Dunedin Railway Station
Anzac Square and Dunedin Railway Station
Station statistics
Address	Anzac Square, Dunedin
Lines	Main South Line
Connections	Taieri Gorge Railway
Platforms	2
Parking	Yes
Baggage check	No
Other information
Opened	1906
Owned by	Dunedin City Council

Dunedin Railway Station clocktower (centre). |}}|}The Main South Line, sometimes referred to as part of the South Island Main Trunk Railway, runs south from Lyttelton in New Zealand through Christchurch The Taieri Gorge Railway is a railway line and tourist train operation based at Dunedin Railway Station in the South Island of New Zealand. Year 1906 ( MCMVI) was a Common year starting on Monday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common year starting Dunedin (dəˈneɪdɪn) Ōtepoti in Maori is the second-largest city in the South Island of New Zealand, and the principal city of the region of The building on the right is the city's Law Courts

Interior of the station, showing the booking hall's mosaic floor

The clocktower at the south end of the station building.

Possibly the best-known building in the southern half of New Zealand's South Island, Dunedin Railway Station is a jewel in the country's architectural crown. New Zealand is an Island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses (the North Island and the South Island The South Island is the larger of the two major islands of New Zealand, the other being the more populous North Island. Designed by George Troup, the station is the fourth building to have served as Dunedin's railway station. Sir George Alexander Troup CMG ( October 21 1863 – October 4 1941) was a New Zealand architect engineer and statesman Dunedin (dəˈneɪdɪn) Ōtepoti in Maori is the second-largest city in the South Island of New Zealand, and the principal city of the region of It earned its architect the nickname of "Gingerbread George". Gingerbread is a sweet that can take the form of a Cake or a Cookie in which the predominant flavors are ginger and raw Sugar.

Construction

In Flemish style, it is constructed from local dark basalt rock from Kokonga in the Strath-Taieri, capped with lighter Oamaru stone, giving it the distinctive light and dark pattern common to many of the more stately buildings of Dunedin and Christchurch. Flanders (Vlaanderen Flandre Flandern is a geographical region located in parts of present day Belgium, France, and the Netherlands. Basalt (bəˈsɔːlt ˈbeisɔːlt ˈbæsɔːlt is a common Extrusive Volcanic rock. The Strath Taieri is a large glacial valley and River Plateau, surrounded by rugged hill ranges located to the north and west of Otago Harbour. Oamaru stone is a hard compact Limestone, quarried at Weston near Oamaru in Otago, New Zealand. Christchurch (Ōtautahi The largest City in the South Island, it is also the second largest city and third largest urban area of New Zealand Pink granite, imported from Aberdeen in Scotland, was used for a series of supporting pillars which line a colonnade at the front of the building, and the roof was tiles in terracotta from Marseilles^[1]. Granite (ˈɡrænɪt is a common and widely occurring type of intrusive, Felsic, igneous rock. Aberdeen ( pronounced; Aiberdeen Obar Dheathain is Scotland 's third most populous city and one of Scotland's 32 local government council Scotland ( Gaelic: Alba) is a Country in northwest Europethat occupies the northern third of the island of Great Britain. In Classical architecture, a colonnade denotes a long sequence of Columns joined by their Entablature, often free-standing as in the famous elliptically Terra cotta ( Italian: "baked earth" is a Ceramic. Its uses include vessels water & waste water pipes and surface embellishment in Building construction Marseille, ( English alt Marseilles mɑrˈseɪ — French: maʁsɛj locally — Provençal Occitan: Marselha maʀˈsijɔ The southern end of the building is dominated by the 37-metre clocktower, which is visible from much of central Dunedin.

The booking hall features a mosaic floor of almost 750,000 Minton tiles, and a frieze of Royal Doulton porcelain runs around the balcony above it, from which the floors design (featuring a locomotive and related symbols) can be more clearly viewed^[1]. Art History Mosaics of the 4th century BC are found in the Macedonian palace-city of Aegae, and they enriched the floors of Hellenistic Mintons Ltd, was a major ceramics manufacturing company originated with Thomas Minton (1765-1836 the founder of "Thomas Minton and Sons" who established The Royal Doulton Company was one of the most renowned English companies producing Tableware and Collectables, with a history dating back to 1815 Porcelain is a Ceramic material made by heating raw materials generally including Clay in the form of Kaolin, in a Kiln to temperatures The station's main platform is the country's longest, being one kilometre in length.

The building's foundation stone was laid by Minister of Railways Joseph Ward on June 3, 1904^[2]. The Minister of Railways was the minister in the government responsible for the New Zealand Railways Department 1895–1981 the New Zealand Railways Corporation Sir Joseph George Ward 1st Baronet, GCMG (1856 - 1930 was Prime Minister of New Zealand on two occasions in the early 20th century Events 350 - Roman usurper Nepotianus, of the Constantinian dynasty, proclaims himself Roman Emperor, entering Year 1904 ( MCMIV) was a Leap year starting on Friday (link will display calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Leap year starting on Prime Minister Richard Seddon was also present at the ceremony. The Prime Minister of New Zealand is New Zealand's Head of government consequent on being the leader of the party or coalition with majority support in Richard John Seddon ( 27 April 1845 - 10 June 1906) sometimes known as King Dick, was the longest serving Prime Minister The station was opened by Ward, now Prime Minister, in 1906. The construction of the building was kept within budget, and cost £800,000 ^[3].

History

In its early days, the station was the country's busiest, handling up to 100 trains a day, though the city's economic decline and the reduction in the prominence of rail transport mean that only a handful of trains use the station today. With the decrease in passenger rail traffic, the station now serves more functions that the one for which it was originally designed. Bought by the Dunedin City Council in 1994, the station's uses have greatly diversified, though it is still the city's railway station, catering for the Otago Excursion Train Trust's Taieri Gorge Railway tourist train. Dunedin (dəˈneɪdɪn) Ōtepoti in Maori is the second-largest city in the South Island of New Zealand, and the principal city of the region of The Taieri Gorge Railway is a railway line and tourist train operation based at Dunedin Railway Station in the South Island of New Zealand. The Taieri Gorge Railway is a railway line and tourist train operation based at Dunedin Railway Station in the South Island of New Zealand. Much of its ground floor is now used as a restaurant, and the upper floor is home to both the New Zealand Sports Hall of Fame and the Otago Art Society. The New Zealand Sports Hall of Fame is an organisation commemorating New Zealand 's greatest sporting triumphs Every year in March, it takes centre stage in the South Island's main fashion show, with the main platform becoming reputedly the world's longest catwalk.

A thorough refurbishment of the exterior took place in the late 1990s, accompanied by the landscaping of the gardens outside the entrance, in Anzac Square ^[4].

In October 2006, the centenary of the station was celebrated with a festival of railway events, including the operation of eight steam railway locomotives from all over New Zealand. In 2006 the Dunedin Railway Station was recognised by DK Eyewitness Travel as one of "The World's 200 Must-See Places"^[5][6].

On February 12, 2008, a freak accident occurred when a container wagon struck and partially destroyed a historic footbridge which stands at the southern end of the station. Events 1429 - English Forces under Sir John Fastolf defend a supply convoy carrying rations to the army besieging Orleans from attack by the 2008 ( MMVIII) is the current year in accordance with the Gregorian calendar, a Leap year that started on Tuesday of the Common Four pedestrians were on the bridge at the time, with one suffering minor injuries when she fell 4. 5 metres from the wreckage. At present it is unclear whether the remaining structure of the bridge will be sound enough to allow for the bridge's reconstruction, but it is likely that a footbridge of some form will again join Anzac Square with the industrial zone close to Dunedin's wharves^[7].

Anzac Square

Anzac "Square" is the triangular green area marked (6). The black line is the railway.

Immediately outside the station lies Anzac Square, which, despite its name, is roughly triangular in shape, and was extensively remodelled and extended in the 1990s to create a formal knot garden^[4]. Knot gardens were first established in the UK in the reign of Queen Elizabeth I.

The square lies at the southern end of Anzac Avenue, a kilometre-long tree-lined street running roughly parallel to the railway, which leads to Logan Park, the northern end of which is part of State Highway 88, which links Dunedin with Port Chalmers. Logan Park is a sporting venue in the city of Dunedin, New Zealand. The New Zealand State Highway network is the major national highway network in New Zealand. Port Chalmers is the main port of the city of Dunedin, New Zealand. Logan Park was the site of the 1925 New Zealand and South Seas Exhibition, and the avenue and square were named to commemorate the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps, the "ANZACs", who were New Zealand's main military force during the then recently concluded First World War. The New Zealand and South Seas International Exhibition was a World's fair held in Dunedin, New Zealand in 1925 - 1926 which celebrated World War I (abbreviated WWI; also known as the First World War, the Great War, and the War to End All The northern end of Anzac Avenue is likely to be severely affected should plans for a new city stadium to replace Carisbrook proceed close to Logan Park. Carisbrook is a major sporting venue in Dunedin, New Zealand. Directly across the square from the station is Lower Stuart Street, which leads to the city's centre, The Octagon. Stuart Street is one of the main streets of Dunedin, New Zealand. The Octagon is the city centre of Dunedin, in the South Island of New Zealand.

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