Auckland Railway Station

:"This article refers to the old Auckland Railway Station. For the new hub station of Auckland's public transport, see Britomart Transport Centre"

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 brick and mortar, having been called "one of the most self-consciously monumental public buildings erected in early twentieth-century New Zealand". [http://www.historic.org.nz/Register/ListingDetail.asp?RID=93&sm= Auckland Railway Station] (database entry in the Historic Places Register, Historic Places Trust. Retrieved 2007-11-14.)] 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. [Graeme W. A. Bush (ed), The History of Epsom, Epsom & Eden District Historical Society Inc, Auckland, 2006, pp. 279 - 280.]

The station closed in late July 2003 when services were moved to the new Britomart Transport Centre. The former platform 4 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 are expected 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. [ [http://www.arta.co.nz/arc/xxarta/news/rail-newsletter-issue-29.cfm Rail Newsletter Issue 29] (from the ARTA website, 2006)]

History

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 Beaux Arts style 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 Ford, 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.

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. Underpasses and ramps linked it to 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.

Campus use

In 1999 the station was converted for use by Auckland University and named The Railway Campus. It is the largest of the university's residences, and has 426 bedrooms, in a total of 230 apartments. The residence has been 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. [ [http://www.auckland.ac.nz/uoa/for/prospective/living/accommodation/apartments/railway_campus/railwaycampus.cfm Railway Campus] (from University of Auckland website)]

Due to the large amount of American study abroad students who reside in The Railway Campus each semester, it has colloquially earned the nickname 'The American Embassy'.Fact|date=June 2007The station has also featured in the 1984 film Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence, starring David Bowie, as the central railway station in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

ee also

* List of Auckland railway stations

External links

* [http://www.nzetc.org/tm/scholarly/Gov05_08Rail-fig-Gov05_08Rail027a.html Photo of a tram arriving at the facade of the new Auckland Railway Station, Sunday 16 November 1930]
* [http://www.nzetc.org/tm/scholarly/tei-Gov02_06Rail-t1-body-d10.html Auckland's new Railway Station (1927 article in NZR magazine)]

References