Wellington Railway Station

Wellington
Metlink regional rail
Wellington Railway Station Frontage at night, 14 May 2003.
Location	Bunny Street, Pipitea, Wellington, New Zealand
Coordinates	41°16′43″S 174°46′51″E / 41.27861°S 174.78083°E / -41.27861; 174.78083Coordinates: 41°16′43″S 174°46′51″E / 41.27861°S 174.78083°E / -41.27861; 174.78083
Owned by	New Zealand Railways Corporation
Line(s)	North Island Main Trunk Wairarapa Line Johnsonville Line
Platforms	9
Connections	Services
Construction
Structure type	At-grade terminal station
Parking	Yes
Disabled access	most Metlink services (operated by Tranz Metro)
Other information
Station code	WELL (Metlink) WLG (KiwiRail Network)
Fare zone	1
History
Opened	19 June 1937
Electrified	1938
Services
KiwiRail   Preceding station   [[Metlink]]   Following station Crofton Downs toward Johnsonville Johnsonville Line Terminus Ngauranga toward Melling Melling Line Ngauranga toward Upper Hutt Hutt Valley Line Takapu Road toward Waikanae Kapiti Line Petone toward Masterton Wairarapa Connection Preceding station   Tranz Scenic   Following station Paraparaumu toward Auckland Strand Northern Explorer Terminus Paraparaumu toward Palmerston North Capital Connection
Heritage New Zealand - Category I
Designated	25 September 1986
Reference no.	1452

Wellington Railway Station is the main railway station serving Wellington, New Zealand, and is the southern terminus of the North Island Main Trunk, Wairarapa Line and Johnsonville Line.

The station opened in June 1937 replacing the two previous Wellington termini, Lambton and Thorndon.

Wellington's first station, Pipitea, was built in 1874 as part of the railway line to the Hutt Valley. This station building burnt down in 1878 and was replaced in 1884 by what became known as Lambton, built by New Zealand Government Railways to service the Wairarapa line.

In 1886 Thorndon station was built by the private Wellington and Manawatu Railway Company, purchased by the New Zealand government in 1908 to incorporate the line into what became the North Island Main Trunk, via Johnsonville.

Once both stations were in government control public pressure began to build for a single terminal. The government decided on a co-ordinated development that included a new station building, and after agreement in 1922 between the Railways Department and the Wellington Harbour Board, the reclamation of about 68 acres (28 hectares) to incorporate a new double-track railway, train marshalling areas, goods yards and sheds. This reclamation from the sea at Thorndon began in 1923 and was on track to be completed by 1932, which allowed the government in 1929 to confirm that Bunny Street would be the location of a new station which would remove the inconvenience of the two separate stations.

Without going through the process of a design competition, W. Gray Young, known for his neo-Georgian styles, of Wellington architects Gray Young, Morton & Young, was selected in 1929 to design the new station, over the Auckland firm of Gummer & Ford, which had designed Auckland Railway Station. Gray Young, Morton and Young was formed in 1923 and consisted of William Gray Young, Hubert Morton and Gray Young's brother Jack. The firm had recently finished large commissions for Victoria University, designing the Stout Building (1930) and Weir House (1930), and later the Kirk Building (1938).