Camellia railway station was a

suburban A suburb (more broadly suburban area) is an area within a metropolitan area. They are oftentimes where most of a metropolitan areas jobs are located with some being predominantly residential. They can either be denser or less densely populated ...

railway station Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport using wheeled vehicles running in railway track, tracks, which usually consist of two parallel steel railway track, rails. Rail transport is one of the two primary means of ...

located on the Carlingford line, serving the

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

suburb of

Camellia ''Camellia'' (pronounced or ) is a genus of flowering plants in the family Theaceae. They are found in tropical and subtropical areas in East Asia, eastern and South Asia, southern Asia, from the Himalayas east to Japan and Indonesia. There are ...

. Open between 1901 and 2020, at the time of closure it was served by

Sydney Trains Sydney Trains is the brand name and operator of Railways in Sydney, suburban and intercity train services in and around Greater Sydney in New South Wales, Australia. The metropolitan part of the network is a hybrid urban rail, urban-suburban r ...

T6 Carlingford Line services.

History

The private Simpson's Railway from

Rosehill Racecourse The Rosehill Gardens Racecourse is located in the Sydney suburb of Rosehill, New South Wales, Australia. It is operated by the Australian Turf Club. Rosehill holds horse races for thoroughbred gallopers on a grass surface. It is one of the t ...

to Carlingford was constructed through the site of the future Camellia station in 1896. However, no station was provided at Camellia at this time. The private railway line was purchased by the

NSW State Government The Government of New South Wales, also known as the NSW Government, is the executive state government of New South Wales, Australia. The government comprises 11 portfolios, led by a ministerial department and supported by several agencies. Th ...

in July 1899, with a view to provide passenger services along the line.CAMELLIA ''

Australian Railway Historical Society The Australian Railway Historical Society (ARHS) has been a railway organisation concerned with history and preservation of railway heritage at a national level. It has had divisions in every state and the Australian Capital Territory, althou ...

''. Accessed 8 March 2025 The site of the future Camellia station was located at the perpendicular

flat crossing A level junction (or in the United Kingdom a flat crossing) is a railway junction that has a track configuration in which merging or crossing railroad lines provide track connections with each other that require trains to cross over in front of ...

of the railway line and the Parramatta Steam Tramway to Redbank Wharf, which had opened in 1883. The idea to provide an interchange between the two railways meant that construction of a station at the site was proposed as early as January 1899 before the government's purchase of Simpson's Railway, though by as late as 18 July 1901, no decision had yet been publicly reported on the construction of said station. However by 27 July, a station platform had been constructed at to ensure an interchange between the two services. The station was provisionally labelled as the "''Parramatta platform''" of the line, due to its intended role to provide service for travellers coming from

Parramatta Parramatta (; ) is a suburb (Australia), suburb and major commercial centre in Greater Western Sydney. Parramatta is located approximately west of the Sydney central business district, Sydney CBD, on the banks of the Parramatta River. It is co ...

by tram. The station had previously appeared under the name ''Parramatta Tram Junction'' in proposed timetables from 1900. Camellia station opened on 1 August 1901 as Subiaco, named after a local estate which housed a convent of Benedictine nuns. The station was renamed Camellia on 14 September 1901, due to public confusion as Subiaco railway station was located on the southern bank of the

Parramatta River The Parramatta River is an intermediate tide-dominated, Ria, drowned valley estuary located in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. With an average Altitude, height, and depth, depth of , the Parramatta River is the main tributary of Sydney Harbour ...

, with the Subiaco estate on the northern side closer to Victoria Road railway station. The new name was devised from a local nursery called ''Camellia Grove''. As per its original intention, Camellia station served as an interchange between the Carlingford railway line and steam tram services, until the latter ceased operations in March 1943. By 2014, Camellia was the least patronised station on the

network, with 70 boardings per day being recorded. The section of the Carlingford railway line north of Camellia was converted to light rail as part of the

Parramatta Light Rail The Parramatta Light Rail is a Standard-gauge railway, standard gauge Light rail in Sydney, light rail line in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. The first stage of the line runs from Westmead, New South Wales, Westmead to Carlingford, New S ...

project with Carlingford line services ceasing on 5 January 2020, after which Camellia station closed permanently. The station and surrounding area were fully demolished in May 2020. The area immediately north of Camellia station is the branching point for the lines to Carlingford and the future line to

Sydney Olympic Park Sydney Olympic Park is a suburb of Greater Western Sydney, located 13 kilometres west of the Sydney central business district, in the Local government in Australia, local government area of the City of Parramatta, City of Parramatta Council. It i ...

. Rosehill Gardens light rail station is also located north of the site of Camellia station.

Former services

Platforms

At the time of closure, Camellia had the following services:

Transport links

Camellia station was served by one NightRide route: *N61: Carlingford station to Town Hall station

References

External links

*{{commons category-inline, Camellia railway station, Sydney, Camellia railway station
Camellia station details
Transport for NSW Disused railway stations in Sydney Railway stations in Australia opened in 1901 Camellia, New South Wales Railway stations in Australia closed in 2020