland, on the transformed site of Brisbane's World Expo 88, was officially opened to the public on 20 June 1992.
...
.
History
The first station was constructed in 1884 on the corner of Melbourne and Grey Streets and opened as
Melbourne Street railway station.
[
The second and current building was constructed on higher ground in 1891 as the terminus for the new rail extension from Boggo Junction (now ]Dutton Park railway station
Dutton Park railway station is located on the Beenleigh line in Queensland, Australia. It serves the Brisbane suburb of Dutton Park. The station is one of the oldest on the network.
To the west of the station lies the NSW North Coast dual ...
). This line bypassed the Woolloongabba railyards and made redundant the Stanley Street railway station that existed from 1882 to 1884. The £77,585 contract was let to Murphy & Company on 2 April 1890, and the line was completed by them on 7 December 1891.
A£5,658 contract for erecting the new passenger station, to be known as South Brisbane railway station, was let to Henry Pears on 22 June 1891. It was the second masonry station to be erected in Brisbane
Brisbane ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Queensland, and the third-most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of approximately 2.6 million. Brisbane lies at the centre of the South ...
after Roma Street railway station
Roma Street railway station is located in the Brisbane central business district, Queensland, Australia. It is the junction station for the North Coast, Main, Gold Coast and NSW North Coast lines. The station is one of four inner city stat ...
(opening 1875) and pre-dating Central railway station (opening in 1901) by a decade.
Passenger services commenced on 21 December 1891, although the station building had not been completed. For this reason there was no accompanying opening ceremony. When the building opened shortly afterwards it included a temperance refreshment room, and served commuters on the South Coast, Cleveland
Cleveland ( ), officially the City of Cleveland, is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located in the northeastern part of the state, it is situated along the southern shore of Lake Erie, across the U.S. ...
and Beaudesert lines.
South Brisbane station was intended as a temporary terminus, pending an extension of the line across the river, so only two platforms were constructed. However, after the 1893 flood washed away the Albert Bridge over the Brisbane River at Indooroopilly
Indooroopilly is a riverside suburb 7km west of the Brisbane CBD, Queensland, Australia. In the , Indooroopilly had a population of 12,242 people.
Geography
Indooroopilly is bounded to the south and south-east by the median of the Brisbane Ri ...
, the South Brisbane station served as the principal terminus for all southern and western rail services for the next two and a half years.
A 1912–1913 proposal to expand South Brisbane station to a six platform station reflected the increasing importance of the southern rail network, both as a passenger service and as a goods line. This work was undertaken between 1914 and 1918. To handle the increased traffic a turntable
A phonograph, in its later forms also called a gramophone (as a trademark since 1887, as a generic name in the UK since 1910) or since the 1940s called a record player, or more recently a turntable, is a device for the mechanical and analogu ...
was constructed in 1916, which was expanded to in 1925. This was removed with the change-over to diesel engines in 1968.
In September 1930, the Southern Brisbane Interstate station opened to the west of the existing station on the site of the present Brisbane Convention & Exhibition Centre
Brisbane Convention & Exhibition Centre (BCEC) is a convention centre in Brisbane, Australia. It is located in South Brisbane and occupies most of the block formed by Grey Street, Melbourne Street, Merivale Street, and Glenelg Street. The centr ...
, when the standard gauge New South Wales North Coast line was extended from Kyogle
Kyogle () is a town in the Northern Rivers region of northern New South Wales, Australia. It falls within the local government area of Kyogle Council. At the 2016 census, Kyogle had a population of 2,751 people. Kyogle is known as a "gateway" ...
.[ It was the terminus for the '']Brisbane Limited
The Brisbane Limited was an Australian passenger train operated by the New South Wales Government Railways between Sydney and Brisbane from 1888 until February 1990.
History
The Brisbane Limited originally operated from Sydney via the Main ...
''.
On 18 November 1978, the narrow-gauge line was extended, via the Merivale Bridge
The Merivale Bridge is a double track railway bridge crossing the Brisbane River. It crosses the Milton Reach of the river, slightly to the west of the William Jolly Bridge. Exclusively a railway crossing, it is located between the stations of ...
from South Brisbane station into Roma Street station on the opposite side of the Brisbane River. As the interstate station at South Brisbane was to be demolished to make way for the World Expo 88
World Expo 88, also known as Expo 88, was a specialised Expo held in Brisbane, the state capital of Queensland, Australia, during a six-month period between Saturday, 30 April 1988 and Sunday, 30 October 1988, inclusive. The theme of the Expo wa ...
site, the standard gauge services were extended to the Brisbane Transit Centre, an extension of Roma Street station, on 21 June 1986, making the Transit Centre the interstate terminal.
Since two of the island platforms at South Brisbane were removed to accommodate the cross-river line, the South Brisbane station was reduced to its two original two platforms. However, in 1995, as part of the construction of the Gold Coast line, the standard gauge line was converted to dual gauge and Platform 3 which had been out of use since November 1978, was recommissioned.
From 31 October 2011, the station was closed for seven weeks for major structural works and raising the platforms.South Brisbane Station Upgrade
Queensland Rail Trains still travelled through South Brisbane during that period but did not stop.
Description
The station is a long, two-storeyed brick building with a hipped corrugated-iron roof. The Grey Street frontage is dominated by a central projecting 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 pedim ...
ed entrance. Either side of the entrance are sloping corrugated-iron street awnings, which are supported by cast-iron
Cast iron is a class of iron–carbon alloys with a carbon content more than 2%. Its usefulness derives from its relatively low melting temperature. The alloy constituents affect its color when fractured: white cast iron has carbide impuriti ...
columns
A column or pillar in architecture and structural engineering is a structural element that transmits, through compression, the weight of the structure above to other structural elements below. In other words, a column is a compression membe ...
with Corinthian Corinthian or Corinthians may refer to:
*Several Pauline epistles, books of the New Testament of the Bible:
**First Epistle to the Corinthians
**Second Epistle to the Corinthians
**Third Epistle to the Corinthians (Orthodox)
*A demonym relating to ...
capitals and large 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 ' ...
.[
]
Other Renaissance stylistic elements to the street facade include: Romanesque windows on the upper floor, rendered string courses and window mouldings, pilasters with Corinthian capitals, and a solid rendered parapet
A parapet is a barrier that is an extension of the wall at the edge of a roof, terrace, balcony, walkway or other structure. The word comes ultimately from the Italian ''parapetto'' (''parare'' 'to cover/defend' and ''petto'' 'chest/breast'). ...
.[
A former garden park in front of the Grey Street entrance is now a car park/loading bay.][
At the rear of the station building are the platforms, which were constructed level with the upper floor of the main building, in anticipation of the river extension. The awning to No 1 platform retains a tank roof on a steel frame, with cast-iron columns and brackets and a decorative timber ]frieze
In architecture, the frieze is the wide central section part of an entablature and may be plain in the Ionic or Doric order, or decorated with bas-reliefs. Paterae are also usually used to decorate friezes. Even when neither columns nor ...
(1891). No 2 platform has a cantilever
A cantilever is a rigid structural element that extends horizontally and is supported at only one end. Typically it extends from a flat vertical surface such as a wall, to which it must be firmly attached. Like other structural elements, a cant ...
ed butterfly roof (bullnose
Bullnose is a term used in building construction for rounded convex trim, particularly in masonry and ceramic tile.
Uses
Bullnose trim is used to provide a smooth, rounded edge for countertops, staircasesteps, building corners, verandahs, or ...
d until recent re-roofing), which is supported by lattice
Lattice may refer to:
Arts and design
* Latticework, an ornamental criss-crossed framework, an arrangement of crossing laths or other thin strips of material
* Lattice (music), an organized grid model of pitch ratios
* Lattice (pastry), an orna ...
iron girder
A girder () is a support beam used in construction. It is the main horizontal support of a structure which supports smaller beams. Girders often have an I-beam cross section composed of two load-bearing ''flanges'' separated by a stabilizing ...
s (.[
On both platforms the furniture consists of a considerable number of early cast-iron framed seats which incorporate the QR logo. Many of these were collected from other Brisbane metropolitan stations for the Expo '88 refurbishment, and have remained.][
As preparation for Expo '88 the external brickwork and cast iron was restored, the roof was replaced, and all the exterior brickwork except for the upper level front facade was painted an uncharacteristic pink or peach. Interior renovations included false ceilings, a new staircase for office staff, and repainting.][
The main building at the South Brisbane Railway Station remains substantially intact, despite interior alteration, but the turntable, two island platforms, and the front park and garden have been removed.][
]
Heritage listing
South Brisbane Railway Station was listed on the Queensland Heritage Register
The Queensland Heritage Register is a heritage register, a statutory list of places in Queensland, Australia that are protected by Queensland legislation, the Queensland Heritage Act 1992. It is maintained by the Queensland Heritage Council. A ...
on 21 October 1992 having satisfied the following criteria.[
The place is important in demonstrating the evolution or pattern of Queensland's history.
The South Brisbane Railway Station, erected in 1891, is significant historically as a reflection of the importance of South Brisbane as a commercial centre in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, and as a major terminal in the southeast Queensland regional rail network until 1986.][
The place demonstrates rare, uncommon or endangered aspects of Queensland's cultural heritage.
It is a substantially intact masonry railway station complete with early platform furniture, one of only three erected in Brisbane by 1901, and a good example of its type.][
The place is important in demonstrating the principal characteristics of a particular class of cultural places.
It is a substantially intact masonry railway station complete with early platform furniture, one of only three erected in Brisbane by 1901, and a good example of its type.][
The place is important because of its aesthetic significance.
The place is significant also for its aesthetic contribution to the South Brisbane townscape.][
]
References
Attribution
External links
Brisbane South Brisbane station
Queensland Rail
South Brisbane station
Queensland's Railways on the Internet
Track layout
SA Track & Signal
{{Queensland Rail railway stations, Beenleigh=y, Cleveland=y, Gold Coast=y, state=collapsed
Queensland Heritage Register
Railway stations in Brisbane
Railway stations in Australia opened in 1884
South Brisbane, Queensland
Listed railway stations in Australia
Articles incorporating text from the Queensland Heritage Register