It is the terminus of the South Island's two remaining long-distance passenger trains, the Coastal Pacific to Picton and the TranzAlpine to Greymouth.

The two earlier stations were adjacent to each other on Moorhouse Avenue, a short distance to the east on the Main South Line, closer to the city centre.

It was not long before this proved to be inadequate, with an authorisation for the enlargement of the goods shed and the provision of a refreshment room forthcoming in January 1864.

The colonial government received many complaints and, on bringing this to the attention of the provincial railways, was reminded of the lack of storage facilities.

The opportunity was also taken to point out the unnecessarily high cost of handling goods traffic with inadequate shed and siding facilities.

[4] In a memorandum dated 12 December 1877, the Railways Commissioner for the Middle Island instructed the general manager for Christchurch to suspend all traffic on the 20th to allow for the final re-gauging work to take place.

[7] Interest in a central city station was deemed to be such that a group of local businessmen were prepared to invest £31,500 in such a project.

However, a more careful examination of the revenue projections for the line found them to be optimistic at best, and it was decided that any reasonable expectation of profits were to be so small as to make the venture not worth the risk.

He suggested that at some point in the future the line could "be extended up Papanui Road to form a junction with the Northern railway".

[9] Given lessons learned from previous forays into capital projects, a risk-averse provincial administration ultimately avoided involvement in any of the proposed intra-city railway lines, and thus the idea of a central city station was shelved.

[10] The station had been built to the specifications and design of Canterbury Railways engineer J. G. Warner in the Victorian neo-Gothic style, with wood and red brick being prominent construction materials.

One of the more notable events in the history of this station was the commissioning of New Zealand's first electrified suburban rail service in 1929.

A proposed design for the new station, by W. Gray Young was included in the department's 1938 annual report, but the onset of war delayed any further work on the idea.

[12][13][14][15] The decline in popularity of rail for passenger transport and the change in handling practices for goods traffic eventually contributed to the decision to close this station and to redevelop the site for other commercial interests.

[23][24] Work began in August 2012[25] and was expected to be complete by years end, with the last part of the "above ground" structure razed on 31 October.

[26] Plans have been revealed for the redevelopment of the site, including a multiplex cinema, hotel, restaurant, and retail centre.

[17] The former yard area immediately behind the station building where the passenger platforms used to be became a customer car park.

A 2005 report commissioned by Environment Canterbury into the possibility of re-establishing passenger trains in Christchurch included an option that would involve an underground city loop track and new central railway station, but dismissed it as unjustifiable on cost/benefit grounds.