Auckland Strand Railway Station

The Strand Station
The Strand Station and stabling facility
Coordinates	36°50′53″S 174°46′35″E / 36.848123°S 174.776275°E / -36.848123; 174.776275
Platforms	2 (originally 7)
Construction
Parking	Yes
History
Opened	1930
Closed	July 2003
Rebuilt	August 2011
Electrified	Yes
Services
Preceding station   KiwiRail Scenic   Following station Terminus Northern Explorer Papakura toward Wellington
Heritage New Zealand – Category I
Designated	29-Nov-1985
Reference no.	93

The Strand Station
Britomart Eastern Line The Strand Quay Park junction Western Line, Southern Line, Onehunga Line

The Strand Station, also referred to as Auckland Strand Station is a railway station located on the eastern edge of Auckland CBD. It currently serves as the northern terminus of the Northern Explorer long-distance service between Auckland and Wellington, operated by KiwiRail Scenic Journeys. Suburban services do not pass through the station, but it can serve as a backup for Britomart Transport Centre, the city's main railway station since 2003, during times of disruption.

The Auckland Railway Station was opened in 1930 on Beach Road, replacing the previous railway terminus which was on the Queen Street site where Britomart now exists. The 1930 station was the third to serve as the rail terminus for Auckland, and remained the sole station serving the CBD until its closure in July 2003, when Britomart became the new terminus.

The Strand Station uses some of the platforms that were retained when the Auckland Railway Station building closed. The former Platform 4 (which was designated Platform 7 at time of opening, and is now referred to as Platform 1) was retained for excursion use as 'The Strand Station', named after the 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. Following this, the platforms remained abandoned until August 2011 when two platforms were re-developed to prepare the station for possible use during Rugby World Cup 2011, although they were never used for that purpose. These platforms have been used for Northern Explorer services from December 2015 onwards.

The Auckland Railway 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 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 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.