Auckland railway station
Encyclopedia
Auckland Railway Station is the former main railway station of Auckland
, New Zealand
, and is located on the eastern edge of the Auckland CBD
near Mechanics Bay
. It was a city landmark from the time it was opened in 1930, and is a grand architectural statement in beaux-arts brick and mortar, having been called "one of the most self-consciously monumental public buildings erected in early twentieth-century New Zealand". The building was designed by William Henry Gummer (1884–1966), a student of Sir Edward Lutyens
and architect of various notable New Zealand buildings such as the Dilworth Building
in Queen Street
.
The station closed in late July 2003 when services were moved to the new Britomart Transport Centre
. The former platform 4 (Platform 7 at time of opening) of the station has been retained for excursion use as The Strand, named after a nearby street; it continued to be used by a limited number of peak-hour suburban trains for a few months following the opening of Britomart.
The remaining platforms of the former station may be to be removed as part of ONTRACK
's redevelopment of Quay Park junction, with the area used identified as a possible storage area for suburban trains between peak times.. However, in September 2011, two platforms were re-developed to prepare the station for possible emergency use during Rugby World Cup 2011. The platforms were not utilised for this purpose, but may be used for future rail routes.
, who were New Zealand's premier architects in the early twentieth century. It has great historical importance for its associations with the public building programme of the 1920s, and with the central role played by the railways in national transport.
The symmetrical facade of the three storey-high building was constructed of reinforced concrete
, faced with brick and granite. It is approached by a sweeping ramp on either side of the building, enclosing a landscaped garden immediately to the front. The building's design echoed American models, such as Union Station (Washington) and Pennsylvania Station (New York), considered the most striking and luxurious examples of the time. It has also been favourably compared with New York's Grand Central Terminal
and the National Theatre
in Melbourne.
The station was given ornate public spaces and a wide variety of amenities, from waiting and dining rooms to shops and a first aid station. Of particular interest is the magnificent metal ceiling in the main lobby, this item was manufactured in Germany and the parts shipped out and reassembled to create one of the most remarkable structures in the country. The loomimg threat of German aggression meant that its origins were quickly downplayed and obscured. The rest of the lobby is a showpiece of expensive imported marble and fine bronze detailing with a beautiful terazzo floor. The fine detailing extended to the restrooms with imported panelling, light fittings, period-style furniture and porcelain sanitaryware.
Underpasses and ramps linked the station building with an extended platform network to the rear, built with elegant concrete canopies and other elements as integral parts of the original design and function. With modifications, the building was used, as the main point of arrival for rail passengers in Auckland for most of the century. It was sold during the privatisation of part of the New Zealand Railways Corporation
during the 1990s, partly because a new railway station was to be moved closer to the Auckland CBD
again.
In 1999 the station was partly converted for use by Auckland University and named The Railway Campus. It was the largest of the university's residences, and had 426 bedrooms, in a total of 230 apartments. The residence was awarded four stars by Qualmark in the Student Accommodation category, which evaluated the facilities as well as the level of pastoral care and support for students, and has been accredited by the New Zealand Association of Tertiary Education Accommodation Professionals. However, in November 2008, the university announced that they would not be returning to using the building for dormitory use, due to weathertightness issues and associated works (see below for more details).
Due to the large number of American students who resided in The Railway Campus each semester, it was given by some the nickname 'The American Embassy'.
The station has also featured in the 1984 film Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence
, starring David Bowie
, as the central railway station in Kuala Lumpur
, Malaysia.
In 2007, major weather-tightness problems appeared. A multi-million dollar restoration programme was undertaken to help resolve the issue. The tenants were required to leave to permit work to be undertaken. The effect of the water leaks on the prices of the apartments in the complex was marked - while the high price in the early 1990s was $160,000, apartments sold for a nominal sale price as low as $12,800 (with most going around $20,000) as owners extricated themselves from the problem investment. Values had by early 2010 recovered to an average sale price of $55,000.
In 2011, the platforms were upgraded by Auckland Transport to prepare them for use as an alternative to Britomart for the 2011 Rugby World Cup
.. In a $1.7 million project, the canopies were removed from two platforms, with a small section left behind for historic purposes. The platforms were resurfaced, and amenities such as lighting and a public address system were installed.
The platforms were not used during the 2011 Rugby World Cup
, but remain a backup station and could be utilised for future routes such as a restarted Waikato Connection to Hamilton
..
Auckland
The Auckland metropolitan area , in the North Island of New Zealand, is the largest and most populous urban area in the country with residents, percent of the country's population. Auckland also has the largest Polynesian population of any city in the world...
, New Zealand
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
, and is located on the eastern edge of the Auckland CBD
Auckland CBD
The Auckland CBD is the geographical and economic heart of the Auckland metropolitan area. Bounded by several major motorways and by the harbour coastline in the north, it is surrounded further out by mostly suburban areas...
near Mechanics Bay
Mechanics Bay
Mechanics Bay is the name of a former bay on the Waitemata Harbour in Auckland City, New Zealand. It is also the name used to describe the area of the former bay that is now mainly occupied by commercial and port facilities...
. It was a city landmark from the time it was opened in 1930, and is a grand architectural statement in beaux-arts brick and mortar, having been called "one of the most self-consciously monumental public buildings erected in early twentieth-century New Zealand". The building was designed by William Henry Gummer (1884–1966), a student of Sir Edward Lutyens
Edwin Lutyens
Sir Edwin Landseer Lutyens, OM, KCIE, PRA, FRIBA was a British architect who is known for imaginatively adapting traditional architectural styles to the requirements of his era...
and architect of various notable New Zealand buildings such as the Dilworth Building
Dilworth Building
The Dilworth Building is a heritage mixed-use building at the corner of Customs Street and Queen Street in the Auckland CBD, New Zealand...
in Queen Street
Queen Street, Auckland
Queen Street is the major commercial thoroughfare in the Auckland CBD, Auckland, New Zealand's main population centre. It starts at Queens Wharf on the Auckland waterfront, adjacent to the Britomart Transport Centre and the Downtown Ferry Terminal, and runs uphill for almost three kilometres in a...
.
The station closed in late July 2003 when services were moved to the new Britomart Transport Centre
Britomart Transport Centre
Britomart Transport Centre is the CBD public transport hub of Auckland, New Zealand, and the northern terminus of the North Island Main Trunk line. It combines a bus interchange with a railway station in a former Edwardian post office, extended with expansive post-modernist architectural elements...
. The former platform 4 (Platform 7 at time of opening) of the station has been retained for excursion use as The Strand, named after a nearby street; it continued to be used by a limited number of peak-hour suburban trains for a few months following the opening of Britomart.
The remaining platforms of the former station may be to be removed as part of ONTRACK
New Zealand Railways Corporation
KiwiRail Network, formerly ONTRACK , is the infrastructure arm of KiwiRail. The ONTRACK trading name was introduced in 2004 after the government repurchased all of New Zealand's rail infrastructure from Toll NZ. It does not operate revenue rolling stock...
's redevelopment of Quay Park junction, with the area used identified as a possible storage area for suburban trains between peak times.. However, in September 2011, two platforms were re-developed to prepare the station for possible emergency use during Rugby World Cup 2011. The platforms were not utilised for this purpose, but may be used for future rail routes.
Railway use
The station was built by the New Zealand Public Works Department between 1928 and 1930 and sits on reclaimed land close to the wharves. It replaced a smaller terminal on the site of Britomart. The grand and ornate building was intended to serve as a gateway to the city, and its construction cost of £320,000. The station was designed by Gummer and FordGummer and Ford
Gummer and Ford was an architectural firm founded in 1923 in Auckland, New Zealand by William John Gummer and C. Reginald Ford. It was among the country's best-regarded architectural firm of the first half of the 20th century, designing numerous iconic buildings, including the former National Art...
, who were New Zealand's premier architects in the early twentieth century. It has great historical importance for its associations with the public building programme of the 1920s, and with the central role played by the railways in national transport.
The symmetrical facade of the three storey-high building was constructed of reinforced concrete
Reinforced concrete
Reinforced concrete is concrete in which reinforcement bars , reinforcement grids, plates or fibers have been incorporated to strengthen the concrete in tension. It was invented by French gardener Joseph Monier in 1849 and patented in 1867. The term Ferro Concrete refers only to concrete that is...
, faced with brick and granite. It is approached by a sweeping ramp on either side of the building, enclosing a landscaped garden immediately to the front. The building's design echoed American models, such as Union Station (Washington) and Pennsylvania Station (New York), considered the most striking and luxurious examples of the time. It has also been favourably compared with New York's Grand Central Terminal
Grand Central Terminal
Grand Central Terminal —often incorrectly called Grand Central Station, or shortened to simply Grand Central—is a terminal station at 42nd Street and Park Avenue in Midtown Manhattan in New York City, United States...
and the National Theatre
National Theatre, Melbourne
The National Theatre is a 783 seat Australian theatre and theatrical arts school located in the Melbourne bayside suburb of St Kilda, on the corner of Barkly and Carlisle Streets...
in Melbourne.
The station was given ornate public spaces and a wide variety of amenities, from waiting and dining rooms to shops and a first aid station. Of particular interest is the magnificent metal ceiling in the main lobby, this item was manufactured in Germany and the parts shipped out and reassembled to create one of the most remarkable structures in the country. The loomimg threat of German aggression meant that its origins were quickly downplayed and obscured. The rest of the lobby is a showpiece of expensive imported marble and fine bronze detailing with a beautiful terazzo floor. The fine detailing extended to the restrooms with imported panelling, light fittings, period-style furniture and porcelain sanitaryware.
Underpasses and ramps linked the station building with an extended platform network to the rear, built with elegant concrete canopies and other elements as integral parts of the original design and function. With modifications, the building was used, as the main point of arrival for rail passengers in Auckland for most of the century. It was sold during the privatisation of part of the New Zealand Railways Corporation
New Zealand Railways Corporation
KiwiRail Network, formerly ONTRACK , is the infrastructure arm of KiwiRail. The ONTRACK trading name was introduced in 2004 after the government repurchased all of New Zealand's rail infrastructure from Toll NZ. It does not operate revenue rolling stock...
during the 1990s, partly because a new railway station was to be moved closer to the Auckland CBD
Auckland CBD
The Auckland CBD is the geographical and economic heart of the Auckland metropolitan area. Bounded by several major motorways and by the harbour coastline in the north, it is surrounded further out by mostly suburban areas...
again.
Campus use
Due to the large number of American students who resided in The Railway Campus each semester, it was given by some the nickname 'The American Embassy'.
The station has also featured in the 1984 film Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence
Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence
Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence is a 1983 film directed by Nagisa Oshima, produced by Jeremy Thomas and starring Jack Thompson, David Bowie, Tom Conti, Ryuichi Sakamoto, Yuya Uchida, and Takeshi Kitano.It was written by Oshima and Paul Mayersberg and based on Laurens van der Post's experiences...
, starring David Bowie
David Bowie
David Bowie is an English musician, actor, record producer and arranger. A major figure for over four decades in the world of popular music, Bowie is widely regarded as an innovator, particularly for his work in the 1970s...
, as the central railway station in Kuala Lumpur
Kuala Lumpur
Kuala Lumpur is the capital and the second largest city in Malaysia by population. The city proper, making up an area of , has a population of 1.4 million as of 2010. Greater Kuala Lumpur, also known as the Klang Valley, is an urban agglomeration of 7.2 million...
, Malaysia.
In 2007, major weather-tightness problems appeared. A multi-million dollar restoration programme was undertaken to help resolve the issue. The tenants were required to leave to permit work to be undertaken. The effect of the water leaks on the prices of the apartments in the complex was marked - while the high price in the early 1990s was $160,000, apartments sold for a nominal sale price as low as $12,800 (with most going around $20,000) as owners extricated themselves from the problem investment. Values had by early 2010 recovered to an average sale price of $55,000.
Present day
The station has very few services, and all platforms have been shortened for the Britomart Curve. For many years, tracks were stacked up on top of each other to make way for the tracks from Britomart, and grass and weeds grew on the tracks and platforms.In 2011, the platforms were upgraded by Auckland Transport to prepare them for use as an alternative to Britomart for the 2011 Rugby World Cup
2011 Rugby World Cup
The 2011 Rugby World Cup was the seventh Rugby World Cup, a quadrennial international rugby union competition inaugurated in 1987. The International Rugby Board selected New Zealand as the host country in preference to Japan and South Africa at a meeting in Dublin on 17 November 2005...
.. In a $1.7 million project, the canopies were removed from two platforms, with a small section left behind for historic purposes. The platforms were resurfaced, and amenities such as lighting and a public address system were installed.
The platforms were not used during the 2011 Rugby World Cup
2011 Rugby World Cup
The 2011 Rugby World Cup was the seventh Rugby World Cup, a quadrennial international rugby union competition inaugurated in 1987. The International Rugby Board selected New Zealand as the host country in preference to Japan and South Africa at a meeting in Dublin on 17 November 2005...
, but remain a backup station and could be utilised for future routes such as a restarted Waikato Connection to Hamilton
Hamilton
- Australia :* Hamilton, New South Wales, suburb of Newcastle** Hamilton railway station, New South Wales* Hamilton, Queensland, suburb of Brisbane* Hamilton, South Australia* Hamilton, Tasmania* Hamilton, Victoria* Hamilton Island, Queensland- Canada :...
..