Christchurch Railway Station (new)

Today’s Christchurch Railway Station is quieter and more modest than the grand station many locals remember, but it carries a deep sense of history.

After the earthquakes, the old Christcurch Railway Station  was demolished, and a new, much smaller station was built in Addington, on the site where the famous railway workshops once stood. It’s a location rich with memory, chosen not for grandeur, but for continuity.

There is one main passenger service departing from here: the TranzAlpine, travelling from Christchurch across the Southern Alps to Greymouth via Arthur’s Pass. Renowned as one of the world’s great scenic rail journeys, it keeps Christchurch connected to the romance of rail travel, even as the age of trains in New Zealand has largely passed.

Previously, this station was far busier. Long-distance services such as the Southerner to Invercargill and the Coastal Pacific to Picton once departed from Christchurch, carrying passengers the length of the South Island.  These services still operate seasonally.

One striking reminder of the railway era still stands on the site: a concrete water tower that once supplied high-pressure water to the railway workshops. It rises quietly above the station area, the last physical trace of a time when steam, steel, and hard work powered a massive local industry.

The Addington railway workshops were once a major employer in Christchurch. Hundreds of people worked there, and the railways provided more than jobs with staff forming strong social networks with bands, sports teams, and community groups.

Today, the station is calmer, focused on one remarkable journey rather than many everyday ones, keeping alive the chance to travel the rails by train.