Wondabyne railway station is a heritage-listed railway station and request stop located on the Main Northern line in New South Wales, Australia. It serves the southern Central Coast area known as Wondabyne and opened on 1 May 1889.[3] It is the only station in Australia that does not have road access.[4]
Wondabyne station is mainly used by trail goers on the Great North Walk and the homeowners who live on the other side of Mullet Creek which is a tributary of the Hawkesbury River. It a favoured spot of trainspotters.[5] The area has a quarry that is used intermittently and several houses which can only be accessed by boat from a jetty next to the station.
History
Wondabyne station was constructed with the Hawkesbury River Railway Bridge.[4] Between 1888 and 1897, before the bridge opened, and after Woy Woy Tunnel was opened, railway traffic took a ferry from a temporary dead end at Mullet Creek, 400 metres north of Wondabyne station.
The station was originally opened as Mullet Creek Junction, after the nearby creek,[6] as the station was built for its development of the quarry. It was renamed Hawkesbury Cabin in 1890 and finally Wondabyne on 15 January 1891 after Mt. Wondabyne close to the railway station across the bay.
Wondabyne was also renowned for its maritime transport industry.[7] Along its creek are squatter houses which housed fishermen; the area is still used for recreational fishing. Wondabyne was once a busy area and had a pub called The Centennial, which closed in 1891 shortly after the Hawkesbury River Railway Bridge was opened. There were also steamboat services, which took passengers from Wondabyne station along the Hawkesbury River to Brooklyn.
In April 1939, Wondabyne station was relocated to the current site.[8]
View south from the level crossing
Platform 1
Platform 2
Platforms and services
Wondabyne has two side platforms and despite the station's short length – less than one carriage long – it is fully equipped with an Opal card reader,[4] announcements of approaching trains, security cameras, printed timetables and other posters relevant to the railways such as safety messaging. The platforms are classified as SP1r (Alight from last car's rear door upon request).
This station is one example of train stations that uses selective door operation due to trains only stopping at this station on request.
^Thorpe, Will (21 May 2024). "Onlookers dazzled by newfangled iron horse". Honi Soit. Archived from the original on 14 October 2024. Retrieved 21 May 2024. Trainspotting can be a solitary activity, comparable to taking a bushwalk. However, it is also social. Trainspotters venture out in groups, or run into one another waiting for the same train. Railway enthusiasts form groups around our hobby; the Facebook group for the Sydney Electric Train Society is a quintessential example. There are a plethora of YouTube channels based in Sydney alone to which enthusiasts young and old share their sightings, sometimes to thousands of subscribers. Trainspotters have our locations of choice; one of the most remarkable is Wondabyne station on the Central Coast. Otherwise, we might just prefer our local station.
^Portnoy, Alex (10 April 2006) [4 April 2006]. "History of Wondabyne". peninsula.news. No. 139. Archived from the original on 14 October 2024. Retrieved 14 July 2024.
^"HMS - ViewItem". www.hms.heritage.nsw.gov.au. Retrieved 14 July 2024.
