Railway use & closure The Auckland railway station was built by the
New Zealand Public Works Department between 1928 and 1930 and sits on reclaimed land on Beach Road 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 was the largest independent contract awarded in New Zealand. 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 Auckland railway station building has been 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 symmetrical facade of the three storey-high building was constructed of
reinforced concrete, faced with brick 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 in Washington, D.C. and
Pennsylvania Station in New York City, considered the most striking and luxurious examples of the time. The station building was sold during the privatisation of part of the
New Zealand Railways Corporation during the 1990s, In 2007, major weather-tightness problems appeared. Tenants were required to leave while a multi-million dollar restoration programme was 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. In November 2008, the university announced that it would no longer be using the building for student accommodation, due to weather-tightness issues and associated works. Values had by early 2010 recovered to an average sale price of $55,000. Since the university vacated, the accommodation has been turned into the
Grand Central Apartments. Platform 8 restaurant occupies the foyer of the 1930 station.
Subsequent usage of platform area In 2011, the Strand Station was officially reopened as its own separate station, encompassing the former Platform 7 (later Platform 4) and Platform 6 (later Platform 3) as the new platforms 1 & 2 respectively of the Auckland railway station. The station's reopening was purposed so it could serve as a potential backup for Britomart during the
2011 Rugby World Cup. Although never utilised for this purpose, it has since served as an emergency backup alongside
Newmarket railway station. The Strand Station became the terminus for the long-distance
Northern Explorer service in June 2011. Since 2013, the remaining platforms have been converted into a stabling facility for the suburban
AM class fleet. == Gallery ==