Britomart Transport Centre

Auckland’s Grand Central station, Britomart is the quietly beating heart of the downtown precinct. Efficiently connecting office workers, holiday makers and concert goers with their destinations, the modern station is staffed by a small but well informed crew to solve any transport queries that cannot be solved via the electronic information portals and network leaflets in stock. Calls for lost property are directed to a central phone number. Coffee, breakfast spots and shops galore await outside its automatic glass doors.

The is Auckland’s main CBD train transport hub. It always seem so dark in here.
It has several shops and coffee bars within a short distance, I enjoy checking out the local shops to see what travel essentials (chocolate) I can take with me on my journey.
The viaduct is a short walk away from here.

Ah, the joys of public transport! However, things are reasonably straight forward at Britomart. Feels safe enough at night, lots of taxis around, other people waiting and there’s McD’s across the road. The electronic signs signalling how far away your bus is are reassuring unless you’re supposed to be on nightrider, which doesn’t leave from here at all but around the cnr and up in Albert Street.

Nice and spacious with good security around. Nice comfy chairs and TV playing sport on foreign those waiting

Great place to explore in Auckland, great architectural design.
Various vendors inside ranging from convenience store to florists.
Surrounded by lower Queen St/​Downtown and Britomart shopping area which is growing very fast.

Britomart transport Center shouldn’t be confusing. But when it’s your first time there it can be a little. Perhaps because its your first time, maybe because of the set up. I’m not sure. My first time I was confused. To be honest, I think it was mostly because the trains are starting a new ticket set up and they were still in the midst of it, so I was being guided left right and nowhere for the right place to be with my lame paper ticket I advice you get the HOP and AT cards. As train paper tickets are about as useful as the coins on a bus (people behind you in line grunting because your taking so long counting your coins)
By my second time the train timetables and platforms were easier to figure out and the busses slightly quicker to find. You just have to figure out the right numbers and codes etc.
There plenty inside the transport centre — the usual magazine shops, coffee shop you get the idea. Its neat.

Britomart Transport Centre is the bustling hub of Auckland’s public transport network. As a transport nerd/​town planner, I’ve always had a soft spot for it. See, Auckland since the 1950s has become rather a gridlocked, car-​dominated sort of place and it’s public transport became a laughing stock. The opening of Britomart in 2003 was sort of a new dawn — rail was brought to the centre of town again. Since then, public transport has steadily become more popular and now the pace of change is accelerating. Auckland’s public transport is slowly becoming useful again.
Britomart Station itself is a striking combination of old and new buildings. The station entrance is the old Central Post Office, an Edwardian building with a stately façade and lovely plasterwork inside. The station itself is new, capped by a large glass atrium at ground level, and dominated by futuristic metallic walls and giant domes over the underground station concourse. For me there’s a real sense of occasion walking through Britomart — it’s a big city transit station — Auckland’s equivalent of Grand Central.
For the new commuter, all the useful stuff is around the station entrance. Auckland Transport’s service desk will get you kitted out with an AT HOP smartcard which you can top up at the ticketing machines near the desk. The card can be used on trains and ferries — buses are being phased into the system throughout 2013.

Britomarts big problem is none of it’s own doing — just the short term thinking of assorted government planners. Trains reach a dead end here and have to «reverse» back out, instead of following through on the city loop the station was designed for. Hopefully by 2020 the loop gets okayed — as the transport network will apparently reach capacity by then.
Britomart itself is an impressive building — set within a Victorian façade, but ultra modern inside. I quite like all the new additions to the Rail network, and it’s easy enough to forget you are in Auckland when you ride on the network — until you find yourself sitting next to old One Dread.
There are plenty of shops in Britomart itself, and the area above where the trains run is a great new addition to the city, with a grassed area with cushions set up which is great to chill out in.

If you really want to lose yourself down the rabbit hole like Alice, this is where you need to be. The adventure of exploring Auckland starts here. Once you have worn yourself out traipsing around the central city streets you will realize that there is so much more to discover just by jumping on a train or a bus at this public transport precinct.
This place is always busy and bustling and in effect is the heart of the city. Here you can top up your HOP and AT cards using the automated machine or if your a little unsure you can talk to a representative within the building who will be only too happy to guide you on your way. Because Auckland itself is spread so far and wide, it helps that it has a usually super efficient rail and bus network. Because it is so efficient it makes it super easy for all those commuters in Auckland to get to their workplaces etc, and because the traffic heading in and out of town can be frustrating at times it makes public transport a good option for a lot of people.
Trains and busses here are leaving all the time to city-​wide destinations, so all you have to do decide is what corner of Auckland you want to explore next!

This is Auckland’s transport hub. The trains are here (when they’re not being replaced by rail buses) and you can top up your HOP and AT cards using the new top up machines.
Offering ultra convenience there are two convenience stores within the center, the guys who work there are all really friendly and open both are open late. There is also a Subway so you can eat fresh and still make your train. If you have a bit of a wait there is a seating area with a TV, you just can’t control the channel.