Waitematā railway station
Waitematā railway station, formerly known as Britomart railway station and Britomart Transport Centre, is the only train station in the central business district of Auckland and the northern terminus of the North Island Main Trunk railway line. It combines a railway station in a former Edwardian post office, extended with expansive modernist architectural elements. Serving as a public transport interchange, it is located at the foot of Queen Street, the main commercial thoroughfare of the CBD, with the main ferry terminal just across Quay Street, and several bus stops located near the station.
The station was the result of many design iterations, some of them being substantially larger and including an underground bus terminal and a large underground car park. Political concerns and cost implications meant that those concepts did not proceed. At the time of its inception in the early 2000s the station was still Auckland's largest transport project ever, built to move rail access closer to the city's CBD and help boost Auckland's low usage of public transport. It is one of the few underground railway stations in the world designed for use by diesel trains, although their use is now prohibited. Diesel trains from Hamilton and Wellington terminate at The Strand station.
Twin underground tunnels for the new East-West and South-City lines have been constructed from the station as part of the City Rail Link project, which will open in 2026.
In March 2023, the station's unofficial name of Britomart Station was officially altered to Waitematā Railway Station by the New Zealand Geographic Board. Since 21 September 2025, Auckland Transport has referred to the station as Waitematā, after having used the dual name Waitematā Station since 2023.
History
Earlier uses
The station is on reclaimed land in the middle of what was once Commercial Bay. Its original name came from Point Britomart, a former headland at Commercial Bay's eastern end. In the 1870s and 1880s the headland was levelled and used to fill in Commercial Bay in order to extend the railway line to the bottom of Queen Street.Auckland Railway Station moved west from its original 1873 site to Britomart in 1885 and remained there after the Post Office was built on the Queen Street frontage in 1912. The Chief Post Office was designed by architect John Campbell in an Edwardian baroque style, using Oamaru stone on a base of Coromandel granite. In 1930 the station was relocated 1.2 km east to Beach Road and the former station site became a bus terminal in 1937 and a car park in 1958.
Many proposals were made to locate the station back in the CBD, most notably in 1973 and 1987, with the 1970s proposal of the mayor of Auckland, Dove-Myer Robinson, envisaging an underground station at Britomart and a tunnel loop, but that was stopped by the Muldoon National Government, which claimed it was unjustified and too costly. In 1995, Auckland City Council purchased the old Post Office building and proposed to redevelop the area as a transit centre.
Early designs called for both the bus terminal and the railway to be underground, but these plans were scrapped as consultation showed that buses were preferred above ground by both users and operators, and projected costs soared, partly due to the difficulties with potential water ingress. The developer eventually defaulted on contractual deadlines, and the project failed.
In 1998, a cheaper option was decided on, partly after a consultation process with stakeholders and citizens. The architectural design was chosen via a competition. It used part of Queen Elizabeth II Square and surrounding streets as a bus interchange, with the existing dilapidated bus terminal redeveloped to incorporate both bus services and a pedestrianised area, also known as a Transit Oriented Development. When nearby Quay Street was realigned in the late 1990s, a tunnel was built to provide the underground railway link. Bus services using the old bus terminal were diverted to other locations in June 2001.
The project name, with the station intended to facilitate transfers between buses, trains, ferries and potential future light rail, was officially coined the Waitemata Waterfront Interchange. The station itself later opened as Britomart Transport Centre.
Construction
Designed by California architect Mario Madayag in collaboration with local Auckland architects Jasmax, construction of Britomart commenced in October 2001, with structural design having been provided by OPUS. It involved 14 km of piling, some being 40 m long and driven 16 m into the underlying bedrock, mainly to provide good earthquake protection, and to futureproof the area for potential later construction of buildings on top of the station. 200,000 cubic metres were excavated for the station, and 40,000 cubic metres of concrete poured. Approximately of new rail track was built, of which half was in a cut and cover tunnel. The station has a site area of 5.2 ha and includes 236 m² retail area.The station opened to passengers on 7 July 2003, with the official opening on 25 July 2003 by Sir Edmund Hillary and government ministers. Services to the Beach Road terminus ceased, except for some peak-time commuter services and excursion trains using the former Platform 4, renamed 'The Strand'. The commuter services ceased after a few months.
Cost over-runs and differing tastes made the centre politically controversial, the design often being described as a large hole in the ground, both literally and figuratively. Despite this and a NZ$204 million price tag, it has won numerous design awards and is internationally recognised for its innovative but heritage-sympathetic architecture. The main source of contention was the relatively great expense of this public transport development in the Auckland Region, where for many decades the focus had been on private vehicle ownership and travel.
Pedestrian underpasses
Initial plans included underground pedestrian walkways to Queen Elizabeth II Square, the nearby downtown ferry terminal and the main shopping street of Queen St. Due to cost over-runs only the short walkway under Queen Street to the square was built, the other two being dropped in favour of a sizeable rain-proof canopy that ran from the square's above-ground exit northward toward the ferry terminal and southward toward the Queen Street-Customs Street intersection.The underground walkway was closed to pedestrians from 29 March 2016 in order to facilitate preliminary works for the City Rail Link. In April and May 2016, the canopy was dismantled and removed from the site, and on 28 May 2016 the Downtown Shopping Centre was closed and fenced off for demolition.
Further works
A major commercial building was built over the eastern approach tunnel in the late 2000s, at the eastern edge of the plaza behind the station.City Rail Link works
On 17 January 2017, the Britomart station building was closed and access between it and platforms were blocked off. A new, temporary Britomart station building was opened at the rear of the building, with new stairways and the retention of elevator and escalator access to the platforms. This building was in use for three years. The former building is refurbished and strengthened in preparation for tunnelling under it for City Rail Link services.To enable the digging of the trench works required for the CRL, the Downtown Shopping Centre was closed on 28 May 2016 and by 23 November had been demolished. It has been replaced with 'Commercial Bay' named after Commercial Bay which was below the modern day site. Commercial Bay consists of the Commercial Bay skyscraper and the Commercial Bay Shopping Centre. Auckland Council and proprietors Precinct Properties struck a deal to include tunnels for the City Rail Link directly underneath the premises.
In late 2020, the former Queen Elizabeth II Square adjacent to the Chief Post Office building was reopened as Te Komititanga, a new civic square that incorporates whāriki patterns, developed in partnership with Ngāi Tai ki Tāmaki weaver Tessa Harris, who developed the patterns in collaboration with weavers from Te Ākitai Waiohua, Ngāi Tai ki Tamaki, Ngāti Te Ata and Ngāti Whātua Ōrākei.
On 6 April 2021 at 1 pm the surface building was reopened. The opening was attended by Phil Goff and members of the public. The surface building was ceremonially opened by a ribbon cutting.
In June 2022, the number of serviceable platforms was reduced to enable the two outermost platforms to be connected to the tunnels for the CRL and become through platforms. As a result of this, Onehunga line services were shortened to terminate at Newmarket instead of Britomart. Auckland Transport claimed that removing Onehunga line services from Britomart would be the least disruptive option. The Public Transport Users Association criticised the move and alleged that 60% of Onehunga line passengers wanted to travel to Britomart. Former Auckland councillor Mike Lee also criticised the change and claimed that rail staff had told him that the change was unnecessary as only one platform would be closed at a time, which still left four platforms for four lines to be operated out of Britomart. Lee explained that one platform was being used to accommodate a spare AM class EMU for service disruptions, he believed that this spare unit could be held further up the line at The Strand Station which would free up a platform for Onehunga line services to continue to operate out of Britomart.
In the future, the number of platforms will be permanently reduced from 5 to 4, with Platform 2 permanently closing. Once the CRL is operational, additional works and upgrades to Waitematā station will widen the remaining 4 platforms to accommodate larger passenger volumes in conjunction with improving station access from the eastern entrance.
In December 2025, the eastern entrance to the station was blessed by Ngāti Whātua Ōrākei. The entrance opens out to the new Waitematā Station Plaza and will open in February 2026 when fully complete. The plaza features a 31-tonne concrete artwork called Skylid by artist Graham Tipene, that is now open to the public and features a design of Waihorotiu Stream and Waitematā Harbour coming together.