City Rail Link
Te-Waka-tuhono-taller-screenn-LOWRES.png

City Rail Link

City Rail Link
 

The City Rail Link (CRL) is New Zealand’s largest transport infrastructure project ever.

  • Twin 3.45km rail tunnels up to 42m underground between Waitematā Station and Maungawhau Stations

  • Two new underground stations -midtown Te Waihorotiu and Karanga-a-Hape with entrances at Mercury Lane and Beresford Square

  • Waitematā Station redeveloped into a two-way through station

  • Maungawhau Station redeveloped to include the new CRL line and a modern station building

  • Wider rail network improvements including The Strand, Ōtāhuhu Henderson and Newmarket

  • Provision for longer nine-car electric trains

  • More people friendly spaces around the city.

A groundbreaking ceremony to start construction was held in June 2016.

In June 2026, City Rail Link Limited completed project delivery. Responsibility transitioned to Auckland Transport (AT) – CRL stations and KiwiRail  – CRL tunnels.

This City Rail Link Ltd website documents the project- as do the CRL social media pages we ran. They are Facebook, Instagram and YouTube.

For the latest updates, Auckland Transport has dedicated CRL pages - go here and you can also follow them on their social channels- Facebook and Instagram

AT has a Journey Planner feature that allows you to switch between today's network and the CRL-enabled network.

The History of the City Rail Link Project

CRL Ltd has done five videos detailing the history of the CRL project.. Check back for the others which will be released over the next fortnight.

Our new CRL Stations

Te Waihorotiu

Entrances at both Wellesley and Victoria Streets, midtown

Karanga-a-Hape

Entrances at Mercury Lane and Beresford Square

Meet your new stations

AT’s latest map

This was our first test train through our tunnels.

A test train made its first trip through the full length of our City Rail Link tunnels in February 2025.

The 3.45-kilometre-long inaugural journey ran south from Waitematā Station under central Auckland past the new underground stations at Te Waihorotiu and Karanga-a-Hape to Maungawhau Station on the Western/North Auckland Line.

Explore the project

Auckland is going through a period of unprecedented change as we grow to embrace the future.
Check below for other projects: