Subscribe to RSSRemuera Gets High & Mighty
The historic Remuera train station signal box and station have been raised as work continues to raise and extend the platform for Auckland’s new electric trains.
The local station preservation trust, which has done such a magnificent job on restoring the signal box, is now fundraising to do up the adjourning railway station building. The station buildings are considered one of the best examples of an “island” station (built as part of track duplication) left remaining in NZ.
The present Remuera building was completed in 1907 and the station was manned until 1942. From 1970 it became a busy freight station after a company called Alltrans building a freight depot there but that stopped in the late 80s.
Remuera began as a stop on the old Auckland-Onehunga route in 1873. In 1903 the government embarked on an expanded rail line programme and the duplicate line was built to Penrose, later extended all the way to Hamilton with stations built at Remuera, Greenlane, Ellerslie and Penrose.
A video company leased the station building for a number of years but once the platform is extended, commuters will be able to use it for shelter.
10 Comments
The building would make a great cafe or tea rooms/museum.
I remember the weird location of that freight depot.
I agree with Ian- using the station building again for shelter will be great, but if it was partially reopened as a tea room/ museum it would be amazing as that sort of thing gives real character and atmosphere to a station, while also bringing it to life. Northern Busway stations support indoor waiting areas, and some have coffee shops, so hopefully these things can be viable at Remuera too
I always thought of Remuera, Greenlane and Ellerslie as triplets. All the other formerly officered stations along the line seemed to lack this trios elegance. It’s nice see something of them survive.
Look at that station was my favourite thing about catching the train at Remuera. Sure as hell it wasn’t huddling under Market Rd, dodging drips coming through the concrete,on a rainy winter morning.
Proper shelter cannot come to Remuera soon enough. It has to be just about the last station that doesn’t have shelters with sides to break the wind.
“was partially reopened as a tea room/ museum”
Noty sure it would get enough custom to function as a cafe - it would not be accessed by anyone except train passengers, as it is not easily accessible from anywhere else - and while it is a nice building, I think it would be hard to make it into a destination of it’s own so people actively go there to have a coffee because it’s so cool to have coffee there. There’s enough failing small stores and restaurants elsewhere, I am afraid.
I would think that it would do quite well with commuters who may want to grab a coffee or buy their lunch before heading to town. I think the cafe/museum could be very popular if it was marketed properly-it would have a real point of difference over any other cafe in the area.
Should have picked it up and trucked it somewhere else.
Honestly how much money was actually spent on it ?
if the comments above are correct and no sort of restroom idea is really going to happen? what is the point of it all?
seems like a lot of fuss to save something that isn’t really going to work?
History yes, all for it, but form and function in this age are also very important.
I mean whats its life expectancy? 10 more years? 15 years?
once trains start coming through more often, people are using the area, the vibration issues are going to be a lot more.
when was the last time it was actually used by a massive volume of people for 10-12 hours a day?
sorry go for gold on the do ups, nice to see it happening, but really here?
Has anyone got a photo of the Alltrans rail freight depot which was next to the station in the 1970s and 80s?
http://maps.aucklandcouncil.govt.nz/aucklandcouncilviewer
Graham
You can see old aerial photographs here.