Christchurch railway station (New Zealand)

Christchurch
KiwiRail Scenic Journeys Heavy rail
Location	1st, 2nd station: Moorhouse Avenue 3rd station: Troup Drive, Addington, Christchurch, New Zealand
Coordinates	1st, 2nd: 43°32′25.18″S 172°38′28″E / 43.5403278°S 172.64111°E / -43.5403278; 172.64111 3rd: 43°32′23.74″S 172°36′28.41″E / 43.5399278°S 172.6078917°E / -43.5399278; 172.6078917Coordinates: 43°32′23.74″S 172°36′28.41″E / 43.5399278°S 172.6078917°E / -43.5399278; 172.6078917
Owned by	1st: Canterbury Provincial Railways 2nd: NZGR 3rd: KiwiRail
Line(s)	1st, 2nd: Main South Line 3rd: Main North Line
Platforms	Single side
Tracks	Main line (1) Loop (1)
Construction
Parking	Yes
History
Opened	1st: 1 December 1863 2nd: 21 December 1877 3rd: 5 April 1993
Closed	1st: 20 December 1877 2nd: 4 April 1993
Rebuilt	2nd: 1 November 1960
Electrified	2nd: 14 February 1929 – 18 September 1970
Services
KiwiRail   Preceding station   KiwiRail Scenic Journeys   Following station Terminus   Coastal Pacific   Rangiora toward Picton   TranzAlpine   Rolleston toward Greymouth

Christchurch Railway Station is in the Canterbury region of New Zealand's South Island. It is on the Main North Line at Addington junction, and is the only remaining passenger railway station in the city: suburban passenger trains were cancelled due to lack of demand in the 1970s. It is the terminus of the South Island’s two remaining long-distance passenger trains, the TranzAlpine and the Coastal Pacific.

The current station is the third Christchurch railway station. The two earlier stations were adjacent to each other on Moorhouse Avenue, a short distance to the east on the Main South Line, closer to the city centre.

Christchurch's first railway station was built by the Canterbury Provincial Council for its 5 ft 3 in (1,600 mm) broad-gauge railway line between the city and the wharf at Ferrymead, opening on 1 December 1863. From 1867 the station received traffic from Lyttelton, and from the west, as the Main South Line was extended out to Addington, Rolleston, Selwyn, Rakaia, and destinations further south.

Facilities at the station were initially modest, consisting of a platform, station building, goods shed, locomotive shed, staff accommodation, a single main line and siding. It was not long before this proved to be inadequate, with an authorisation for the enlargement of the goods shed and the provision of a refreshment room forthcoming in January 1864. Later, the arrival of new locomotives resulted in the construction of additional locomotive storage, and the purchase of additional carriage stock necessitated the building of a new carriage shed. In October 1873, a new siding was laid and by 1874 a stores building with derrick had been added.

Despite these improvements, the problem of a lack of storage space at the station for goods continued. This resulted in the common practice of storing goods in wagons outside the sheds. This, combined with a high staff turnover, led to pillage becoming a significant problem. The colonial government received many complaints and, on bringing this to the attention of the provincial railways, was reminded of the lack of storage facilities. Also of concern was the deterioration of the rolling stock. The engineer reported in late 1867 that new engineering facilities were urgently required to enable adequate attention to be given to maintenance. The opportunity was also taken to point out the unnecessarily high cost of handling goods traffic with inadequate shed and siding facilities. By early the following year, nearly the whole of the goods shed was in use for customs traffic. The situation had reached the point where an additional goods shed, grain and wool stores had become necessary. These problems persisted despite the relocation of buildings from Ferrymead to Christchurch, including the goods shed (converted to a two-floor stores building) and the refreshment room (converted to staff accommodation).

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Wikipedia