OUR RAILWAY STATION.

Auckland Star, Volume LXIII, Issue 284, 30 November 1932, Page 6

OUR RAILWAY STATION.

Reading Auckland criticism in the House of the new Auckland railway station, some of our Southern friends may repeat the famous remark of the London "cabby" on being told that an inebriated gentleman was 1 ill—"I wish I 'ad 'alf 'is complaint!" Certainly the Thorndon station is to our own as a sod ,whare is to a squatter's homestead —old style. What Mr. Savage said in the House may modify the opinion held so generally in the South that Auckland people are intensely parochial. As a matter of fact, the station has been a popular joke ever since it was opened. That it is in the wrong place, and that it cost too much, feAV here would dispute. Its position was fixed partly by the anticipation of a tunnel to Morningside and partly by the desire to obtain plenty of ground for assembling trains, but the station itself could have been placed substantially nearer the heart of the city, and if it had been, the railways would have retained more of tho suburban traffic. As to the cost, it must be remembered in extenuation, though not in excuse, that it was designed and commenced when times were better. We had a champagne appetite then, and thought we had a champagne income; now we know that our income is only on a ginger-beer level. Unfortunately, the champagne has been drunk, and put down on everybody's bill. There is the consolation, however, that the city possesses a fine building; only a few days ago the architects were handed the gold medal bestowed on the design as the best piece of work of the year in the Dominion. Our poverty may be mitigated in the contemplation of beauty and dignity.