Due to its busy coal industries and The Port of Wollongong, Wollongong Station was regarded as the major station on the Illawarra line and it remains that to the present due to the growth of Port Kembla, the steelworks and the major population.

[4] 1922 plans of station layout show: Station Master's residence southeast of overbridge; 100,000-gallon reservoir to south of Station Master's residence; separate booking office and parcels office building to south of that; Down platform building interior plan with (north to south) toilets; ladies room, Station Master's office, telegraph office, hallway, waiting room, refreshments room with a larger now linked kitchen and store to east, and two unmarked rooms at the southern end.

[4] 1977 plans for "Upgrading of Station building Up platform "show internal changes to booking office and waiting room, including removal of partition walls, new openings.

The plans also show classrooms and offices at the southern end; external repairs and minor alterations.

[4] 1994 plans for a general upgrade show a range of alterations including a few new doors and internal refurbishment to both platform buildings.

Peak hour services terminate at Wollongong with carriages stabled in sidings south of the station.

Busabout operates one bus route to and from Wollongong, under contract to Transport for NSW: NSW TrainLink operates coach services to Moss Vale and Bundanoon[11] Premier Illawarra operates six bus routes via Wollongong station, under contract to Transport for NSW: Premier Motor Service coach services between Sydney and Eden also call at Wollongong station.

The roof has two painted brick chimneys with rendered caps and flat concrete hoods.

[4] A small building with a gabled corrugated steel roof and timber panelled double doors.

[4] Two small c. the 1970s painted brick single-storey buildings at the southern end of platform used as a storeroom and electrical depot.

[4] This is a stretcher bond painted brick extension to the southern end of the 1887 building and executed in a similar style.

This extension has a rendered base to the walls, hipped and a gabled corrugated steel roof.

The gable end facing east has a Perspex roof and decorative timber bargeboards and pendant.

[4] Three span bridge with a jack arch superstructure (RSJ with concrete infill) supported on masonry (brick) piers.

[4] Wollongong railway station was listed on the New South Wales State Heritage Register on 2 April 1999 having satisfied the following criteria.

[4] The place is important in demonstrating the course, or pattern, of cultural or natural history in New South Wales.

[4] The place is important in demonstrating aesthetic characteristics and/or a high degree of creative or technical achievement in New South Wales.

[4] The place possesses uncommon, rare or endangered aspects of the cultural or natural history of New South Wales.

[4] The place is important in demonstrating the principal characteristics of a class of cultural or natural places/environments in New South Wales.

The 1887 Platform 2 building is a fine representative example of a 3rd class brick platform building, one of five examples on the Illawarra line, the others being in metropolitan Sydney (Carlton, Rockdale, St. Peters, Sydenham), and unusual for its extension in 1890 to add a refreshment room.

[4] This Wikipedia article contains material from Wollongong Railway Station Group, entry number 01289 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.