Australian commuters have named the train stations they consider the creepiest after dark — including one where people claim to have spotted the ghost of a teenage girl roaming the platform at night.
The conversation began when a Sydney passenger asked fellow commuters: “Which train station do you find particularly creepy at nighttime?”
“My vote would have to go to Kotara,” they replied.
“The dark bushland on both sides, plus the clear lack of patronage, can just imagine the silence — I’d find it very unnerving waiting there at night.”
Other commuters agreed that Kotara, about 9km from Newcastle’s CBD, ranks among Australia’s worst train stations. Some described the stop as “barebones” and “pointless”, while others said anyone stranded there at night could feel completely isolated.
The station has even received a one-star rating on Google Reviews, with one passenger labelling it the “most poorly situated location”.
“It’s a very annoying stop for other train passengers who can’t understand why trains stop at Kotara when generally no one uses this station,” the commuter wrote.
“Safety is not necessarily guaranteed and no one will hear you scream if such is required. Rare sightings of passengers actually using this station occur occasionally, but not more than once every two hours on weekends and public holidays due to ridiculously poor frequency of trains that actually do stop here.”
Australian commuters have named the “creepiest” train stations, including Kotara (pictured)
Others, however, came to Kotara’s defence, describing it as one of the safest neighbourhoods in NSW and joking that it was home mainly to “soccer mums and dorky dads”.
One woman disagreed. “My parents moved us to Kotara because on paper the train system was great. We went to see the station and they immediately went, ‘Nope!’” she said.
Macquarie Fields
Macquarie Fields, in Sydney’s Macarthur region and 38km south-west of the CBD, was another station repeatedly singled out as particularly creepy.
“Macquarie Fields is the most terrifying after dark,” one commuter said.
The station’s eerie atmosphere was not the only thing troubling passengers.
“Macquarie Fields is haunted,” one person declared.
“Macquarie Fields. You know why,” another wrote, linking to a chilling account of an alleged ghost sighting at the station.
For decades, passengers have claimed to see a young girl in a dress or hear “faint crying” after the last train departs Macquarie Fields station
For decades, passengers have reported seeing a young girl wearing a “blood-stained” dress or hearing “faint crying” once the last train has left the station.
Ghost hunters have suggested the figure could be the spirit of Emily Hay Georgenson, a 42-year-old woman reportedly killed after being struck by a train near the platform in 1906.
“Those brave enough to linger after the last service often report the sound of faint, rhythmic sobbing that gradually builds into a guttural moan or a terrifying shriek,” a blog post about Supernatural Sydney published by Earth Bound Travel Guides claimed.
‘She is most often seen sitting in the middle of the platform, staring blankly at the tracks, or wandering the dark end of the station near the overpass.’
Meanwhile, some suggested the platform no longer seemed as ‘creepy’, as the ‘station has since been done up quite nicely’.
Otford
Commuters agreed they always felt unsettled at Otford train station, located 55km south of Sydney and 30km north of Wollongong’s CBD.
Commuters agreed they always felt unsettled at Otford train station, located 55km south of Sydney and 30km north of Wollongong’s CBD
Many claimed it was not a place you’d ‘want to be stranded at’ especially late at night
‘Otford is definitely not where you want to be stranded,’ one said.
‘Especially with the no reception,’ another added.
‘Eerie vibes at Otford,’ one shared.
‘Years ago I had to pick my wife up from Otford in the middle of the night. She fell asleep on the last train after a night out with the girls. She woke up somewhere past Waterfall and rang me. I told her to get off at the next stop and I’ll come get her. Creepy station with not much around especially at 2am,’ another revealed.
Otford station is known as one of the closest public transport options to the Instagram-famous Figure 8 Pools, which is roughly a six-and-a-half-hour round-trip trek.
Join the discussion
What unforgettable or eerie experience have you had at an Australian train station late at night?
Macdonaldtown
Macdonaldtown, located between the busy Newtown and Redfern stations, was frequently mentioned as one of the ‘creepy’ platforms.
‘On the top of my head I would say Macdonaldtown, creepy old walkway, next to the rail yards, narrow platform and it’s in the middle of a residential area with no shops next to the station and it’s dead quiet,’ one said.
‘I happen to have a picture of that creepy walkway at night! Yes, I always found the very narrow platforms adds a vague sense of claustrophobia too,’ another shared.
‘Why is Macdonaldtown still an active station? You can stand on the platform and see three other stations,’ one pointed out.
‘Macdonaldtown station doesn’t actually exist, it’s just a collective hallucination that we all experience,’ another joked.
‘They should seriously just get rid of the station. Absolutely nothing is good about this place, I feel awful for anyone who has to come here regularly,’ one added.
Macdonaldtown, located between the busy Newtown and Redfern stations, was frequently mentioned as one of the ‘creepy’ platforms. One commuter shared a picture of the ‘creepy’ tunnel that leads commuters from the platform to the street
Interestingly, Macdonaldtown was once a suburb, but is now known as a quiet train station in Sydney’s inner west.
The station unfortunately has a very dark history, with police uncovering the remains of 15 babies at a property in Macdonaldtown in the 1890s.
The property was home to Sydney couple John and Sarah Makin, who were later found to be behind the gruesome killings of fostered babies.
Dubbed the ‘Macdonaldtown baby farmers’, the couple faced a high-profile trial, with Sarah spared the death sentence, while her husband John was hanged.
Many speculated that Macdonaldtown was renamed Erskineville to distance itself from the horrific crimes that took place there.
However, it was later reported that a proposal to change the suburb name had actually been made months before the remains of the infants were found.
