History
In the early history of the New South Wales Railways, "Redfern" was the name of the principal Sydney terminus. It was located to the south of Devonshire Street and opened on 26 September 1855 in an area known as "Cleveland Fields." This original "Redfern" station comprised one wooden platform in a corrugated iron shed. As traffic increased the original station was replaced in 1874 by a brick building containing two platforms. This second station, which grew to 14 platforms, was designed for through traffic if the lines were extended in the city direction. This second station was found to be too far from the city centre, so a new station (the present Sydney Central Station) was built to the north of Devonshire Street and opened on 4 August 1906. The 1874 station was soon demolished.
A station was opened in 1876 1.3 km on the Parramatta side of the "original Redfern" and called 'Eveleigh'. In 1885 Eveleigh's platforms were reconstructed at the present Redfern site, and on 21 October 1906 this station was renamed Redfern.
Platforms 11 and 12, as well as the area containing the unfinished platforms (see below), were constructed in the late 1970s as part of the Eastern Suburbs Railway construction, which opened in 1979.
Until the early 1990s Redfern had an overhead footbridge at the Eveleigh end of the platforms, connecting all platforms 1-10 by stairs. This was demolished because the funds for its maintenance were not available. A single track underground tunnel for trains going to Eveleigh Maintenance Centre, known as the Engine Dive, runs under the above ground platforms. Various chimneys on the platforms (especially on platform 1) are evidence of this. The tunnel surfaces near the Eveleigh end of platform 10 and on the non-station side of the Lawson St bridge. The station is walking distance to the suburb of Waterloo known by its Govt Housing high rise buildings.
The present Redfern station was damaged by fire in the 2004 Redfern riots. The ticketing area and station master's office were significantly damaged - and the windows in the front of the station were bricked up for almost a year afterwards to prevent further attacks. They have since been replaced with glass windows.
Read more about this topic: Redfern Railway Station
Famous quotes containing the word history:
“the future is simply nothing at all. Nothing has happened to the present by becoming past except that fresh slices of existence have been added to the total history of the world. The past is thus as real as the present.”
—Charlie Dunbar Broad (1887–1971)
“In the history of the United States, there is no continuity at all. You can cut through it anywhere and nothing on this side of the cut has anything to do with anything on the other side.”
—Henry Brooks Adams (1838–1918)
“The myth of independence from the mother is abandoned in mid- life as women learn new routes around the mother—both the mother without and the mother within. A mid-life daughter may reengage with a mother or put new controls on care and set limits to love. But whatever she does, her child’s history is never finished.”
—Terri Apter (20th century)