Rhodes railway station

Rhodes is a railway station on the Main Northern railway line of the Sydney Trains network. It serves the suburb of Rhodes, and parts of Liberty Grove. It is served by Sydney Trains suburban T9 Northern Line services.

Rhodes is staffed from 6:00am to 10:00pm on weekdays, and 6:00am to 7:00pm on weekends and public holidays.

History
The Strathfield to Hornsby section of the Northern line was opened for traffic on 17 September 1886. It was then a single track line. The approved plans for the opening of the line between Strathfield and Hornsby included platforms at Rhodes however, no arrangements had been made to bring them into service by the day of the opening. The precise date of their completion cannot be ascertained, but they were included in the timetable dated 5 April 1887. A single brick-faced platform was provided on the Down side of the single line near the present day location at the time of opening.

The line between Strathfield and Hornsby was duplicated in March 1892. With duplication, a new Up platform was provided at Rhodes, opposite the existing Down platform.

Safeworking and interlocking came to Rhodes in October 1909 and a signal box was built on the Up platform. In 1912, the Down relief road was extended from Concord West passing behind the Down main platform, but no platform was provided for the relief line. A footbridge was added in 1915 to span all tracks and allow access to the platforms via steps.

Electrification and automatic signalling was extended to Rhodes in 1928 and a platform was added to serve the Down relief line, in effect creating an island platform for the down lines.

Rhodes developed into a predominately industrial area, being the base for railway locomotive manufacturer Tulloch. A number of mill and industrial sidings, serving various undertakings were laid near Rhodes railway station over the years.

To the north of the station, the line crosses the Parramatta River via the John Whitton Bridge. This opened in May 1980 replacing the original iron lattice bridge.

Beginning in the 1990s with the gated village/suburb of Liberty Grove (the luxury suburb opened in 1998) the area was redeveloped. It now includes residential apartments, commercial offices and the Rhodes Waterside shopping centre. In the 2000s, Rhodes station underwent a major redevelopment. This major rebuilding of the station included the installation of new lifts and a covered concourse area. Both platforms were re-built using modern materials. The industrial sidings which were part of the Rhodes station arrangement were placed out of use and removed some years ago.

In June 2015, a southbound loop opened to the south of the station as part of the Northern Sydney Freight Corridor project.

Configuration
Station entry is from Walker Street and Blaxland Road, with stairs and lifts available on both sides. These connect to a covered concourse area above the tracks, with two more sets of stairs and lifts to access the platforms. Located within walking distance of the station is Rhodes Waterside Shopping Centre.

The station consists of one side (1) and one island platform (2 and 3). Platforms 1 and 2 face the Up/Down Main North tracks, while platform 3 faces the Down Relief. There are crossovers to the south of the station allowing trains to terminate at Rhodes.

Services
Rhodes is served by Sydney Trains T9 Northern Line services. Trains from the City occasionally terminate on platform 3 during trackwork.