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The public will soon be able to get more out of a visit to Helensburgh Station Reserve, thanks to the work of LPMA and the Helensburgh and District Landcare Group.
The reserve is located in Vera Street, Helensburgh, adjacent to the current Helensburgh Railway Station, and the work is being carried out to restore and maintain the environmental and heritage values of the original Helensburgh railway station and rail tunnels, including the area known as The Porcupine Track.
The tunnels and station platform are significant in Helensburgh’s history and development and the work is designed to improve community use of the reserve for public recreation and education.
Prompted by the discovery of coal in the southern coal fields, and a decision by the State Government of the time to extend the railway southwards, the Cumberland Coal and Iron Mining Company took a 99-year lease on 18,000 acres of Crown land in the area now known as Helensburgh.
The original line was installed in 1884 - a single line with Helensburgh station sandwiched between two tunnels at the junction of Vera Street and Tunnel Road, a layout unique in Australia to this day. A 22-metre section of the original platform was unearthed in 1995 and can be visited today.
And at night, the large southern tunnel glows with the light of hundreds of thousands of glow worms – it is one of the biggest populations in NSW.
A range of work is currently being carried out on the site to make it safe for community use, including stabilising track surface, risk and historical signage, securing of the track and tunnels, and removal of rubbish, graffiti and weeds.
The project represents a real community collaboration between LPMA as reserve trustee and the Helensburgh and District Landcare Group, with input from the Helensburgh Historical Society, and involves the use of local contractors.
Adding the site to the Crown reserve system has empowered the local community to maintain and make use of its historical significance, and ensure its long term care and management.
