Year Built

1907

Architecture

Remuera is a gabled structure with verandahs on both platform elevations. The building is timber-framed and clad with rusticated weatherboards. The roof is Marseilles tiled with distinctive cresting and two brick chimneys and pots. There used to be decorative cast-iron finials at both ends. In contrast the verandahs have corrugated-iron roofs, supported by decorative cast-iron brackets. Each platform elevation has a symmetrical arrangement of doors and double-hung sash windows and each gable end has three small four-pane windows.

History

Remuera opened in 1873 as a stop on the Auckland-Onehunga railway. After the turn of the 20th century the growth of traffic on the line was stretching its capacity. By 1903 the Minister of Railways, Sir Joseph Ward, acknowledged the need for better capacity and accommodation on the line. The Newmarket-Penrose stretch was doubled in 1909, with new island-platform station buildings at Newmarket, Greenlane, Remuera, Ellerslie and Penrose. Remuera was completed in November 1907 at a cost of £1,149. , and the replaced building became a library for Newmarket workshop staff. A toilet block was added shortly after, at a cost of £80 , and demolished in 1982. A steady drop in parcel and passenger traffic saw its closure as an officered station in 1942 - the area was by then well served by trams. It enjoyed its busiest period as a freight station from 1970 when the forwarding company Alltrans established a large depot until it closed in the late 1980s. In 1979 the station was closed to all traffic except passengers and Alltrans private siding traffic: it, and the station remains open for passengers but unstaffed. A modified platform south of the building is used by commuter trains - none stop at the station building proper.

Architectural Significance

Remuera is the finest remaining example of an island-platform station, and one of the finest stations in the country outside the four main centre stations. It is in virtually original condition and augmented by an equally fine signal box, built in a similar style. The station was finished to a particularly high standard. The building is embellished with features, such as the tiled cresting, that show the effort applied to its design.

Historical Significance

Remuera is one of the oldest remaining island-platform stations. Built as part of track duplication, island-platform stations are still found on suburban lines in Auckland and Wellington. Remuera is a most important reminder of the original role played by New Zealand's rail system in the country's rapid urbanisation.

Town / Landscape Value

Remuera occupies a very prominent position next to the SH1 Southern Motorway and is a well-known Auckland landmark.