Coniston railway station is a heritage-listed railway station located in

Coniston, New South Wales Coniston ( ), is a suburb of Wollongong in New South Wales, Australia. At the , it had a population of 2,267. Coniston is just north of the Port Kembla Steelworks and includes the Greenhouse Park, a one time waste pile converted into a natura ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

, on the South Coast railway line. The station serves

NSW TrainLink NSW TrainLink is a regional train and coach operator in Australia, providing services throughout New South Wales and into Australian Capital Territory, the Australian Capital Territory, Victoria (state), Victoria, Queensland and South Australia ...

trains travelling south to

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

Kiama Kiama may refer to: * Electoral district of Kiama, a seat in the New South Wales Legislative Assembly * Kiama, New South Wales, a town * Kiama (spider), a genus of spiders *Municipality of Kiama The Municipality of Kiama is a local government ar ...

and north to

Wollongong Wollongong ( ; Dharawal: ''Woolyungah'') 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 water' or 'sound ...

and

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

History

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 (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, with a dramatic increase in steel production prompting the Railways to duplicate the line from Wollongong to Cringila. The original 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 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 (), is a style of visual arts, architecture, and product design that first Art Deco in Paris, appeared in Paris in the 1910s just before World War I and flourished in the United States and Europe during the 1920 ...

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 and services

Coniston has two side platforms. It is serviced by

South Coast line The South Coast Line (SCO) is an Regional rail, intercity rail service 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, New South W ...

services travelling between Sydney Central,

Bondi Junction Bondi Junction is an Eastern Suburbs (Sydney), 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 in Australia, local governm ...

and

, as well as local services from

Waterfall A waterfall is any 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 seve ...

and

Thirroul Thirroul () is a northern seaside suburb of the city of Wollongong, New South Wales, Wollongong, Australia. Situated between Austinmer, New South Wales, Austinmer and Bulli, New South Wales, Bulli, it is approximately 13 kilometres north of Wo ...

Transport links

Premier Illawarra operates one bus route via Coniston station, under

contract A contract is an agreement that specifies certain legally enforceable rights and obligations pertaining to two or more parties. A contract typically involves consent to transfer of goods, services, money, or promise to transfer any of thos ...

Transport for NSW Transport for NSW (TfNSW) is a Government of New South Wales, New South Wales Government transport services and roads List of New South Wales government agencies, agency established on 1 November 2011. The agency is a different entity to the NSW ...

: *11:

University of Wollongong The University of Wollongong (UOW) is an Australian public university, public research university located in the coastal city of Wollongong, New South Wales, approximately south of Sydney. , the university had an enrolment of more than 33,000 s ...

Gallery

File:Coniston Railway station Platform 1 entrance.jpg, The functionalist 1941 platform buildings feature Art Deco-influenced "fins" on each end, January 2008 File:Coniston Railway station.jpg, Northbound view of the station platforms from Bridge Street, January 2008

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