Newmarket Station - Design Exemplar Auckland needs

The Auckland Regional Transport Committee had a sneak preview of Newmarket Station today.

Wednesday 9th December.




This is the main concourse. Airy - literally - and bright. Those are the escalators down ahead...

And here's looking back up those escalators - a pair serving each pair of platforms.

Apparently the rails wil be brought into the station in time for the official opening which happens mid January.

I guess we'll be looking at some overhead cables when the lines are electrified. Bring that on.

Standing on Platform 3 here, Platform 2 to the right. And 1 & 4 at the edge.

Having been here before design work began, I would not have expected something so spacious and appropriate could have been shoe-horned into the space left following the fire-sale of adjacent railway land for development.

Shows how wrong you can be.

Back up on the concourse level now, looking North. You can see through the glass, the hint of public square...

Throughout the station I was impressed by the attention to detail. Lots of that...

And here's another view of that square. Apparently it was privately developed to specification, but has now transferred to Auckland City Council. So it's a great public space - a plazza - or piazza. With interesting shade, seats round the perimeter, and surrounded by buildings which will shelter the space from weather. You enter the square on sweeping wide steps from the station.

I was impressed. This is an excellent example of an urban station in a medium density setting. It's a show piece of what is possible in Auckland, as the city transforms.