Traffic to the west and south (and later north) of the state brought the need to amplify the line, first in 1891 when it was quadrupled and later in 1927 when it was sextupled (to Homebush) and electrified.
The Engineer for Existing Lines, George Cowdery (appointed 1863), was a particularly strong influence on the architecture of this line, building particularly elegant stations in the late 1880s ahead of the 1891 quadruplication, in addition to replacing the original stone arch viaduct at Lewisham with iron truss bridges.
1, built by Robert Stephenson and Company, when the passenger train it was hauling left the rails and toppled down an embankment, killing two people.
Competitions and prizes sprang up and two nurseries (Homebush and Hamilton, near Newcastle) were opened to provide plants, in addition to those sourced from staff home gardens.
[3] On 9 October 1994, a large fire destroyed the original heritage-listed buildings on platforms 3 and 4,[9] they were later rebuilt as a similar awning structure.
[12] On 20 October 2013, a new timetable was introduced which saw Homebush become the terminus for local T2 Inner West & South line services to and from the city.
[14] In 2017, some local T2 Inner West & Leppington weekday trains were extended to Parramatta, finally allowing a connection to Flemington station.
Rail traffic in the Homebush area has been controlled from the adjacent Strathfield signal box since 1983.
This building, situated to the south west of the station, opposite Homebush Public School, still stands.
Through-services proceed west from here towards Parramatta or Leppington, and east towards Central and the City Circle.
The station buildings including the signal box, brick store rooms and footbridge collectively demonstrate a former era of travel, communication and trade.
[3] Homebush railway station was listed on the New South Wales State Heritage Register on 2 April 1999 having satisfied the following criteria.
The subsequent (second) rebuilding of the station in the 1860s was associated with servicing the nearby Government Abattoirs at Homebush.
In addition the signal box, footbridge and brick store rooms collectively demonstrate a former era of travel, communication and trade.
[3] The place is important in demonstrating aesthetic characteristics and/or a high degree of creative or technical achievement in New South Wales.
[3] The place has potential to yield information that will contribute to an understanding of the cultural or natural history of New South Wales.
[3] The place possesses uncommon, rare or endangered aspects of the cultural or natural history of New South Wales.
[3] The place is important in demonstrating the principal characteristics of a class of cultural or natural places/environments in New South Wales.
The design was widely used throughout the system from 1883 until 1911, and some twenty boxes of either full timber or mostly brick load-bearing wall construction were built.
[3] This Wikipedia article contains material from Homebush Railway Station group, entry number 01170 in the New South Wales State Heritage Register published by the State of New South Wales (Department of Planning and Environment) 2018 under CC-BY 4.0 licence, accessed on 2 June 2018.