NEW RAILWAY STATION.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXVII, Issue 20722, 15 November 1930, Page 12

NEW RAILWAY STATION.

USE TO-MORROW EVENING. THE INFORMAL OPENING. TASK OF THE CHANGE-OVER. WORK THROUGHOUT TO-NIGHT. Excellent progress is being made with preparations for the actual, although not official, opening of the new Auckland railway station to-morrow evening. The building was a hive of industry yesterday. Carpenters, painters and other workmen wero busy cleaning walls and fixtures and adding finishing touches to all parts of the interior. Much work was in progress outside, particularly in removing material that had been stacked in tho roadways and in clearing up generally.

The Railway Department has not been behindhand in getting ready its subsidiary services at tho station. Yesterday afternoon a full staff of cooks and waitresses was in occupation of the kitchen nnd tearoom. Tho tables had already been sot with fresh white cloths and gleaming; electro-plate The dining room, however, was still in the hands of tho contractors' men, who were laying the last of the rubber flooring. This room, it is hoped, will be ready for use by Monday, if not by to-morrow. Tho substantial oak furniture was stacked in the concourse yesterday. Preparing for Business. Tho staff of the bookstall could be seen arranging magazines and novels in the racks, and three revolving chairs were being fitted in the barber's shop. Hoth of theso establishments will be conducted by the department. A large posting box had been erected in the lobby of the post office, but lacked its coat of paint. One of the advertising showcases in the concourse was. filled with a bright display. Tho furniture /was in place in tho general atyl ladies' waiting rooms. Out at the end of one of the platforms a gang of carpenters was erecting a subsidiary bookstall. The little refreshment room in tho basement, intended for carters and others, was already in order, with its tiled walls, white-topped tables and display of tobacco and cigarettes behind the buffet. The department has provided an experienced refreshment staff. The moving of the itationmaster's office and that of the district traffic manager from their old quarters to the new station was in progress yesterday and will be continued to-day and tomorrow; morning, when all luggage on hand will be transferred. It is expected that everything will be in order, for all practical purposes, when the building is opened at 5 p.m. Before that hour the public will be strictly excluded. Work upon the transfer of tho remaining offices —those of the district engineer, locomotive engineer and divisional superintendent—is a day ahead of schedule *nd all the staffs should be in their new quarters by Wednesday or Thursday. The Traffic Change-over.

By eight o'clock this evening gangs of men will be hard at work upon the actual traffic change-over, which will occupy the night and is expected to be completed by noon to-morrow. It will he necessary to tip a large quantity of material into the gap between the old and new embankments just below the Pamell railway bridge, and to connect the new rails leading into tho station with the existing main lines at that point. Another gang will cut through the main lines opposite the two main entrances from Beach Road. Up to midnight one of the railway tracks will remain in use and will carry up and down trains by single-line working, but the Parnell route will be out of use all to-morrow except for worktrains.

Tramway connections with the station loop will be made by the Transport board's workmen as early as possible tomorrow,! The concreting of the.entrances will lJegtn on Monday, half of each section of roadway being done at a time, Bo as to allow traffic to pass. Motor vehicles will have full access to the Station for the arrival and departure of to-morrow evening's trains. The station will be officially opened on Mondayfl week, November 24.