Canterbury railway station is a heritage-listed railway station located on the Bankstown line at Canterbury, New South Wales, Australia. The station was designed by New South Wales Government Railways and built from 1895 to 1915 by J. J. Scouller. It is also known as Canterbury Railway Station group. The property was added to the New South Wales State Heritage Register on 2 April 1999.

History

thumb|Canterbury railway station in the early 20th century.

Bankstown line

Canterbury is located on the Bankstown railway line which was opened as far as Belmore on 1 February 1895 the same date on which the station was opened. The line had its origins in Railway Commissioner Goodchap's 1882 recommendation that an additional line was needed between Newtown and Liverpool to relieve traffic on the Southern Line and to encourage agriculture and suburban settlement. Lobbying by local interest groups and land speculators achieved Parliamentary approval by 1890 and construction commenced in 1892. The most important stations on the line, Belmore, Canterbury and Marrickville, were built with impressive near-identical brick buildings, the other intermediate stations (Campsie, Dulwich Hill and Hurlstone Park) receiving more modest timber buildings (later replaced), possibly reflecting economies of the depression of the 1890s. The depression suppressed the profitability of the line and the extension to Liverpool did not proceed. However, suburban development followed in the early twentieth century, particularly during the interwar period when many war service homes were built west of Canterbury. The line was extended to Bankstown in 1909 (and then to Regents Park in 1928, making it part of a loop line through Lidcombe), its justification by then being the servicing of suburban development.

Canterbury signal box was commissioned on 13 December 1915 as part of the resignalling and track alterations of Canterbury station in preparation for the opening of the new Metropolitan Goods Line from Lidcombe via Enfield Marshalling Yards to Rozelle, in April 1916. The signal box was constructed with a mechanical interlocking lever frame using 68 of the 72 possible lever positions, which controlled the operation of signals and points in a set sequence.

  • 428X: Canterbury to Martin Place (limited stop, peak hour only)
  • 487: Canterbury to Bankstown Central
  • Departing from Canterbury Road stop:
  • 445: Campsie to Balmain
  • 491: Five Dock to Hurstville
  • Canterbury station is served by one NightRide route:
  • N40: East Hills station to Town Hall station

Heritage listing

As at 18 November 2010, Canterbury Railway Station possesses historical significance as it is a station on the Sydenham to Bankstown Line which was constructed to relieve congestion on the Main South Line as well as to encourage suburban development and the growth of agriculture in the late 19th and early 20th century. The main platform building represents the period of transition from the boom time of the 1880s to the standardisation of NSW railway building design from the 1890s onwards.