Arncliffe railway station

Arncliffe railway station is on the Eastern Suburbs and Illawarra Line of the Sydney Trains network. It serves the suburb of Arncliffe. Station entry is accessed through two entrances on Firth Street and Arncliffe Street, both consisting of stairs and lifts to access the footbridge. The footbridge also has another two sets of stairs and lift for customers to access the platforms.

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

History
Arncliffe station opened on 15 October 1884 on the same date as the Illawarra line from Redfern to Hurstville with two side platforms. Arncliffe Station was designed as the first major station on the Illawarra Line southwards from Sydney and was one of the most substantial stations of the eight built in 1884, reflecting the importance of the locality.

The station, originally known as the Illawarra Road Station, was built by Alfred McNeill and William Clark and designed by the office of the New South Wales Government Railways. Like Sydenham railway station completed in the same year, Arncliffe was constructed with two wayside platforms: the eastern platform contained a 3rd class brick station building, while the western platform contained an impressive 2nd class brick station building having a street frontage.

In 1906, the northbound platform was converted to an island with a new northbound track. The former northbound track (current Platform 2) became the southbound track, with the former southbound platform (current Platform 3) disused until converted to an island platform in 1923 as part of the quadriplication of the Illawarra line from Wolli Creek to Rockdale. A footbridge and small overhead booking office were also constructed as part of the works.

In 1909 the Arncliffe-Bexley steam tram began operation, and a tramway siding was added. The Station was originally a wayside station with a matching platform but was converted to its present configuration with the addition of new tracks. In 1923 the line was quadruplicated, and as part of the works an arched brick overbridge was built over Forest Road, which is now the largest single span arched overbridge of the entire railway system.

In preparation for quadruplication, the original footbridge and overhead booking office were demolished and replaced by a new footbridge in 1919. With construction of the new footbridge, the southern wing of the Platform 1/2 building was demolished. In 1923, the existing Platform 3/4 building was converted to an island platform. As such, the Platform 3/4 building underwent major alterations including new platform awnings constructed on both sides; floor levels raised; and new door and window openings and joinery. A 60-metre tunnel length existed to the south of the station, but was opened out and a bridge to carry Forest Road built in 1923. A new larger timber overhead booking office was constructed in 1925, and the line through the station to Hurstville was electrified in 1926. The Arncliffe-Bexley tram line closed in 1926.

A 1943 Lands Department aerial photo of the station shows the station in its current configuration, including shrub plantings on the platforms.

In April 2015, work to install four new lifts at Arncliffe station commenced. This was completed in September 2016. In May 2015, work commenced on the construction of a pedestrian tunnel below the Illawarra line 300 metres north of the station. The upgraded station opened in October 2016.

Platforms and Services
Arncliffe is primarily serviced by trains to and from Waterfall every 30 minutes, but may occasionally run Cronulla services during trackwork between Central and Sydenham. In instances where T4 Illawarra Line trains bypass Wolli Creek due to trackwork on the main tracks, all trains stop at Arncliffe instead to allow for interchange with trackwork buses between Arncliffe, Wolli Creek and Sydenham.

In peak periods, Arncliffe is serviced by all-stations trains to and from Hurstville.