Unanderra railway station

Unanderra
Platforms in June 2023, after access upgrade
General information
Location	Central Road, Unanderra New South Wales Australia
Coordinates	34°27′17″S 150°50′45″E / 34.4548°S 150.8459°E / -34.4548; 150.8459
Elevation	14 metres (46 ft)
Owned by	Transport Asset Holding Entity
Operated by	NSW TrainLink
Line(s)	South Coast railway line
Distance	88.273 km (54.850 mi) from Central[1]
Platforms	2 (island), 132 and 139 metres (433 and 456 ft)[1]
Train operators	NSW TrainLink
Bus operators	Premier Illawarra
Construction
Structure type	At-grade
Parking	Yes
Accessible	Yes
Other information
Status	Weekdays: Staffed: 5.35am-8.30pm Weekends and public holidays: Unstaffed
Website	Transport for NSW
History
Opened	9 November 1887[2]
Electrified	24 January 1993[3]
Passengers
2023[5]	189,870 (year) 520 (daily)[4] (Sydney Trains, NSW TrainLink)
Services
Preceding station NSW TrainLink Following station Kembla Grange Weekends & race days only towards Kiama South Coast Line Coniston towards Central or Bondi Junction Dapto towards Kiama
Location
Unanderra Location within New South Wales

Unanderra railway station is located on the South Coast railway line in the Wollongong suburb of Unanderra, New South Wales, Australia.

History

The first railway in the district was a privately operated track between Mount Kembla and Port Kembla, opened in 1882 to bring coal to port. In 1912, the NSW Government Railways assumed control of the line east of Unanderra. The government railway from Clifton to North Kiama opened in 1887 and included a single-platform Unanderra Station complete with weatherboard platform building and stationmaster's residence.^[6]

Premier George Fuller turned the first sod for the Illawarra Mountain Railway – now known as the Unanderra–Moss Vale line – at Unanderra on 26 June 1925. Fuller, whose family owned much of the Shellharbour district (indeed, Dunmore was named for his father's birthplace), took a keen interest in the development of the railways in his native Illawarra region. Despite costs doubling to £3 million, the line opened in August 1932, channelling freight traffic from the Southern Tablelands and Riverina regions through Unanderra and on to Port Kembla. To accommodate the increased traffic, the line was expanded to three tracks through the town, and the station became an island platform.^[7]

Between 1983 and 1988, electrical masts were installed along a section of the Moss Vale line near Unanderra in preparation for the subsequently cancelled Maldon–Dombarton rail link. For further history see Unanderra–Moss Vale railway line. The line through Unanderra was electrified in 1993.

In 2009, the NSW Government announced that it would install lifts at Unanderra Station at a cost of $11.4 million. The project stalled the following year after it was discovered that the plans had been approved without a proper utilities search at the site: water, gas and signal cables would need to be relocated to accommodate the lift shafts, at an additional cost of $5 million. By that stage, the platform building had been replaced and the platforms resurfaced. Following a change of government in 2011, the project was cancelled in favour of accessibility projects at Albion Park, Dapto and Gerringong; and a new station at Flinders. In response to criticism from the Opposition, the new transport minister simply noted that "unfortunately, commitments made by Labor when in government did not come to fruition."^[8] The absence of a lift has received significant local media coverage since that time.

Electronic ticketing, in the form of the Opal smartcard system, arrived at the station in 2014.^[9]

The lift access upgrade was finally completed in June 2023, which involved construction of a new footbridge and a lift to the island platform, linked by a lift at each side entrance to the station.^[10]

• 
  Western Entrance
• 
  Eastern Entrance

Platforms and services

Unanderra has one island platform with two side faces. It is serviced by NSW TrainLink South Coast line services travelling between Sydney Central, Bondi Junction and Kiama.^[11] Unlike other New South Wales stations, Platform 2 is for Sydney bound services, with trains normally operating on the right-hand side of the platform rather than the left. Platform 1 is on the western side while Platform 2 is on the eastern side.

Transport links

Premier Illawarra operates seven bus routes via Unanderra station, under contract to Transport for NSW:

• 31: Wollongong to Horsley^[12]
• 33: Wollongong to Dapto^[13]
• 35: to Wollongong^[14]
• 36: Wollongong to Kembla Heights^[15]
• 37: Wollongong Beach to Wollongong station via Oak Flats & Shellharbour anti-clockwise loop^[16]
• 41: Dapto to University of Wollongong^[17]
• 57: Wollongong station to Wollongong Beach via Shellharbour & Oak Flats clockwise loop^[18]

References

External links

• Media related to Unanderra railway station at Wikimedia Commons
• Unanderra station details Transport for New South Wales