NEW STATION SITE

Sun (Auckland), Volume IV, Issue 975, 19 May 1930, Page 16

NEW STATION SITE

CHOICE MADE IN 1914 STATEMENT BY MINISTER In 1914, four years before the Morningside tunnel scheme was brought forward, the site of the new Auckland railway station was determined. This information is contained in a statement made on Saturday by the Minister of Railways, the Hon. W. B. Taverner. In order to clear up a misconception arising out of the Government's decision not to proceed with the tunnel scheme, stated the Minister, he had gone through the department’s records and discovered that two alternate schemes, one providing for a station on the site eventually chosen, the other for a building on a site near the old station, were considered by a committee representing the Railway Department, the Auckland City Council and the Auckland Harbour Board, in 1914, when it was mutually agreed that the first scheme should be adopted. This scheme was eventually included in the programme of works shown in Mr. Hiley’s special report. “In 1914 there was no suggestion of a railway that would take passengers any nearer to the centre of the City than the site of the new station,” said Mr. Taverner. On the contrary, Mr. Hiley’s report contains the following paragraph:—“At some future period, when the traffic work of Auckland increases sufficiently to justify the expense, it will be desirable to extend the Main Trunk line straight through Auckland station, carrying the line westward over Queen Street and through the suburb of Ponsonby and joining the present railway to Kaipara at either New Lynn or Kumeu.” TOWN HALL LOCALITY “Mr. Hiley was, of course, referring to the new Auckland station, without, apparently, any knowledge of the Auckland-Morningside tunnel route, which was not suggested until 1918.” It was quite definite, therefore, that the Auckland City Council and the Auckland Harbour Board, In accepting the site proposed for the new Auckland station, accepted the position that there would be no rail transport between that station and the Town Hall locality, which was later suggested as tho direction of the Auckland-Morn-ingsido tunnel route. The latter route was first suggested in 191 S as a possible northern outlet for the City, but no definite action was taken in the matter until 1924, when a route was planned crossing Beach Road by an overhead bridge immediately in front of the new station, and thence through a tunnel under the City. This was adopted by the then Minister of Railways, the Rt. Hon. J. G. Coates, and was included in his 1924 improvements and new works. The details of the layout of the new I station were subsequently planned to suit tli is future route to the northward. The position of the station, however, had not been altered from that shown in the scheme as originally agreed to by all parties concerned in 1914, four years before the Auckland-Morning-side tunnel route was suggested and 10 years before action was taken to prepare tentative plans for the latter route. The Minister concluded by stating that these facts were mentioned particularly as it had been stated that the league would never have agreed to the location of the present station if it had not been on the express understanding that the Morningside tunnel would be constructed.