THE RAILWAY STATION.

Auckland Star, Volume LXVII, Issue 196, 19 August 1936, Page 20

THE RAILWAY STATION.

The Mayor of Auckland is not by j any means the only old resident of this | city who was appalled at the original proposal to transfer to Parnell the railway station which was then located in an ideal position, almost in Queen Street, close to the ferries and the tramway terminus. My own opinion at the time, and there lias been 110 evidence to change it since, was that if it was necessary to move it the next best place was facing Britomart Placc, wlieie the goods shed has been erected. The street could have been widened, as at the front of the general post office, the frontages facing Beacli Road would have been valuable business sites, instead of Iving idle, and within a year or two both skies of Custom Street and Fort Street would have been transformed into shopping areas, thus making the new site within comfortable walking distance of Queen Street in all weathers. Being familiar with suburban railway travelling since about 1880, when we used to waTk to and from the old railway station at the end of what is now King's wharf, I venture to suggest that this extra distance from Queen Street would not have lost a single suburban passenger, to the'railways. As if to make the°iiew station even more inconvenient, if it was necessary to take it to Parnell, there was no need to push it still furthei away by interposing an acre of gardens. If that was regarded as essential there was no need to still furthei inciease the walking distance by building the station east and west, instead of making the main part north and south, and thus avoiding most of those inconvenient subways. The Mayor's thoughtful proposal to construct an overhead track to the former site is unlikely .of fulfilment, for the cost would frighten official opinion, and the public would regard it as an eyesore. It would probably be better to make the best of a bad job, ,and merely ask for what we can get, instead of striving for the impossible. Take the suburban trains to an auxiliary statioii facing Britomart Place and Beach Road, alongside the goods shed, leaving the present white elephant to carry the long-distance passengers, and the whole additional cost would probably be met by the added value to the Beacli Road frontages. VIATOR. .