The latter was built hastily in the spring of 1885 after the company and the government failed to agree to share Lambton station.

The 1855 earthquake raised dry land along the side of Wellington Harbour from the north end of Thorndon to Petone.

[2] Reclamation continued during the 1870s and the line was extended to Wellington's business area terminating at Ballance Street beyond the new Government Buildings completed in 1876.

[3] A revised layout of the adjoining yard was announced Plans were issued and tenders for construction called in March 1880.

The main platform was to be of asphalt and extend 400 feet (120 metres) to the rear of the station covered by an overhanging verandah.

[11] A temporary platform and booking office was put up fifteen chains or 300 metres north of the present station at the bottom of Sydney Street now Kate Sheppard Place.

[12] The building was slid on skids propelled by powerful screwjacks[13] and arrived at its new site near Mulgrave Street on the evening of Friday 20 February 1885.

Crowds of people watched the big operation each day[14] The Wairarapa Standard reported "The Wellington railway station has been shifted bodily to near Mulgrave Street.

A gang of 30 or 40 men cut it into sections to fit on railways trucks and re-erected them close to the passenger station.

[3] By that time, 1908, the building was considered well beneath the required standard but it remained in use almost another thirty years until it was demolished in 1937.

When Lambton station was eventually demolished it was noted by the local newspaper that the building had been vilified for more than twenty years and had been plainly rotten long before its demolition.