The New Station Plans.

The plans are the outcome of a long and patient study of the railway transport conditions obtaining in Wellington. Past statistics have been searched and tabulated with a view to forecasting future requirements, but even then the seer is needed as much as the statistician. Transportation is so much in a state of flux that the imagination must be brought into play in making provision on broad lines for future possibilities that are outside the range of present figures.

It is well, at this point, to remember that the railway terminal in Wellington has a function quite apart from service to the city. It handles great quantities of produce and merchandise direct between the country districts of the North Island and overseas, and inter-island shipping, necessitating the very closest contact with the wharves.

Planning for this has been comparatively easy. In the development of its other function, service to the local community, the weaving of the railway transportation system into the city transportation system, and thereby into the life of the city has been a much more difficult problem.

It would do much to disarm hasty criticism if it could be known how many channels were patiently explored, how many interests studied, how many opinions obtained, how many parallels sought before final decisions were arrived at, and what were the limitations imposed upon the designer by the awkward boundaries of the site.

The maze of railway tracks which will eventually cover the Thorndon Reclamation has probably little interest for the general public. Here, however, lies the real heart of the matter. This apparent maze is an intricate organ of transportation which will deliver the very life blood of commerce. Day in, and day out, must the wheels be kept moving between East Coast and West Coast, country and city, ship's side

The Assistant Chief Engineer.
Mr. W. R. Davidson, M.Inst.C.E.

page 27 and far country station, producer and consumer, and in so far as this mighty machine functions properly will the needs of commerce be met. The planning of it all is a fascinating task.

The passenger station itself must necessarily be the chief point of interest for the man in the street, for here he makes personal contact with organised transportation, and in just so far as his comfort and convenience are met does he approve.

Collaboration On Station Plans.
Left.—W. R. Davidson, M.Inst.C.E., Asst.-Chief Engineer. Right.—W. Gray Young, F.R.I.B.A., architect for the new station building.

The main intention of this article is a brief description of the passenger terminal as finally planned.