Wagga Wagga railway station is a

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 pre ...

open for passenger services on the

Main South line The Main South Line, sometimes referred to as part of the South Island Main Trunk Railway, is a railway line that runs north and south from Lyttelton in New Zealand through Christchurch and along the east coast of the South Island to Inverca ...

connecting

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

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

. It has been

heritage-listed This list is of heritage registers, inventories of cultural properties, natural and man-made, tangible and intangible, movable and immovable, that are deemed to be of sufficient heritage value to be separately identified and recorded. In many ...

, especially on account of its historical and architectural significance. A museum is on the premises. , two daily passenger trains in each direction served the City of

Wagga Wagga Wagga Wagga (; informally called Wagga) is a major regional city in the Riverina region of New South Wales, Australia. Straddling the Murrumbidgee River, with an urban population of more than 56,000 as of June 2018, Wagga Wagga is the state's la ...

History

In 1874, the Department of Public Works, Railway Branch, accepted a tender for extension of the Great Southern Railway from Goulburn to Wagga Wagga. The station opened in 1879 as "South Wagga Wagga", after the

was extended from

Bomen Bomen is a northern suburb of Wagga Wagga in southern New South Wales, Australia. The suburb is dominated by industrial enterprises including Cargill Beef, Watties, the Wagga Wagga Livestock Marketing Centre (saleyards). The suburb is also home ...

, to the north, serving as the terminus until the line was extended to

Gerogery Gerogery ( ) is a town established on Wiradjuri land in the Riverina region of the Australian state of New South Wales. The town is in the Greater Hume Shire local government area and on the Main South railway line between Sydney and Melbourne ...

in 1880. It was renamed "Wagga Wagga" in 1882. In 1917, Wagga Wagga became a junction station when the Tumbarumba line opened as far as

Humula Humula is a small country town between Tarcutta and Tumbarumba in New South Wales, Australia. Humula was once named "American Yards" or "American Fields" during the gold rush, where many Chinese came for gold years ago. At the 2016 census, Hu ...

; Tumbarumba was reached in 1921. Traffic on the branch dwindled in the late 20th century, and the last train on it ran in 1987.

Features

The station building, categorised as a

New South Wales Government Railways The New South Wales Government Railways (NSWGR) was the agency of the Government of New South Wales that administered rail transport in New South Wales, Australia, between 1855 and 1932. Management The agency was managed by a range of differe ...

Type 5 made of first-class brick, and a two-storey Type 4 brick stationmaster's residence, were completed in 1879. In 1917, a refreshment room was added for the journey to Albury. A footbridge from Station Place to Railway Street was completed in 1936. The station yard had a turntable, a tripod crane and extensive sidings, including to an offsite fuel depot and grain silos, but they were removed to leave only a passing loop and short stand-by loop in use. The station no longer ha
freight handling facilities

Passenger services

, Wagga Wagga was served by two daily

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 ...

XPT services in each direction operating between

and

. NSW TrainLink also operated road coach services to

Tumbarumba Tumbarumba ( ) is a small town in New South Wales, Australia, about southwest of the state capital, Sydney. Tumbarumba is located on the periphery of the Riverina and South West Slopes regions at the western edge of the Snowy Mountains. The s ...

Griffith Griffith may refer to: People * Griffith (name) * Griffith (surname) * Griffith (given name) Places Antarctica * Mount Griffith, Ross Dependency * Griffith Peak (Antarctica), Marie Byrd Land * Griffith Glacier, Marie Byrd Land * Griffith Rid ...

Echuca Echuca ( ) is a town on the banks of the Murray River and Campaspe River in Victoria, Australia. The border town of Moama is adjacent on the northern side of the Murray River in New South Wales. Echuca is the administrative centre and largest ...

, and to

Tumut Tumut () is a town in the Riverina region of New South Wales, Australia, situated on the banks of the Tumut River. Tumut sits on the north-west foothills of the Snowy Mountains and is located on the traditional lands of the Wiradjuri, Wolgalu ...

, a trial service .

Heritage listing

The property 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 ...

in 1999 as the "Wagga Wagga Railway Station and yard group". It was assessed as historically, architecturally, scientifically and socially rare, possessing uncommon, rare or endangered aspects of the cultural or natural history of New South Wales. Situated across the high end of Wagga Wagga's main thoroughfare, it was considered to be an important civic element of the city. The highly significant station building is unique in the New South Wales railway system. It was the first building to have been designed by notable engineer,

John Whitton John Whitton (1820, near Wakefield, Yorkshire, England – 20 February 1898), an Anglo–Australian railway engineer, was the Engineer-in-Charge for the New South Wales Government Railways, serving between 1856 and 1890, considered the Father of ...

. The station master's residence was assessed as of equal significance to the station building, adding to the completeness of the group with its location near the station entrance. Other buildings, excellent examples of their type, also reflect the importance of the location as a former junction.

References

Bibliography

* *

Attribution

External links

Wagga Wagga station details
Transport for New South Wales {{Transport for New South Wales railway stations, Southern Region=y, state=collapsed Easy Access railway stations in New South Wales Railway stations in Australia opened in 1879 Regional railway stations in New South Wales Wagga Wagga New South Wales State Heritage Register Museums in New South Wales Articles incorporating text from the New South Wales State Heritage Register

Main Southern railway line, New South Wales