The NSW Government Railways opened its South Coast Line extension, from Bombo to Bomaderry, on 2 June 1893. The town was initially served by both the main Gerringong Station and a smaller, unmanned stop called Omega, two kilometres to the north.[7] The timing was fortuitous: the district's main link to Sydney, the jetty at Boat Harbour, had been destroyed in a storm two years previously. The arrival of the railway marked the end of coastal shipping to Gerringong after close to half a century of service.[8]
The Gerringong district was home to a highly productive dairy industry. The opening of the railway dramatically improved local producers' access to the lucrative Sydney market, so the then Gerringong Co-Operative Dairy Society moved its operations to a site neighbouring the station in 1908. The factory's rail siding was extended in 1936.[6]
On the night of 18 August 1941, lightning struck wiring leading to Gerringong's weatherboard station building, setting it alight. A report in the local Kiama Reporter says that 150 townsfolk gathered at the scene, and a firehose was run from the adjacent factory to fight the blaze, but the building was lost – only the brick chimney and an iron safe remained. "The train from Sydney ... was held up for about twenty minutes on account of the fire," the Reporter recorded.[9] A new brick station building was built in its place in 1942 in the functionalist style; it remains on the site in modified form today.[10][11]
Over time, freight declined in importance for the railway, and cost pressures led to the closure of low-patronage stations across the network.[12] By 1986, the Omega railway station had closed, and in 1991 the dairy co-op abandoned its siding in favour of road transport.[6][13]
The South Coast Line south of Kiama is non-electrified single track. Since 2001, northbound trains from Gerringong terminate at Kiama, requiring passengers to change to electric multiple unit services to Wollongong and Sydney. In 2005, then Minister for TransportJohn Watkins announced that electrification would be extended to the terminus at Bomaderry at an unspecified future date, but the proposal did not progress.[14]
Gerringong Station was upgraded to be wheelchair-accessible in 2012.[15] In 2014, electronic ticketing in the form of the Opal smart card became available at the station.[16]
Media related to Gerringong railway station at Wikimedia Commons
