The Christchurch Bus Interchange is the

bus station A bus station, bus depot, or bus interchange is a structure where city buses or intercity buses stop to pick up and drop off passengers. A bus station is larger than a bus stop, which is usually simply a place on the roadside, where buses can st ...

in the

Christchurch Central City Christchurch Central City or Christchurch City Centre is the geographical centre and the heart of Christchurch, New Zealand. It is defined as the area within the Four Avenues (Bealey Avenue, Fitzgerald Avenue, Moorhouse Avenue and Deans Aven ...

in New Zealand. Built as one of the 17 anchor projects identified in the

Christchurch Central Recovery Plan The Christchurch Central Recovery Plan, often referred to as the Blueprint, is the plan developed by the Fifth National Government of New Zealand for the recovery of the Christchurch Central City from a series of earthquakes, in particular the F ...

, it opened in May 2015 after the previous Bus Exchange had been damaged in the

2011 Christchurch earthquake A major earthquake occurred in Christchurch on Tuesday 22 February 2011 at 12:51 p.m. New Zealand Daylight Time, local time (23:51 Coordinated Universal Time, UTC, 21 February). The () earthquake struck the Canterbury Region ...

History

Historically, Cathedral Square was the main facility for public transport users in central Christchurch. That changed when the Bus Exchange opened in November 2000 in Lichfield Street, with most bus routes using an indoor facility off Lichfield Street with direct pedestrian access in City Mall. The building that housed the Bus Exchange was damaged in the 2011 Christchurch earthquake and was later demolished. From October 2011, a temporary station—Central Station—was established in a block further west. This block was surrounded by Lichfield,

Colombo Colombo, ( ; , ; , ), is the executive and judicial capital and largest city of Sri Lanka by population. The Colombo metropolitan area is estimated to have a population of 5.6 million, and 752,993 within the municipal limits. It is the ...

, Tuam, and Durham streets, and the facility was expected to be in use for "up to two years". The

, which had the Bus Interchange as one of its 17 anchor projects for the central city's earthquake recovery, was published in July 2012. It set an indicative start date of 2012 and completion by June 2014.

Christchurch City Council The Christchurch City Council (CCC) is the local government authority for Christchurch in New Zealand. It is a territorial authority elected to represent the people of Christchurch. Since October 2022, the Mayor of Christchurch is Phil Ma ...

's District Plan was amended and two-thirds of the block surrounded by Lichfield, Manchester, Tuam, and Colombo streets designated for the Bus Interchange. The most significant building that had to be demolished to make way for the proposed Bus Interchange was Miller's Department Store, better known for its subsequent use from 1980 to 2010 as the head office of Christchurch City Council.

Construction

Construction of the Bus Interchange started in July 2014, after the projected completion date for the building. The recovery plan identified ECan ( Environment Canterbury, the regional council), CCC (Christchurch City Council), CERA ( Canterbury Earthquake Recovery Authority), NZTA (

NZ Transport Agency NZ Transport Agency Waka Kotahi (NZTA), superseded by is a New Zealand Crown entity tasked with promoting safe and functional transport by land, including the responsibility for driver and vehicle licensing, and administering the New Zealand st ...

), and the private sector as project partners, but the project was carried out by CERA. Central Station was in use until 25 May 2015, when Christchurch's new $53 million Bus Interchange building opened, with half of the 16 bays operational. On 20 August, the building was physically completed and further opened to the public, including bike parking and more seating. On 8 October, the remaining bays opened. Later retailers took spaces.

Notes

References

* {{coord, region:NZ-CAN_type:landmark, display=title Christchurch Central Recovery Plan Christchurch Central City 2015 establishments in New Zealand Transport infrastructure completed in 2015 Public transport in Christchurch