Penrith railway station is a heritage-listed railway station located on the Main Western line in the western Sydney suburb of Penrith in the City of Penrith local government area of New South Wales, Australia. It was designed by New South Wales Government Railways and the 1863 building was built by M. and A. Jamison and D. Forest. It is also known as Penrith Railway Station group. The property was added to the New South Wales State Heritage Register on 2 April 1999.
The station is served by Sydney Trains T1 Western Line services and NSW TrainLink Blue Mountains Line, Central West XPT and Outback Xplorer services.
History
The single track line opened on 19 January 1863 as the terminus of the Main Western line when it was extended from St Marys. The line was extended to Springwood on 11 July 1867. The line was duplicated in 1886. As soon as the line was extended over the Blue Mountains, Penrith became an important railway centre where locomotives and crews were changed and passengers took refreshments. Trains were assisted in both directions from Penrith with additional locomotives but the status of Penrith locomotive depot diminished between 1913 and 1916 when new depots were opened at Valley Heights and Enfield. Penrith was closely associated with Driver John Heron and The Heron train was a daily commuter train to and from Sydney that was named after him.
The Platform 3 building dates from 1863. Additions were made in 1880 by contractor, F. Goodsell. In 1881 the original timber platform was replaced with an earth-filled structure. In 1895 the Railway Refreshment Room at the Sydney end was substantially expanded and further altered in 1906, 1917, 1929 and 1952, and closed in 1957. In 1901 a telegraph office was added. The posted verandah was replaced in 1955 with a cantilevered awning. Further upgrading took place in 1957, 1959, 1980 and 2003. Although many alterations have been made, there is a considerable amount of extant fabric both internally, externally and in the sub-floor area. In 2000, substantial alterations were made to the road elevation.
There is a dock platform behind Platform 3, which although raised in height, was also provided in 1863.
The Station Master's residence at Penrith was constructed in 1878. It was a common practice not to provide an official residence until an officer or a senior officer was appointed to the station. In this case, the residence was not provided until 15 years after the station opened. However, by this time, the station was very busy as locomotives were changed at Penrith and additional helper locomotives were added to trains crossing the Blue Mountains as well as pushing trains towards Sydney.
In the history of structures erected for the NSW Railways, buildings higher than one level were extremely rare. Out of a total of approximately 5,000 railway buildings in NSW, less than 50 were more than one level in height. This included offices, stations and residences. Penrith and Emu Plains became one of two locations where two-storey residences were built at adjoining stations. However, Penrith was built as a stand-alone residence, while Emu Plains was a combined office/residence building. The only other known metropolitan examples of standard two-storey residences were constructed at Lithgow, Newcastle and Lavender Bay demonstrating the importance of these locations as major terminus stations on the network.
Its symmetrical style and lack of adornments indicates a balance between an expression of status and financial restraint. They also reflect the railway residential style before 1880.
The Platform 1 & 2 building dates from c.1890. The building was partly converted to a Railway Refreshment Room in 1895, altered in 1917 and 1926, and closed in 1957. A new control room was added in 1989 and new meal room in 1990. The pitched roof was replaced with a flat roof but the 1890 posted verandah is extant. This was one of the last uses of posted verandahs on the NSW rail system.