Railway stations are the anchor points for some of the world’s most beautiful, accessible, exciting and well connected neighbourhoods, often hugely desirable places for people to live and work. With a bit of planning, the same can be true for some of New Zealand’s key railway stations.
Redeveloping railway stations brings enormous economic and social benefits. Kings Cross in London is the textbook example. A once sketchy neighbourhood is now the home of a wildly prosperous and vibrant neighbourhood.
Similar opportunity exists with the two entirely new railway stations emerging in Auckland – Te Waihorotiu and Karanga-a-Hape – as well as for the Maungawhau railway station and other stations set to benefit from the faster travel times brought about by City Rail Link.
The opportunity for Auckland is big, but in some ways is already a missed opportunity. Only one of the four City Rail Link stations – Te Waihorotiu – has property development built into its project plan – the 21 storey mixed-use Symphony Centre funded by Malaysian investors and delivered by local firm RCP. There is great potential to unlock the housing and city building benefits of this $5b investment in New Zealand’s first underground railway system.
