Britomart Transport Centre
Resembling a modern European or Asian metro station, Auckland’s gleaming Britomart Transport Centre has helped boost rail commuter patronage in this sprawling, car-dominated city. The planned electrification of the Auckland urban network, due to be completed by 2013, will see peak-hour trains running every 10 minutes. Commuter patronage is expected to rise from the current six million passenger trips a year to 30 million by 2030. Growth on this scale would require Britomart’s redevelopment as a through station with an underground loop through the central business district.
Credit
Jackson Perry
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TwitterHow to cite this page: 'Britomart Transport Centre', URL: /media/photo/britomart-transport-centre, (Ministry for Culture and Heritage), updated 15-Jul-2013
i would like to know more about the classical influence on the building, thanks.
The Britomart Transport Centre is named because of its location. Britomart was one of Auckland's very early European placenames. It referred to a prominent point or headland jutting out into the harbour, which was the site of the city's first military barracks, Fort Britomart. The name came from a Royal Navy ship, HMS Britomart. Britomart Point was later levelled as part of harbour development and reclamations. In December 1873 Auckland's first railway station was built near there, and called Britomart Station. This was replaced in 1885 by a new station in Customs St, and then in 1930 another new station opened on Beach Rd, Parnell. So the development of the modern Britomart station saw trains return to (near) the site of Auckland's first railway station, hence the reuse of the Britomart name.
Could you please explain why the name Britomart was chosen? It is a Cretan/Greek
name for a godess and would like to know the relevance to a train station.
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