Homebush railway station

Homebush is a station on the Main Suburban railway line of the Sydney Trains network, serving the Sydney suburb of the same name. There is a fully accessible footbridge connecting all the platforms to entrances on The Crescent and Loftus Crescent.

Homebush is staffed from 6:00am to 7:00pm on weekdays, and 8:00am to 4:00pm on weekends and public holidays.

History
Homebush station opened on 26 September 1855 when the Main Suburban line opened from Sydney to Parramatta. In 1862 a new station building was erected on the southern side and in the 1870s stockyards were erected adjacent to the station (the station servicing the nearby NSW Government abattoirs at Homebush). The stockyards were closed and replaced by Flemington stockyards in 1883.

In 1891, with quadruplication, Homebush station was completely rebuilt resulting in the present station layout being established with a centre island platform opening in late 1891. The station comprised large platform buildings, an overhead pedestrian footbridge with a booking office and an existing 1880s Station Master's Residence on the north side of the station. The station was expanded to six platforms when the line between Redfern and Homebush was sextupled in the 1920s.

The existing three-storey brick signal box was built in 1892 and remained in use until 1928 when its function was replaced by a new "power" box. The 1928 signal box remained in use until 1982 when it was replaced by a simple brick and concrete building. The 1892 signal box is now the only remaining box at the station of the five built since the station opened.

For many years Homebush was the terminating point for local suburban services on the Western line. A carriage shed was built at Homebush in 1890 located to the east of Homebush Road which connected to one of a number of sidings built at the station during this period. The carriage shed was later used as a store then training and education facilities until it was demolished in 2001.

In 1891 a locomotive depot and locomotive watering facilities were also constructed near the carriage shed. By the late 1920s the depot was largely redundant and was ultimately demolished c. 1929.

Numerous smaller buildings were also constructed at Homebush such as a telephone exchange, storage sheds, amenities buildings and a track ganger's shed. All have been demolished.

The station also featured a garden nursery, a single storey building built in 1923 along the eastern frontage of The Crescent which was established so that other stations could be provided with a range of shrubs and flower plants to improve their landscaped appearance. Railway station gardens were created statewide from c.1890 onwards. Competitions and prizes sprang up and two nurseries (Homebush and Hamilton, near Newcastle) were opened to provide plants, in addition to those sourced from staff home gardens. Changing practices both in nursery supplies and the station gardens promotions saw the nursery close in 1974 and its staff of gardeners disbanded.

Due to increased goods train traffic, two goods lines were built on the north side of the station in 1924 converting the side platform into an island. The footbridge was also extended over the new tracks and a two-storey office built abutting the footbridge on its western side. These changes resulted in the demolition of the 1880 station master's Residence.

On 7 January 2009, Tangara T Set T1 passed a signal at danger and was derailed by catch points just west of platform 6. The cause was found to be a crossread error by the driver. The leading car, D6106, was taken out of service and replaced by D6148. D6106 was stripped for spare parts at Maintrain (UGL Unipart) at Auburn, before later being reconstructed. D6106 was reinstated as of 2014.

As part of the Rail Clearways program, the track arrangement was changed at Homebush. The Up Local (platform 6) was changed from a through track to a westbound turnback. The Down Local was extended through the station, with a new platform, numbered 7, built alongside it. This allowed westbound all stops services to terminate at Homebush, while allowing westbound limited stops services to continue through. The turnback was completed in 2011 and brought into regular use with the introduction of the 2013 timetable.

In March 2018, an upgraded Homebush station opened to customers. The station had received new lifts, improvements to station entrances, new canopies, lighting upgrades, CCTV surveillance, wayfinding signage and more. The upgrade was part of the Transport Access Program.

Platforms and Services
Homebush is served by Sydney Trains T2 services. Only all stations services stop, usually at a frequency of 4 trains per hour in each direction. Platforms 2-4 and 6 are occasionally used during trackwork. Platform 1 faces a freight line and so is fenced off and disused.