Shellharbour Junction railway station facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Shellharbour Junction
Location	Piper Drive, Dunmore New South Wales Australia
Coordinates	34°35′30″S 150°50′46″E / 34.591550°S 150.846216°E / -34.591550; 150.846216
Owned by	Transport Asset Holding Entity
Line(s)	South Coast
Distance	108.887 km (67.659 mi) from Central
Platforms	2 side, 174 metres (571 ft)
Train operators	NSW TrainLink
Bus operators	Premier Illawarra
Construction
Structure type	At-grade
Parking	105 spaces
Bicycle facilities	Bike racks
Disabled access	Easy Access
Other information
Website	Transport for NSW
History
Opened	9 November 1887
Rebuilt	22 November 2014
Electrified	17 November 2001
Previous names	Dunmore Dunmore (Shellharbour) Flinders Shell Cove Shellharbour
Traffic
Passengers (2015)	10,616 (Q1 only)
Rank	280th of 307
Services
Preceding station NSW TrainLink Following station Minnamurra toward Kiama South Coast Line Oak Flats toward Bondi Junction

Shellharbour Junction railway station is a train station in Dunmore, New South Wales, Australia. It is part of the Illawarra railway line. Trains from this station are run by NSW TrainLink.

You can catch trains heading south to Kiama. Other trains go north to Wollongong and Sydney. A bus service, run by Premier Illawarra, connects the station to the town of Shellharbour.

Station History: From Dunmore to Shellharbour

Historical photo of Shellharbour station

The Shellharbour area first used ships to travel to Wollongong and Sydney. This changed when the South Coast railway line was built. It reached Wollongong in 1887 and Sydney the next year.

Dunmore Station Opens (1887)

Dunmore Station opened in 1887. It was part of the line that went from Wollongong to North Kiama. The station had one platform and a wooden building. There was also a brick house for the stationmaster.

People from nearby Shellharbour used this station. Farmers and a stone quarry also used it to send goods. More quarry traffic meant a special track for goods was added in 1923. A signal box was built two years later. The station was also updated around this time.

Adding a Second Platform (1940)

In 1940, a second platform was added. It was called "platform 1". Later in the 20th century, fewer goods were sent by train. The special goods track was removed in 1970. The old station buildings are still there today. They are near where Dunmore Road meets the railway line.

A Funny Story About the Station Name

Dunmore (Shellharbour) station in the 2010s

A book called All aboard!: Tales of Australian railways shares a story. It's about David Hill, who used to be in charge of the State Rail Authority. In the mid-1980s, he visited Dunmore Station. On maps, it was called "Shellharbour".

The story says David Hill found himself surrounded by cow fields. There were a few houses across the road. He knew this couldn't be the town of Shellharbour. He couldn't even see the ocean!

A 16-year-old station assistant was there to collect tickets. David asked him, "This clearly isn't Shellharbour Township." The kid replied, "No mate, this is Dunmore." He didn't know who David Hill was!

David then asked, "Well, where's Shellharbour?" The kid pointed up the road. He said it was "about four or five kilometres away." David wondered why the station wasn't built closer to the town. The kid looked at him like he was a bit silly. He said, "No mate, it's much better down here near the railway line."

This visit reportedly led to the station signs and maps being changed. They then read "Dunmore (Shellharbour)".

Building a New Station Site

New suburbs like Shell Cove and Flinders grew quickly. Because of this, RailCorp started planning in 2003. They wanted to move Dunmore's railway station further north.

New Station Plans and Names

In 2011, the project was announced as "Flinders Station". This was by Matt Brown, who was the local member of parliament. His replacement, Gareth Ward, announced the project again in 2012. Construction then began with a budget of $39 million.

In 2013, Ward said the name would be Shell Cove. But it turned out the station couldn't be called Shell Cove or Flinders. This was because it was actually located in Dunmore. Transport for NSW asked for the station to be named Shellharbour Junction instead. This name was approved.

The project also made the Dunmore passing loop longer. It now stretches 1.8 kilometres north to the new station site.

Opening the New Station (2014)

The new Shellharbour Junction station opened on 22 November 2014. Trains stopped going to the old Dunmore Station the day before. The old station was then fenced off. A decision about its future use is still pending.

The new station quickly became popular. In the first three months of 2015, 10,616 passenger journeys were recorded. This was almost as many as the old Dunmore Station had in its last full year of operation.

Platforms and Train Services

Shellharbour Junction station has two platforms.

• Platform 1: Trains here go north towards Sydney Central and Bondi Junction.
• Platform 2: Trains here go south towards Kiama.

Connecting Transport Links

Premier Illawarra runs one bus route that connects to Shellharbour Junction station:

• Route 52: This bus goes to Flinders.