Most capital cities have a train station in the middle of town — that was almost the case for Canberra.

This week's question comes from Beck Pearse, an academic who lived in Canberra's north.

Beck travelled regularly between Canberra and Sydney by bus.

"Given that the train is four-and-a-half hours and only runs two times a day, adding the trip over to Kingston just makes it an untenable journey for me," she said.

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It made her wonder why Canberra's train station wasn't more centrally located.

And like many Curious Canberrans who get in touch, Beck had done some of her own research.

"We found out that there actually was a station in Civic at one point or there was a plan for it?"

Many of you have asked about the rumoured Civic station, and after you voted for Beck's question in June we managed to find proof of its existence.

An accidental station

ACT Heritage Council Chair David Flannery outside the Canberra Glassworks in Kingston. Decorative railway lines show where the original line terminated. ( ABC News: Sonya Gee )

The train station in Kingston was never meant to be Canberra's main, or only, station.

"The original use of the railway line was not as a passenger line," said David Flannery, Chair of the ACT Heritage Council.

"It was to bring goods, particularly building materials, in for the early construction of the city and to bring coal to the [Kingston] Powerhouse."

The railway line was completed in 1914, and connected the newly-named capital to the existing railway line across the border, in Queanbeyan.

A flood in July 1922 damaged a railway bridge over the Molonglo River that connected Kingston to Civic. ( Supplied: National Archives of Australia )

The station's proximity to the powerhouse explains its location but not how it came to be Canberra's only station. That's a slightly longer story, which starts with a disagreement.

Mark Butz knows the story well, he runs rail tours for the ACT Railway Historical Society and Engineering Heritage Australia.

"The people who originally thought about locating the city, which were surveyors mostly and some engineers, thought that would be the logical place to put the city — on the southside," he said

"That meant the [Kingston] railway station was in the perfect place to serve as the centre of the city."

Amy Lay, an exhibitions curator at the National Archives of Australia, had come across this too.

"Griffin had initially planned that his railway would go from the south to north … whereas the bureaucrats thought it would be better if it went through the south," she said.

"This is a problem because there's different ideas about how the city should look."

In the 1950s, two locations in the city's south were considered for Canberra Station - State Circle and Bowen Place. ( ABC News: Sonya Gee )

She believes that this could have had an impact on how Canberra's railway was funded.

Records show that Griffin's proposed railway line — a permanent line that would travel through the city and connect to Sydney and Melbourne via Yass — was costed multiple times, by the engineer-in-chief and even by Griffin himself.

Bureaucrats then suggested alternative rail lines, some of which didn't go as far as Civic or travelled through the south, deviating from Griffin's plans.

"They had about five or six different options, and of course the one that was most favourable to the bureaucrats was the cheapest," Amy said.

Another temporary line transported bricks from Yarralumla Brickworks to Old Parliament House. ( Supplied: National Archives of Australia )

"The plan was, by 1915, not to bother with these permanent lines, temporary ones were decided upon."

What was built in 1920 was a temporary line that went from Kingston station, across the Molonglo River and onto Civic, terminating in Braddon.

Like the early Kingston line, it was designed to aid construction, this time in the city's north.

"Unfortunately, it [the train] crossed the Molonglo River on a fairly flimsy timber bridge," said David.

"About 18 months after it was constructed, a flood came down the Molonglo and wiped the bridge out."

The trestles of the bridge were destroyed by debris that washed down the Molonglo River after the flood. ( Supplied: National Archives of Australia )

Its destruction marked a turning point in Canberra's rail history.

"That event of the bridge going over really was the end of any hope of the railway line being extended to Kingston across to Russell and to Civic, and beyond," David explained.

A decade after the Kingston station was built, it became a "bona fide passenger line".

A longer platform was built in 1924 to accommodate passengers, and by 1927, a new station building was ready to welcome parliamentarians who were relocating from Melbourne to Canberra.

What could've been — Civic station

Civic station was rumoured to be in Garema Place. ( Supplied: Michael Porter/Fairfax Syndication )

Many Canberrans have asked whether there was ever a train station in Civic, where Garema Place is today.

The answer is yes, and no.

"It certainly wasn't a railway station," said Mark Butz.

"It was simply an open platform that was at the height of the carriages that transported people and goods — so they could step out safely instead of clamouring down onto the ground."

If it still stood, Mark believes it would be in the middle of Garema Place, roughly where the concrete chess board is today.

The humble Civic platform was built in the '20s when the city was under construction. ( Supplied: B.T Macdonald )

The line didn't match Griffin's plans exactly because its primary function was to transport workers and building materials.

It picked up workers from a platform in Russell and brought them into Civic.

"This one here in Garema Place, that was very much a temporary thing," Mark said.

"In Griffin's plan, we would have a number of stations, including one here in Civic, which would be right in the middle of the Canberra Centre … that was going to be Civic station."

But Civic station wouldn't have been the city's central station.

"The actual railway itself was intended to go much closer to Mount Ainslie … with a big station under his big market building, which is pretty much where the Australian-American memorial is now."

High-speed rail?

On hearing the story of Canberra's railway lines, Beck couldn't help but laugh.

"I'm from Sydney originally, so I'm not surprised by any bad development decisions!"

Still, she wanted to know whether rail was still being discussed today, especially high-speed rail.

Canberrans may be boarding the train in Kingston for years to come. ( ABC News: Sonya Gee )

Earlier this year, the ACT Chief Minister called for a train service between Sydney and Canberra that would take less than three hours.

Even if a new rail project gets the go-ahead for the capital, a station in the CBD isn't guaranteed.

"The way the city's evolved now, I can't see anyway that there could ever be a full railway station in the city," Mark Butz said.

"If there was a rail link to the north, it would be much closer to the airport … where we've got the parkway and that transport infrastructure."