Britomart

Introduction | The transport centre | Transport in Auckland

The transport centre

The $204 million Britomart Transport Centre provides a central connection point for bus, ferry and rail services in downtown Auckland, making it easier and more attractive to use public transport.

Yet Britomart is more than just a railway station - it is a transport, heritage and urban renewal project all in one, that links the city to the waterfront.

Chief Post Office

The 1912 Chief Post Office (CPO) is the bustling heart of the transport centre and its glamorous main entrance. Great care has been taken to restore the building's heritage features to their former beauty, including an historic banking chamber, stained glass domes and elaborate stone carvings.

The ground floor atrium has been lowered to allow easy pedestrian access to this open public space, which has been brought alive by ticket booths, retail kiosks and a café.

The building has also been fitted with fire sprinklers, security cameras, reinforced walls and lighting to bring it up to modern standards.

A glasshouse provides a link between the CPO and the railway station. This futuristic structure is made from louvred glass panels that drench it with natural light. It offers a choice of stairs, escalators, a transparent glass bridge or a lift to enter the station below or move outside to the street.

Underground railway station

Britomart's underground railway station has three platforms and five rail lines, which can currently handle up to 40 trains and as many as 17,000 passengers an hour. With upgraded trains the capacity would be 25,000 passengers per hour, and with new tracks and signalling on the existing rail network the capacity of the station would be 34,000 passengers per hour. Any passenger movements over this figure would require the stairs to be replaced with escalators. If rail was to continue beyond Britomart and operated as a flow through station, the capacity of the station is 50,000 passengers per hour.

The station's design features are breathtaking yet functional, making extensive use of stainless steel, native flora and accents of colour. Eleven skylights shaped like volcanic cones allow natural light to filter through the ceiling, while one cone doubles as a spectacular water feature. There is also a volcanic garden and waterfall near the foot of the stairs, evoking Auckland's native forests.

Public spaces

Queen Elizabeth Square and the surrounding streets have been redeveloped to allow buses to move freely in and out. An urban canopy, stretching from Custom to Quay streets, provides a sheltered waiting area for people to catch buses or as they head down to the ferry wharves. An underground concourse, with 24-hour security cameras, runs under the square to take commuters directly into the glasshouse, then down another level to the railway station.

A key part of the project was to create exciting new public spaces that would bristle with energy and people 24 hours a day. Te Ara Tahuhu walking street and Taku Tai Plaza will offer a diverse mix of shops, restaurants, cosy corners and pleasant distractions. The walking street runs from the glasshouse to Britomart Place, while the plaza is situated on the corner of Gore and Galway streets.

These spaces will be enhanced by landscaping features such as metallic nikau palms, an illuminated kauri grove, fun water-pop jets, volcanic rocks, Maori carvings and a fire and water sculpture.