Christchurch Railway Station
Encyclopedia
Christchurch railway station is an urban railway station serving the city of Christchurch
, in the Canterbury region
of New Zealand
’s South Island
. It is located on the Main North Line at Addington Junction, and is the only remaining operational passenger railway station in the city, after suburban passenger rail services were cancelled due to lack of demand in the 1970s. The present-day station serves as the terminus of the South Island’s only two remaining long-distance passenger rail services, the TranzAlpine
and the TranzCoastal.
The current Christchurch station (Christchurch (Addington)) is the third railway station in Christchurch to bear the name. The two earlier stations (Christchurch (Madras Street) and Christchurch (Moorhouse Avenue)) were located a short distance away to the east of the current station on the Main South Line
and closer to the city centre.
Christchurch’s first railway station was built by the Canterbury Provincial Council
for their broad-gauge railway line
between the city and the wharf at Ferrymead. When the station opened on 1 December 1863, it served as the terminus of services on the line. Later, the station began to receive traffic from Lyttelton (from 1867) 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).
Traffic volume had increased to the point where, in 1874, passenger services from Lyttelton had been separated from goods traffic. By this time, the station was considered inadequate for requirements. The General Manager for the provincial railways commented in August 1874 that “The present station is generally inconvenient and much too small and cramped for the present passenger traffic. It must be enlarged if it is to remain where it is … As the building is old, enlargement would mean constructing anew.”
The end of the first Christchurch station coincided with the re-gauging of the provincial lines to the new colonial standard. In order to accommodate narrow gauge trains which were being operated in conjunction with existing broad-gauge rolling stock, a temporary platform was laid between the provincial broad-gauge station and the site of the new station in early 1876. It was first used for the departure of the first train to Timaru
on 6 March 1876.
In a memorandum dated 12 December 1877, the Railways Commissioner for the Middle Island instructed the General Manager for Christchurch to suspend all traffic on the 20th to allow for the final re-gauging work to take place. This marked the closure of the station and its replacement by the new station that had been erected to handle narrow-gauge traffic.
Various schemes were mooted to give the railways access to the city centre, with locations near Cathedral Square
being particularly coveted for the site of a central city station. Advocacy for the northern line to run down Papanui Road, or alternately from Riccarton along Rolleston Avenue, with a station near the Botanical Gardens and a siding down Worcester or Hereford Streets “into the heart of the city” was popular with “the northerners”.
Interest in a central city station was deemed to be such that a troika of local businessmen were prepared to invest £31,500 in such a project. They proposed to the Provincial Council in May 1872 that they construct a branch line from the Main South Line (at the point where the line curves between Gasson Street and Waltham Road) to a new station situated between Cashel Street and Lichfield Street. The line was to be double-tracked and run between Madras Street and Barbadoes Street. The terms included a clause that, on one years notice, the Provincial Council could opt to purchase the line for an agreed price of £37,000, if within three years of construction, or £25,000, if within 21 years of construction, with a covenant requiring purchase within 21 years. The Provincial Council counter-offered with an option to purchase the line at any time for £25,000. However, a more careful examination of the revenue projections for the line found them to be optimistic at best, and it was decided that any reasonable expectation of profits were to be so small as to make the venture not worth the risk.
An alternative was offered by engineer Thornton, with his plan including a single-line branch running west of Colombo Street
, turning west on a 15-chain curve to Durham Street, and passing by a council yard on Worcester Street. He suggested that at some point in the future the line could “be extended up Papanui Road to form a junction with the Northern railway.”
Given lessons learned from previous forays into capital projects, a risk-averse provincial administration ultimately avoided involvement in any of the proposed intra-city railway lines, and thus the idea of a central city station was shelved.
on 22 November 1876, one of his last official duties just a week before provincial government
was abolished. It was sited on Moorhouse Avenue and opened to traffic without ceremony on 21 December 1877.
The station had been built to the specifications and design of Canterbury Railways engineer J. G. Warner in the Victorian neo-Gothic style, with wood and red brick being prominent construction materials. One of the neighbouring buildings was formerly occupied by H. M. Customs, but later became the office of the traffic manager. In addition to the main platform, there was a separate island platform connected to the former via a footbridge. Both platforms were protected from the elements by verandas.
Some of the many services from this station included the “boat trains”, connecting with the inter-island steamer ferries out of Lyttelton (until 1976); suburban services to Lyttelton (until 1972) and Rangiora (until 1976); inter-city services to Ashburton (until 1958) and Burnham (until 1967); rural passenger services to Lincoln (until 1880) and Culverden
(later Parnassus); mixed services to Little River (until 1951), Southbridge (until 1951), Springfield (until 1968), and Dunedin; railcar services to Dunedin, Picton, Little River, and the West Coast; and long-distance passenger services to Dunedin/Invercargill, the West Coast (from 1923), and Picton
(from 1945).
One of the more notable events in the history of this station was the commissioning of New Zealand’s first electrified suburban rail service in 1929. This service operated between Christchurch station and Lyttelton using Ec class locomotives. It was the second rail electrification project in New Zealand, after the successful electrification of the Otira Tunnel
in 1923. The system reached the end of its useful life in 1970 and was scrapped. Christchurch, being the terminus of electric operations, was the point at which trains were marshalled to switch locomotives from electric to steam, and later diesel.
Plans for a replacement station were being made as far back as 1914, with approval for the project finally forthcoming in 1936. A proposed design for the new station, by W. Gray Young
was included in the department’s 1938 annual report, but the onset of war delayed any further work on the idea. The actual station, as built on the site of the existing station, followed the original design fairly closely differing primarily where an additional storey was added to the front of the main building. Construction was piecemeal, with the first stage being the completion of the new main platform in 1953, followed by final completion and official opening on 1 November 1960.
The decline in popularity of rail for passenger transport and the change in handling practices for goods traffic eventually contributed to the decision to close this station and to redevelop the site for other commercial interests. The station café closed on 25 May 1990, and the station itself was sold the following year.
Further damage was sustained by the building in a subsequent earthquake on 22 February 2011. Its condition has been assessed and found to require a significant effort for repairs and strengthening. The cost of this work may determine the fate of the building, with current owner Science Alive! considering exiting the site and relocating to a new purpose-built building in the central city. The Hoyts cinema annex has also suffered earthquake damage and may have to be rebuilt.
Following the closure of the second Christchurch station, it was decided to construct a new station that was more suitable for the current passenger traffic requirements. The old station, with its multiple passenger platforms and sidings, had been designed to cope with frequent passenger train arrivals and departures, and the consignment of goods. As there were no longer any local passenger trains, and the only long-distance trains remaining were the Southerner, the Coastal Pacific, and the TranzAlpine, the new station was designed to better cater for these services and their passengers, mainly tourists.
As the Addington railway workshops
had recently closed, it was decided to reconfigure Addington Junction and to locate the new station on the former workshops site. The former east-oriented “triangle” link, which passed by the former Addington Sale Yards, and which connected the Main North Line to the Main South Line, was removed. A new west-oriented link was established, on which the new station was sited. It was opened on 5 April 1993, and now shares the former workshops land with the Tower Junction shopping centre. In 2002, the Southerner service was cancelled, leaving the station with the TranzAlpine and the TranzCoastal as its only traffic.
There is no trace of the provincial council broad-gauge station. The site on which it once stood has been developed for commercial interests. Whereas the first two stations were built on the southern fringes of the city, the Main South Line now runs through the centre of Christchurch.
Since the second station was sold in the early 1990s, the station yard has been redeveloped as a commercial precinct. The station building remains, and now houses retailers, including the Science Alive! exhibition and a Hoyts multiplex cinema (for which the building had to be extended). It is registered with the New Zealand Historic Places Trust and is currently owned by the New Zealand Science and Technology Charitable Trust. The former yard area immediately behind the station building where the passenger platforms used to be is now a customer car park. The remainder of the yard area is home to various commercial premises. There are a few clues at the site to remind one of the areas former purpose, including the building’s dedication plaque, a railway workers memorial, and the main platform edge facing the car park behind the building.
A 2005 Environment Canterbury commissioned report into the possibility of re-establishing passenger rail services in Christchurch included an option that would involve an underground city loop track and new central Christchurch railway station. The report, however, dismissed the idea as unjustifiable on cost/benefit grounds.
Christchurch
Christchurch is the largest city in the South Island of New Zealand, and the country's second-largest urban area after Auckland. It lies one third of the way down the South Island's east coast, just north of Banks Peninsula which itself, since 2006, lies within the formal limits of...
, in the Canterbury region
Canterbury, New Zealand
The New Zealand region of Canterbury is mainly composed of the Canterbury Plains and the surrounding mountains. Its main city, Christchurch, hosts the main office of the Christchurch City Council, the Canterbury Regional Council - called Environment Canterbury - and the University of Canterbury.-...
of New Zealand
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
’s South Island
South Island
The South Island is the larger of the two major islands of New Zealand, the other being the more populous North Island. It is bordered to the north by Cook Strait, to the west by the Tasman Sea, to the south and east by the Pacific Ocean...
. It is located on the Main North Line at Addington Junction, and is the only remaining operational passenger railway station in the city, after suburban passenger rail services were cancelled due to lack of demand in the 1970s. The present-day station serves as the terminus of the South Island’s only two remaining long-distance passenger rail services, the TranzAlpine
TranzAlpine
The TranzAlpine Express is a passenger train operated by Tranz Scenic in the South Island of New Zealand. This trip is often regarded to be one of the world's great train journeys for the scenery through which it passes . The journey is one-way, taking about four and a half hours...
and the TranzCoastal.
The current Christchurch station (Christchurch (Addington)) is the third railway station in Christchurch to bear the name. The two earlier stations (Christchurch (Madras Street) and Christchurch (Moorhouse Avenue)) were located a short distance away to the east of the current station on the Main South Line
Main South Line
The Main South Line, sometimes referred to as part of the South Island Main Trunk Railway, is a railroad line that runs north and south from Lyttelton in New Zealand through Christchurch and along the east coast of the South Island to Invercargill via Dunedin...
and closer to the city centre.
First station
Canterbury Province
The Canterbury Province was a province of New Zealand from 1853 until the abolition of provincial government in 1876. On the east coast the province was bounded by the Hurunui River in the north and the Waitaki River in the south...
for their broad-gauge railway line
Ferrymead Railway
The Ferrymead Railway is a New Zealand heritage railway built upon the formation of New Zealand's first public railway, the line from Ferrymead to Christchurch, which opened in 1863. On the opening of the line to Lyttelton on 9 December 1867, the Ferrymead Railway became the Ferrymead Branch and...
between the city and the wharf at Ferrymead. When the station opened on 1 December 1863, it served as the terminus of services on the line. Later, the station began to receive traffic from Lyttelton (from 1867) 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).
Traffic volume had increased to the point where, in 1874, passenger services from Lyttelton had been separated from goods traffic. By this time, the station was considered inadequate for requirements. The General Manager for the provincial railways commented in August 1874 that “The present station is generally inconvenient and much too small and cramped for the present passenger traffic. It must be enlarged if it is to remain where it is … As the building is old, enlargement would mean constructing anew.”
The end of the first Christchurch station coincided with the re-gauging of the provincial lines to the new colonial standard. In order to accommodate narrow gauge trains which were being operated in conjunction with existing broad-gauge rolling stock, a temporary platform was laid between the provincial broad-gauge station and the site of the new station in early 1876. It was first used for the departure of the first train to Timaru
Timaru
TimaruUrban AreaPopulation:27,200Extent:Former Timaru City CouncilTerritorial AuthorityName:Timaru District CouncilPopulation:42,867 Land area:2,736.54 km² Mayor:Janie AnnearWebsite:...
on 6 March 1876.
In a memorandum dated 12 December 1877, the Railways Commissioner for the Middle Island instructed the General Manager for Christchurch to suspend all traffic on the 20th to allow for the final re-gauging work to take place. This marked the closure of the station and its replacement by the new station that had been erected to handle narrow-gauge traffic.
Proposed Christchurch city station
The distance from Christchurch station to the city centre became the source of discontent for many, leading The Press to comment that “Christchurch station would never be accepted as Christchurch except on a railway ticket.” An economic recession had called a halt to the construction of the cathedral on the completion of its foundations, and so observed The Press that “A line of rails should be taken into the very heart of the city … Cathedral Square is becoming yearly more and more tempting for if we are not to have a cathedral, we might at least have a railway station.”Various schemes were mooted to give the railways access to the city centre, with locations near Cathedral Square
Cathedral Square, Christchurch
Cathedral Square, locally known simply as the Square, is the geographical centre and heart of Christchurch, New Zealand, where the city's Anglican cathedral, ChristChurch Cathedral is located...
being particularly coveted for the site of a central city station. Advocacy for the northern line to run down Papanui Road, or alternately from Riccarton along Rolleston Avenue, with a station near the Botanical Gardens and a siding down Worcester or Hereford Streets “into the heart of the city” was popular with “the northerners”.
Interest in a central city station was deemed to be such that a troika of local businessmen were prepared to invest £31,500 in such a project. They proposed to the Provincial Council in May 1872 that they construct a branch line from the Main South Line (at the point where the line curves between Gasson Street and Waltham Road) to a new station situated between Cashel Street and Lichfield Street. The line was to be double-tracked and run between Madras Street and Barbadoes Street. The terms included a clause that, on one years notice, the Provincial Council could opt to purchase the line for an agreed price of £37,000, if within three years of construction, or £25,000, if within 21 years of construction, with a covenant requiring purchase within 21 years. The Provincial Council counter-offered with an option to purchase the line at any time for £25,000. However, a more careful examination of the revenue projections for the line found them to be optimistic at best, and it was decided that any reasonable expectation of profits were to be so small as to make the venture not worth the risk.
An alternative was offered by engineer Thornton, with his plan including a single-line branch running west of Colombo Street
Colombo Street
Colombo Street is a main road of the city of Christchurch, New Zealand. It runs south-north through the centre of Christchurch with a break at Cathedral Square. As with many other central Christchurch streets, it is named for a colonial Anglican bishopric, Colombo, in what at the time was known as...
, turning west on a 15-chain curve to Durham Street, and passing by a council yard on Worcester Street. He suggested that at some point in the future the line could “be extended up Papanui Road to form a junction with the Northern railway.”
Given lessons learned from previous forays into capital projects, a risk-averse provincial administration ultimately avoided involvement in any of the proposed intra-city railway lines, and thus the idea of a central city station was shelved.
Second station
A contract for construction of a new station was let to James Tait for a price of £7,072. The commencement of work was marked by the laying of the foundation stone by Provincial Superintendent RollestonWilliam Rolleston
William Rolleston was a New Zealand politician, public administrator, educationalist and Canterbury provincial superintendent.-Early life:...
on 22 November 1876, one of his last official duties just a week before provincial government
Provinces of New Zealand
The Provinces of New Zealand existed from 1841 until 1876 as a form of sub-national government. They were replaced by counties, which were themselves replaced by districts.Following abolition, the provinces became known as provincial districts...
was abolished. It was sited on Moorhouse Avenue and opened to traffic without ceremony on 21 December 1877.
The station had been built to the specifications and design of Canterbury Railways engineer J. G. Warner in the Victorian neo-Gothic style, with wood and red brick being prominent construction materials. One of the neighbouring buildings was formerly occupied by H. M. Customs, but later became the office of the traffic manager. In addition to the main platform, there was a separate island platform connected to the former via a footbridge. Both platforms were protected from the elements by verandas.
Some of the many services from this station included the “boat trains”, connecting with the inter-island steamer ferries out of Lyttelton (until 1976); suburban services to Lyttelton (until 1972) and Rangiora (until 1976); inter-city services to Ashburton (until 1958) and Burnham (until 1967); rural passenger services to Lincoln (until 1880) and Culverden
Culverden Express
The Culverden Express was a passenger train operated by the New Zealand Railways Department between Christchurch and Culverden. It ran from 1886 until its replacement by the Picton Express in 1945 and its route followed both the Main North Line and the Waiau Branch...
(later Parnassus); mixed services to Little River (until 1951), Southbridge (until 1951), Springfield (until 1968), and Dunedin; railcar services to Dunedin, Picton, Little River, and the West Coast; and long-distance passenger services to Dunedin/Invercargill, the West Coast (from 1923), and Picton
Picton Express
The Picton Express was a passenger express train operated by the New Zealand Railways Department between Christchurch and Picton. It ran from December 1945 until February 1956, and was thus the shortest-lived provincial express in New Zealand.- Introduction :...
(from 1945).
Otira Tunnel
The Otira Tunnel is a railway tunnel on the Midland Line in the South Island of New Zealand between Otira and Arthur's Pass. It runs under the Southern Alps from Arthur's Pass to Otira - a length of over . The gradient is mainly 1 in 33, and the Otira end of the tunnel is over lower than the...
in 1923. The system reached the end of its useful life in 1970 and was scrapped. Christchurch, being the terminus of electric operations, was the point at which trains were marshalled to switch locomotives from electric to steam, and later diesel.
Plans for a replacement station were being made as far back as 1914, with approval for the project finally forthcoming in 1936. A proposed design for the new station, by W. Gray Young
W. Gray Young
William Gray Young was a New Zealand architect in the early 20th century, designing buildings such as Knox College , Turnbull House and Elliott House...
was included in the department’s 1938 annual report, but the onset of war delayed any further work on the idea. The actual station, as built on the site of the existing station, followed the original design fairly closely differing primarily where an additional storey was added to the front of the main building. Construction was piecemeal, with the first stage being the completion of the new main platform in 1953, followed by final completion and official opening on 1 November 1960.
The decline in popularity of rail for passenger transport and the change in handling practices for goods traffic eventually contributed to the decision to close this station and to redevelop the site for other commercial interests. The station café closed on 25 May 1990, and the station itself was sold the following year.
Earthquake damage
On 4 September 2010 the building's clock tower was damaged during an earthquake. The clock, frozen since the moment of the quake, is currently inoperative and cordoned off. The damage was found to be superficial and, with temporary repairs made, a decision is pending on its future.Further damage was sustained by the building in a subsequent earthquake on 22 February 2011. Its condition has been assessed and found to require a significant effort for repairs and strengthening. The cost of this work may determine the fate of the building, with current owner Science Alive! considering exiting the site and relocating to a new purpose-built building in the central city. The Hoyts cinema annex has also suffered earthquake damage and may have to be rebuilt.
Third station
As the Addington railway workshops
Addington Workshops
The Addington Railway Workshops was a major railway facility established in the Christchurch suburb of Addington in May 1880 by the New Zealand Railways Department. The workshops were previously in Carlyle Street and closed in 1990.-Description:...
had recently closed, it was decided to reconfigure Addington Junction and to locate the new station on the former workshops site. The former east-oriented “triangle” link, which passed by the former Addington Sale Yards, and which connected the Main North Line to the Main South Line, was removed. A new west-oriented link was established, on which the new station was sited. It was opened on 5 April 1993, and now shares the former workshops land with the Tower Junction shopping centre. In 2002, the Southerner service was cancelled, leaving the station with the TranzAlpine and the TranzCoastal as its only traffic.
Today
Since the second station was sold in the early 1990s, the station yard has been redeveloped as a commercial precinct. The station building remains, and now houses retailers, including the Science Alive! exhibition and a Hoyts multiplex cinema (for which the building had to be extended). It is registered with the New Zealand Historic Places Trust and is currently owned by the New Zealand Science and Technology Charitable Trust. The former yard area immediately behind the station building where the passenger platforms used to be is now a customer car park. The remainder of the yard area is home to various commercial premises. There are a few clues at the site to remind one of the areas former purpose, including the building’s dedication plaque, a railway workers memorial, and the main platform edge facing the car park behind the building.
A 2005 Environment Canterbury commissioned report into the possibility of re-establishing passenger rail services in Christchurch included an option that would involve an underground city loop track and new central Christchurch railway station. The report, however, dismissed the idea as unjustifiable on cost/benefit grounds.