Britomart Train Station
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 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 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 sanitary ware. 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.The station has very few services, and all platforms have been shortened for the Britomart Curve. Tracks have been stacked up on top of each other to make way for the tracks from Britomart, and grass and weeds have grown on the tracks and platforms. The platform canopies are under threat of demolition because of contingency plans by Auckland Transport to prepare the station for use as an alternative to Britomart for the 2011 Rugby World Cup
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