Central Station Sydney clock tower marks 100 years

Before mobile phones and digital watches, Sydneysiders relied on a magnificent towering clock visible from work sites, ferries and parks across the city.

Today marks the centenary of the Central Station clock tower, which has kept Sydney on time for 100 years.

On March 12, 1921, at 10.22am, Central Station’s 85m clock tower ticked into action.

With its four clock faces visible as far as Balmain and Redfern, people across the city including the train drivers set their watches to it for decades.

Today marks the centenary of the clock that’s kept Sydney on time for 100 years.

The tower reflects the changing urban landscape of Sydney — skyscrapers now block the ‘working man’s watch’ once visible from worksites and ferries.

But as Central transforms with a new metro station and concourse, it will continue to mark time for decades to come.

The old Devonshire Street Cemetery (also known as the Sandhills Cemetery) at Surry Hills was cleared and the graves relocated in 1901 to become what is now Central Railway Station.

How Central looked after phase one was completed in 1906. The top two storeys, platforms 16-23 and the exterior clock tower, would be completed in the years up to 1921, but Sydneysiders were proud of their gleaming transport hub.

When the first trains rolled through Central on August 4, 1906, after four years of construction, the sandstone station was by all appearances magnificent.

The main concourse at Central 1906. The station was to have all the modern appliances, elegant waiting rooms, refreshments and restaurants.

Designed by the NSW Government Architect Walter Liberty Vernon, workers can be seen here in 1920 as construction of the sandstone tower continued through 1920

Australian soldiers marching near Central Railway Station. Building of the clock tower was initially slow due to material shortages during WWI.

The clock was the centre of an intricate system of integrated clocks around the station.

Workers completing the stone dome in 1921. Correct time was key to the safe efficient running of the rail network.

Clock hands being installed in 1921. The scale of the clocks is hard to appreciate from the ground. But the hands are 2.3m and 3m each.

The wooden soda fountain and ticket office on the concourse at Central Station in Sydney in 1920s. Picture: NSW State Archives.

Central Station circa 1930. Government Architect, Walter Liberty Vernon designed the terminus on a grand scale, from the elevated approaches down to the system of handling luggage underground.

A now NSW Heritage listed clock tower seen in 1954 as a locomotive departs Central Railway Station. Picture: State Records NSW

Today, little has changed to the exterior but inside, it’s a far cry from its glory days. Gone are the elegant dining rooms, the RRR Milk Bar and fruit and vegetable stands.

A mobile tea and light refreshment buffet was introduced on to the steam platforms at Central in 1948. Buffet dining cars were inaugurated in 1950 when they were added to the new eight car Riverina Expresses Picture: NSW State Archives

By the 1950s, almost 250,000 people passed through Central every day, carried by 1700 trains every 24 hours. The milk bars, kiosks, booksellers and “never empty refreshment rooms” were thriving.

Mail being loaded aboard a travelling Post Office van at Central Station in Sydney in 1959. Four thousands mail barrows were shifted every day, and ten motor tractors continuously carted luggage to platforms.