Croydon railway station

Croydon railway station, is on the Main Suburban railway line of the Sydney Trains network. It serves the suburb of Croydon. The station has 5 platforms, connected to a small overhead concourse with exits onto The Strand and Hennessy St. The station is mostly wheelchair accessible but ungated.

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

History
The Main Western line to Parramatta (Granville) was originally completed in 1855. The line opened on 26 September 1855 and was double track from Sydney to Newtown and then single track to Parramatta (but duplicated in 1856).

Croydon Station was opened as Five Dock on 7 January 1875 and renamed Croydon in August 1876. In 1880 a new waiting shed and ticket office were erected, the platforms were lengthened and a cottage erected for the Porter-in-Charge. In 1883 a vertically curved footbridge was erected at the Sydney end of Platforms, near Edwin Street.

In 1890 a mortuary shed was provided at the Sydney end and the south side, together with a post office. The main station building was on the Up or northern platform against a cutting, the remains of this building can still be seen today. The waiting shed on the Down platform was 24m west of Edwin Street and had a post office immediately behind this shed. A footbridge was built at the western end of the platforms and connected to Meta Street by a ramp and to the land on the southern side by steps.

The present station buildings and layout are associated with the quadruplication of 1892 for which an island platform with two side platforms were built to serve both "fast" and "slow" pairs of tracks. In 1892 the two additional tracks for the quadruplication were laid on the south side of the station, the contract being awarded to John Ahern for the building of the western footbridge and the new Meta Street overbridge. The Edwin Street level crossing was closed and the post office relocated on the eastern side of the new island platform. A pedestrian subway was built at the eastern end of the station in 1892 when the adjacent level crossing was closed. This subway was closed after 1980.

The line was sextuplicated through Croydon in 1926-7, followed by electrification works: the local and suburban lines in 1928 and the main lines in 1955. Two additional lines were built on the southern side and the old Up "fast" platform was demolished and the post office relocated outside railway land. (Remnants remained of the footbridge and stairs leading up to this platform until they were demolished as part of the station upgrade in 2017.) In 1926, the waiting room for Platform 3/4 was shifted to Platform 5 and a new building built on Platform 3/4. An overhead booking office was also constructed in 1928. In the 1930s a new building was erected on Platforms 2/3. In 1933, the station building along the Hennessy Street platform was removed. The waiting room on Platform 1/2 was constructed in 1941. In 1947-48 an overhead parcels office was constructed and a bookstall incorporated within the booking hall.

The parcels office was removed from the overhead booking office in 1980. The station underwent upgrade works in 1994-95 including the removal of a section of footbridge, the shifting of the booking office to its current location, and new platform canopies.

In 2015, work commenced to on build a new footbridge and lifts. Work was completed by October 2017.

Platforms and Services
The station has two island platforms (1-2, 3-4) and one side platform (5). Platform 1 faces the Down Main track (there is no platform on the Up Main) and is rarely used. Platforms 2 and 3 face the Suburban pair of tracks and are only used during trackwork. Platforms 4 and 5 face the Local pair of tracks and are served by all-stops and some peak limited stops T2 services. Only platforms 3-5 are wheelchair accessible.