HEART OF A GREAT TRANSPORT SYSTEM

Evening Post, Volume CXXIII, Issue 143, 18 June 1937, Page 17

HEART OF A GREAT TRANSPORT SYSTEM

The architectural progress which is daily im* liroving, not only the commercial centre of Weiirigton, but the approach to it, has its keynote in Jthe magnificent new railway station fronting Bunny Street. The years 1934 to 1937 have seen so?-marked an improvement in the architectural dignity of the heart of the city that it will be the natural sequence of a few more years of prosperity; if the whole of the area surrounding the new station is brought into line, under plans which wouFd have been carried put before now biit for the bad years. Nothing that can be done there, arid nothing that has already been accomplished in the housing of education, cultural, and business activities in other parts of the city, will detract from the compact, impressive dignity of the Bunny Street station. The architect has seized and made the most of the possibilities of the site, with its radiating main thoroughfares, and this edifice will stand out however noble may be its future compeers. Moreover, unlike some other imposing buildings, this landmark is only part of a great scheme, reaching out into the wealthy province, for the further enhancement of the port and the progress of its people. The group of great works forming the component links in that scheme were so arresting in their conception and magnitude as projects that they captured the attention and interest not only of the whole of New Zealand, but of intrigued engineers the world over. There was, apart from their engineering boldness, a glamour in their very dimensions. Reclaiming 69 acres of-the harbour at one of ite deepest foreshore points, where Home liners now lie alongside its breastwork, piercing the hills for nearly three and a half miles northwards, electrifying miles of northern coastline to b_in«; within daily reach holiday beaches ll at would accommodate sun-bathing populations many times, that of Wellington, cutting northern suburban access times in half,'besides giving all railway travellers in the province the acme of terminal comfort in station facilities well ahead of any other terminal in the Dominion, were features that could not fail to grip the imagination during construction, and.give the liveliest feelings of satisfaction now that they are completed in a harmonious whole. Although the entire work has cost some £3,000,000 there will be an offset in haulage savings, by cutting out the 518 ft climb to Johnsonville from sea level, and the elimination of two and a quarter miles of distance. There will also be an assured increased patronage of the. northern suburban portion of the line,; now, only 25 miles-away, .has, _. become a potential residential suburb with electrification. /The wretched old Thorndon and Lambton stations are now only historic, and not the least advantage of the new central station, the city terminal of revised tram and bus routes, is its convenient nearness to the interinland ferry service. The province, in fact, has a new front gate. Plans for a building on a somewhat similar general lay-out to the present station were suggested in 1907, in 1918 it was decided to go on with the work, and the present plans were drawn in 1929. Though long overdue, the materialised plans will greatly assist the progress .of the city and its suburbs. One of the matters for congratulation is the way in which the?-comfort, health, and recreation of the railway employees has been studied in every phase of activity in station, head office, and yard. In this respect the Department has set a standard to big city businesses which could with advantage be, followed. It is regrettable that the demands of munition factories on the world's sleel and copper, not only in Great Britain, has shortened available supplies to the extent that the electric locomotives cannot be supplied in time for the official opening. *-*"

Approaching Wellington from the north, passengers will note a wonderful difference. Having been taken up the Paekakariki hill at rather more than 20 miles an hour by the electric locomotives, a great gain on the slow, panting progress under steam, they will find the rest of the way to the city level, or so level that the speeds of the electric locomotives on' the flat will practically apply. On the old Main Trunk line only glimpses of the harbour were seen until the train emerged above the Hutt Road overbridge, and one of the worst and grimiest parts of Wellington smote the passenger in tlie eye. Coming through the deviation, it is true, nothing is seen of the city until the train' emerges on the ramp by the Hutt overbridge, but there will be no smoke, and the J wider view of the harbour and city reduces the Thorndon flats to insignificance. The outlook from this new approach is very fine, giving the saliant features of Wellington at a glimpse. Even the National Group on Mt. Cook stands out midway in a picture that gives waterfront, statipn, business centre, and tlie distances of Newtown Park; and Eastbourne, Somes Island, and the Hutt Valley may be seen from the windows. The dimensions of the huge building are largely due to the fact that it houses not only the travel facilities of an island terminal, but also the head, office of the largest commercial concern in New Zealand. During the year 1936 the railways earned £7,000,000, and spent £6,000,000, leaving a net earning of £1,051,477, or 2 per cent, on the total investment of £60,000,000. Expenditure consisted of approximately £4,000,000 in wages and £2,000,000 in stores, of which approximately £1,000,000 was in New Zealand manufactures and products. Half a million sterling was expended in coal, quarter of a million in material manufacture^ in the railway workshops, and half a million was spent overseas through the London Office and the Trade Commissioner of Australia. THE HEAD OFFICES. No one can realise the extent of the railway system and its ramifications, its remarkably efficient methods of record, and its close association with tourist traffic and the commercial life of the Dominion on the transport side, or its inj:„;.;u. __.r,n.h,0..i,:. .....u ♦!,_. _,„„-,.,.„•'„ nnr ».

who has not visited the new head office where, for the first time, all these interlinked activities are housed under one roof. For more years than lhey care to remember the staff has worked under severe difficulties of location. Office accommodation has had to be secured where it was offering, irrespective of convenience, with the consequence that departments dependant on each other for the transaction of business and frequent collaboration were separated by several city blocks. This kept that indispensable irritant of commercial life, the telephone, working overtime, while the miles walked during the day to secure unavoidable personal conferences would surprise the public. Then there were the storage of records in totally inadequate space, and the difficulties of conducting one business in premises designed for another. The old head office was hot only out of date, but was called on to handle a volume of business nearly twice as great as when it was built.

There is no ground for complaint in these respects in the new building, which has been specially designed to give every opportunity for inter-communication, while the staffs of the various departments have been so allocated, in premises designed especially for them, that interrelated activities actually touch, on the floors where they work. Not only that, but the vertical allocations of departments on the five floors are such that further necessary communications are assisted by the lift system. There is in addition a special file lift, serving all the necessary floors, which will obviate running about with documents. Special provision has been made in the designing of the building for access of the public by the lifts to those departments people may wish to interview, and facilities for supplying the public with information have been specially provided. The staff has been so placed that, from the inquiry clerk to its head, the customer may have the access his business demands with a minimum of waste time. The arrangement also ensures privacy and lack of interruption to the more responsible heads in cases where the matters may be dealt with by their assistants. A staff of smartly uniformed commissionaires will direct inquirers.

A directory of the graded departmental allocations would be a Gompendious document, were such a thing needed,' but the system is so

thorough that it is unnecessary. The visitor will be personally conducted immediately upon entering the building. A brief outline of the positions of the various departments, however, is interesting, as indicating the activities so grouped for the first time.

The basement is a busy place, almost a village in an underground world. It contains the boilers which heat the whole building, and gives access to the tunnel containing all the main pipes reticulating the great edifice.?. Here is also the storeroom bf the refreshment."branch,'and the domain of the carpenter. With so much woodwork in the building, it is anticipated that this man-will be kept fully occupied in remedying small defects, making dooi's and drawers fit, besides occasional new jobs. There is a shoot into the basement for fuel. A lift for getting away refuse works in such a way that when it is not in actual use it is level with the floor. The basement is lit in daytime mainly by lights along the Featherston Street side. A stairway goes up into Featherston Street so that goods for the kitchen may be taken direct,into tlie storeroom below the kitchen, and another stairway leads from the storeroom to the kitchen.

WHERE BIG STAFF WORKS. '

The first floor is occupied, on the corner of the east wing, by the district traffic manager, his assistants, typists, and staff. The staff room measures 100 ft by 20ft. Along the northern part of the west wing are the business offices, telegraph arid manual exchange rooms, wagon supply, train control, train-running office, and train-running room. The latter measures 60ft by 40ft. There is also a rest room for ticket and traffic inspectors. On the Waterloo Quay corner are the controller of stores and his staff, and the store clerks' office, whicli extends 100 ft along the Bunny Street frontage. In the main corridor going north along Waterloo Quay are the locomotive and workshops branches, locomotive design, and locomotive engineers with their staffs, and the drawing office, a magnifi-cently-lit room, 50ft by 50ft. Records and plans have a special room. Housed along the main corridor between - the wings are the electric traction engineer and his staff, and the "loco" (fortunately the language is not Spanish) and

workshops clerks. The typists have tiieir rest room.

On the second floor Featherston Street wing corner arc the signal and electrical engineer and his staff. The draughtsmen are housed along the Bunny Street frontage, in a specially-lit room 100 ft long. Along the Featherston Street side going north, besides the staff tliere are the automatic exchange, battery room, and an electrical laboratory. Advertising, artists, and sketching room fill in the north end of the wing. Along the main corridor between lhe wings are the district engineer and his staff and drawing office. Along the extreme east end is the foreman of works and inspector of permanent way, and plan room. The corner,of the Waterloo Quay wing has the land office and drawing office, extending along to above the main entrance to the building. Running north from the Waterloo Quay corner is the afforestation office. The chief engineer's department extends north along the Waterloo Quay side,'with another splendidly-lit drawing office 70ft by 50ft, plan room, and staff accommodation.

The third floor, where the light wells over the lobby, etc. end, and corridors run fully east and west, contains all the branches of the general manager's office, but the general riiartager's suite is on the floor above. On the Featherston Street corner are the library and law office and staff and the general conference room. Going north along the Featherston Street wing are the offices of the commercial manager and staff, staff employment division, law offices, and mechanicians' workshop, whicli takes care of all the machinery in the building. Coming along the main corridor west to east, the staff division occupies most of the frontage to Bunny Street, and there is also the head office typists' room, 80ft by 20ft, with a supervisor's room and a rest room. At lhe Waterloo Quay end is the refreshment branch control and staff, extending towards the middle of the corridor. Going northwards from the Waterloo Quay corner is the suggestions and inventions committee room. The whole of the remainder of the Waterloo Quay wing on this floor is devoted to a huge room for head office and general manager's records, including staff records. It is at the inner corner of this wing with the corridors east and west

that the file lift serves all floors where it M needed. ; '_ ''A GENERAL MANAGER'S SUITE.;;' y The Featherston Street corner of the west wing of the fourth floor and half the west-east corridor in the main building are taken" up;;-by the chief accountant and his staff. Going .north along the Featherston Street side are the assistant chief accountant, revenue accountant, and chief accountant's long room, 150 ft long and from 30ft to 36ft wide. Nearby is the Powers computing machine room, 100 ft long, of which the machines take up 70ft, and the staff 30ft. On the Waterloo Quay wing is the general manager's suite. The transportation superintendent and staff occupy the corner. Going north along the east wing the general manager's staff is on the right, and the interview room (once destined for the Railway Board) on the left. The first and second assistant managers are on the right' and left of this corridor. To the northern end of the wing are the general manager's personal clerk and waiting-room and the general manager's personal room, and at the end of the wing are the general manager's office and ante-room. The corridor east to west is taken up by the railways publicity office, and staff.

The fifth floor extends only over the northern half of the main building exclusive of the wings. The Featherston Street end contains the women's tea rooms, social room, cloak rooms, etc^-for the staff, and there is a men's social hall over the main suburban entrance on the Featherston Street side. On the Bunny Street frontagejof the fifth floor there is the flat roof over the'foiirth floor,- open to all the staff to spend their luncheon and other authorised free, moments there—rin suitable weather. At the extreme end of the fifth floor there is the plan-printing and departmental photographer's premises and dark room and the housing for the lift machinery, while on the flat roof of the Waterloo Qiiay Vring there is an afforestation nursery. ', ' There is also the sixth floor, where a penthouse containing the creche, children's nursery,-play area, and play room, under an attendant, has been erected. This is an afterthought. At first the creche was to have been off the concourse, but the improvement is noticeable. Adjoining the creche is the departmental correspondence school. /

STAFF COMFORTS,

Social halls for men. and women, ,■ resi rooms wherever there are groups of typists (typists, with the exception of a few of the more private and responsible, are grouped on each floor), and the ample space provided per head in all branches, make the new head office one of the most agreeable places, from the point.'of view of working conditions, yet erected in Wei* lington. The plumbing in the building is'1 on a par with that of a modern hotel. Recessed hand basins in the offices of responsible officers;' with hot and cold water, a more than adequate system of lavatories in pleasing tints, -with tiled walls and floors, heating system, etc., make the; building a great advance on any other Government edifice in the city. ,

Smoking was strictly prohibited on.'the station platform fifty years ago. A 1 noticeboard which used to hang from the roof :«_£..the Lambton Station forty-five years ago- had .its wording -in Maori, as follows: "Kaua; i. kai paipa kei konei," literally "No food for the pipe at' this place." The Maori passengers of those days . were, not so conversant with' the pakeha language as they are today. j