Yass Junction railway station

Yass Junction
CountryLink Southern
Station code YAS
Town Yass
Street(s) Faulder Avenue
Distance from Central Station 318.010 km
Station Altitude (above sea level)  ? m
Types of stopping trains CountryLink
Number of platforms 3 (1 unused)
Number of tracks 4
Platform arrangement 1 Side
1 island
Type of station Ground
Transfers available Bus
Disabled access Yes

Yass Junction Railway Station is the only remaining station serving the town of Yass in New South Wales, Australia. It lies on the Main Southern Line between Sydney and Albury. The station opened on 3 July 1876 as Yass but changed to its current name on 20 April 1892.[1] The station is not in the town itself but is located approximately 4 km away near the Hume Highway.

Contents

History

The station is in its situation due to the refusal of the former Engineer-in-Chief of the New South Wales Railways, John Whitton to build the Main Southern Line through the middle of Yass itself. After a visit on 8 December 1871, to investigate possible routes for the extension of the line from Goulburn, Whitton remarked that "to bring the station to North Yass would increase the length of the line by about three quarters of a mile; that the cost would be considerably more than I had recommended, probably £30,000 or £40,000 for works alone; and that in an engineering point of view [a] divergence to North Yass could not be entertained.[2] Despite continuous objections, none of Whitton's working plans or other Government surveys were able to find a suitable route for the railway to pass through Yass. Instead, the present route from Gunning to Bowning was chosen which passed several miles to the north.[2] After a Government Bill was passed "to authorise the construction of tramways along certain streetts and highways in the city and suburbs of Sydney and elsewhere", a tramway was built from Yass Junction to Yass Town to convey passengers. The trams departed from a small dock platform behind Platform 2 (the Melbourne-bound platform). The line opened on 20 April 1892.[3]

Services were suspended on the line on 1 January 1957, started again on 1 December 1957, but again suspended on 18 May 1958.[4] A private bus service continued to carry passengers between the two locations but it also ceased on 18 May 1967.[4] The entire line was closed on 14 November 1988.[5]

Today, only one bus service per day (from Canberra) connects with the XPT services that travel to and from Melbourne and take passengers to Yass Town.[6]

Platforms and services

Currently the only trains which serve the station are the XPT services between Sydney and Melbourne. An Xplorer service to Griffith also serves the station on Saturday mornings, with a return service to Sydney on Sunday afternoon. Two services arrive in each direction per day. Services to Melbourne depart around midday and just after midnight,[7] with services to Sydney departing around 4pm and around 3am.[8] The night services will only stop on request.

Platform 1:

Platform 2:

Platform 3:

Neighbouring stations

Preceding station   CountryLink   Following station
towards Griffith or Melbourne
 CountryLink Southern
Griffith Xplorer
Melbourne XPT
towards Sydney

References

  1. ^ Bozier, Rolfe, "NSWrail.net: Yass Junction Railway Station". Accessed 6 November 2007.
  2. ^ a b Forsyth, J.H. (ed.) (1988–93), Stations & Tracks; Vol. 3A: "Southern Branch Lines". State Rail Authority of New South Wales: Sydney, p. 101.
  3. ^ Forsyth, J.H. (ed.) (1988–93), Stations & Tracks; Vol. 3A: "Southern Branch Lines". State Rail Authority of New South Wales: Sydney, p. 103.
  4. ^ a b Forsyth, J.H. (ed.) (1988–93), Stations & Tracks; Vol. 3A: "Southern Branch Lines". State Rail Authority of New South Wales: Sydney, p. 97.
  5. ^ Forsyth, J.H. (ed.) (1988–93), Stations & Tracks; Vol. 3A: "Southern Branch Lines". State Rail Authority of New South Wales: Sydney, p. 96.
  6. ^ Rail Corporation New South Wales, "CountryLink: Timetables: Southern region timetable", 4 September 2005. Accessed 6 November 2007.
  7. ^ Rail Corporation New South Wales, "CountryLink: Timetables: Sydney to Melbourne". Accessed 6 November 2007.
  8. ^ Rail Corporation New South Wales, "CountryLink: Timetables: Melbourne to Sydney". Accessed 6 November 2007.