Waitematā Station (Britomart) Newsletter

Kia ora and happy New Year neighbours,

This month's newsletter features:

Works around the station
Meet the team - Johnathan
Britomart Place works
Britomart Place TMP update
Upcoming Tyler Street concrete pour
Rail Network Rebuild - Stage 1

Works in the station

Teams floor it over Christmas break

Crews have been working around the clock in the station to give the concourse floor a fancy new facelift, and a physical lift of about 24cm.

These and a few other essential tasks were completed in the recent annual rail network shutdown between 26th Dec 2022 to 15th January 2023 – during which time the station was closed to the public.

A key objective was to raise the height of the main floor area in front of the escalators to help future-proof the station for 9-carriage trains in readiness for CRL opening day - disruptive works that can’t be done in a live station environment.

When stepping off the escalators to the platform level, commuters will now notice a slightly raised concourse area featuring a new dual-tone terrazzo surface and reinstated circular floor light.

What they probably wont notice is all the hard work it took to get to that stage, including prepping the area, pouring concrete base layers, installing new handrails, and changing the access lifts from the north to the south side of the station.

John Balcombe, Link Alliance Project Manager said the team worked incredibly hard to get it done on time – working extended hours to finish on schedule.

Meet the team - Johnathan

Name: Jonathan Dudman
Company: City Rail Link
Title: Project Manager

Typical day consists of: As a Project Manager for CRL Ltd, I'm constantly liaising with contractors, designers and stakeholders to support the delivery of the project on time. There’s lots of meeting to attend between all the parties, but most my time is spent underground keeping up with the progress and ensuring that we are building to a high standard.

Highlight of the job: Watching the tunnel boring machine (TBM) breakthrough was a special moment after being involved with the CRL project since 2016 – it is rewarding to see these projects from inception to their conclusion.

Previous jobs/experience: I’ve been involved with CRL since 2016 - specifically the lower-Albert Street tunnels (Contract 2), the stormwater diversion in Mt Eden (Contract 6), and then client surveillance of the TBM tunnels. Currently I’m getting more involved with the rail systems installations in Waitematā Station (Britomart) tunnels.

I’ve been involved in the construction of underground metro and tunnel projects in Taiwan, Thailand, Singapore and Australia so its been great to have the opportunity to bring this experience home and put it to use.

Message to neighbours: I’m sure most Aucklanders will feel this project has taken forever, but I’m sure when it's all done it will be transformational for the city and people will wonder how we did without it.

Britomart Place works

Surface Works

With the great progress made over the holidays, you may have noticed the corner of Scene Lane and Britomart Place is starting to return to its original state.

Following the completion of the pit slab structure, the waterproofing was applied, allowing the back fill to be placed up to surface level. Leading up to Christmas the team also re-established the kerb and roading on the Scene Lane corner.

Tunnel works - South wall construction

The last of the enabling works for the deconstruction of the old south wall were completed in December.

For those construction fanatics out there, the process included:

Final bolting of the bracing plates
Cutting of pockets for jacks to be installed
Placing of jacks and applying positive lift to the structure
Cutting the sag slot in the wall to release the jack pressure
Enabling the gradual load transfer of the structure from the old to the new south wall

All of the above set the way for the dismantling of the old south wall this month.

Deconstruction of the old south wall

Upcoming works in Britomart Place:

Surface works

Complete wastewater line improvements (Traffic Management Plan in place)
Re-establish garden areas
Re-erect canopy
Complete all hard landscaping areas

Tunnel works

Finish the deconstruction of the old south wall
Complete the final elements for the post deconstruction of the south wall
Commence work on new cable containments
Commence works to new Platform 1 configuration

Britomart Place TMP update

Click image to enlarge

A reminder that as CRL contractors, Martinus, continue to reinstate the streetscape around Scene Lane and Britomart Place, some changes are required to the surrounding roads and footpaths.

From late January to mid February, temporary footpath changes and single lane closures will take place on Britomart Place and Beach Road. This means:

Britomart Place will be operating in one way direction
Access to and from Scene Lane will be largely unaffected
Beach Road will have a single lane westbound outermost lane (bus lane) closure outside of peak times
At times, a stop/go traffic controller will be present to assist motorists

Upcoming Tyler Street concrete pour

During late January to early February teams are completing two out of three planned concrete pours at Link Alliance's site on Tyler Street. This work is being completed by KiwiRail and its contractor.

The concrete will be used to form the new connection between Waitematā Station (Britomart) platforms and the CRL tunnels.

We do not expect this work to cause disruption for local residents and businesses.

Rail Network Rebuild - Stage 1

A reminder that Stage 1 of the Rail Network Rebuild has commenced and will continue until 19 March 2023.

To conduct the works, trains are unable to operate on the Onehunga Line and the Southern Line between Ōtāhuhu and Newmarket, effectively closing six stations – Remuera, Greenlane, Ellerslie, Penrose, Te Papapa and Onehunga.

Auckland Transport are providing range of alternative bus services for those customers unable to travel to and from the six stations where trains will not be running. More information about train and rail bus services during Stage 1 of the rebuild can be found on the AT website.

Find out more
For information about Britomart and Quay Park Yard work click here.

How to contact the wider Waitematā Station (Britomart) team:
If you have any questions or concerns about our works, please email the Waitematā Station (Britomart) team at info@cityraillink.govt.nz or phone us on
0800 CRL TALK (275 8255) and press option 1 for Waitematā Station (Britomart) work.

Official use of gifted City Rail Link station names, including Waitematā Station (Britomart), is subject to a New Zealand Geographic Board decision. Visit www.cityraillink.co.nz/meet-your-stations to find out more about the naming process.

Ngā mihi nui
The Waitematā Station (Britomart) Team