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Media Releases 2022-2021

Media Centre 2022-2021

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Below on this page are news releases from 2022 and 2021

Where to find previous news releases:

New Normanby Bridge opens to all traffic

21 December 2022

The new Normanby Bridge in Maungawhau/Mount Eden Station will open to all traffic tomorrow ( Thursday 22 December), replacing the previous rail level crossing and providing a safer transit for all modes of transport (the date is weather dependent).

The new bridge, one of four being built for the CRL by the Link Alliance to improve connections and access to the rebuilt and improved Maungawhau/Mount Eden Station, replaces a temporary bridge opened in May for pedestrians, cyclists and scooterists, including disability access.

Now motorists and other road users will be able to use the finished bridge connecting Normanby Road and Boston Road, which spans three lines – the Western Lines and the new City Rail Link.

The former rail level crossing is permanently closed and is one of three rail level crossings that have been closed by Link Alliance at Maungawhau/Mount Eden, creating a safer passage for travellers.

The closures will enable the City Rail Link to operate more efficiently when it opens, ensure trains arrive at stations at the times advised and significantly improve safety by removing interactions between trains, vehicles and people.

TrackSAFE NZ Foundation Manager Megan Drayton welcomed the removal of the level crossing on Normandy Road and its replacement with the over bridge.

“It was a very busy level crossing on a complex piece of road, given the turn-off to Mt Eden Prison,” says Drayton. “It’s easy for drivers to become distracted when you have to think about safely crossing the rail line, as well as next steps.

“Grade separating simply stops motorists interacting with trains, which is the best way to ensure safety,” she says. “With more trains expected across Auckland in the years ahead, removing level crossings also has another benefit – avoiding traffic flows being disrupted and drivers becoming frustrated.”

To celebrate the occasion, mana whenua conducted a karakia to bless the crossing for safe passage on Tuesday and a group of Tongan construction workers sang a Christmas-themed waiata to conclude the hard mahi and wrap up the year.

Statement from the Office of the Mayor of Auckland

Mayor impressed with City Rail Link

29 November 2022

Auckland Mayor Wayne Brown says he remains concerned about the final cost and timelines for the new City Rail Link (CRL) but says it will transform Auckland’s public transport system and reduce roading congestion when it finally opens.

Mayor Brown spent four hours being briefed and touring the project from Maungawhau/Mt Eden Station to Waitemata Station (Britomart) two weeks ago, and today released photographs from his visit.

“Ratepayers and taxpayers are making an enormous investment in an incredibly complex project, with a governance and management structure that I would not have chosen,” Mayor Brown said.

“Nevertheless, when finished, fitted out, fully tested, and supported by modernised lines, crossings, and stations throughout the region, CRL will deliver Auckland the world-class passenger train network that residents of and visitors to other large cities have taken for granted for generations.

“When all planned improvements to the network are finished in the years following the completion of the CRL itself, Aucklanders and our visitors will see a nine-carriage trains arriving at stations as frequently as once every two minutes, carrying up to 54,000 people an hour at peak times across the network.

“The CRL and the world-class regional rail network it will enable must be at the heart of the single, big, joined-up transport plan Auckland needs, linking cars, buses, trains, cycleways, the port, shipping, ferries – everything.”

City Rail Link Ltd (CRLL) has advised Mayor Brown that midtown Te Waihorotiu Station (Aotea) is also futureproofed for any rail across the Waitemata Harbour.

This means that should there be a new harbour crossing – tunnels or another bridge and any introduction of rail across the North Shore – it could be easily connected to the existing Auckland rail network without having to alter any part of the CRL tunnels or system.

The CRL structure also allows for the addition of another level or station underneath the Wellesley Street station box.

Central government and Auckland Council’s Project Delivery Agreement with CRLL Ltd required that the stations be designed to accommodate interchange demands.

As well as at Te Waihorotiu Station (Aotea) for the possible future North Shore line, the agreement requires an interchange between the West Line and Newmarket service at Maungawhau/Mt Eden Station and for potential intercity and terminating services at Waitemata Station (Britomart).

The Mayor says that maximising the benefits of CRL also requires the Avondale to Southdown route to remain available for dedicated heavy rail lines for both passenger and freight services.

“After decades of debate, billions of dollars and unacceptable delays, CRL is going to be a reality and we must not let the next shiny new idea stop us from getting the maximum benefits that it promises for our city, region and country,” Mayor Brown said.

City Rail Link Limited and Toitū Te Whenua’s journey into 3D

28 September 2022

The country’s largest transport infrastructure project and the Government’s lead agency for property and land information have embarked on a ground-breaking collaboration to improve industry compliance with land survey standards.

The City Rail Link (CRL), established by the Government and Auckland Council, will comprise a 3.45km twin-tunnel underground rail link up to 42 metres below Auckland City, linking Britomart to Mount Eden. It will eventually accommodate up to 54,000 passengers an hour at peak travel times.

Toitū Te Whenua Land Information New Zealand (LINZ) and City Rail Link Limited (CRLL) are collaborating to ensure the integrity of ownership and protection of not only the railway stations and tunnel infrastructure but also the subsoil surrounding the infrastructure.

This ensures that future use of the land and subsoil, be it private or public property, or road, is minimally impacted by the tunnel and rail stations.

LINZ Principal Cadastral Surveyor, Mike Morris, says the CRL survey is not without its challenges: “The magnitude of the project is not so much the huge quantity of data coming through, but the complexity of the information which makes it such a significant project.

Representatives from LINZ, CRLL, CKL Surveys, and Simpson Grierson at the City Rail Link project, Maungawhau / Mount Eden end (Click on to enlarge)

“New Zealand was ground-breaking in its introduction of a two-dimensional cadastre in the early 2000s; the current redesign of the system, Landonline, is the start of a journey to a fully 3D land information system.”

Rick Galli, CRLL Head of Property, says the collaboration project has only just commenced and will be a long journey: “Geo-referencing in 3D is really exciting and it will be fascinating to see where LINZ is going with it.”

Both public entities share a duty of care to look after New Zealand’s land and environmental resources, so they are sustained for future generations.

“Land and property are finite resources requiring protection to ensure their use can be maximised, which is also a key purpose of LINZ,” Galli says. “CRLL has engaged with LINZ across multiple points in the project, including acquisition under the Public Works Act, willing purchase negotiations, the naming of rail stations (through the New Zealand Geographic Board), meeting survey standards and ensuring the Cadastral Survey Datasets are compliant and fit for purpose.”

LINZ Principal Cadastral Surveyor, Mike Morris, says “historically, the amount of rework required to achieve compliance with the required survey standards is high, and the more complex the surveys, the more difficult it is to achieve first-time compliance. LINZ has an objective to work with surveyors to help them improve first-time compliance. This project is a good opportunity to test that objective.”

Non-compliance is an issue that both adds cost to projects and ties up valuable LINZ resources.  LINZ plans to be the ‘fence at the top of the cliff’ helping companies provide correct and compliant information, Morris says.

Galli says CRLL is delighted to collaborate with LINZ, as it is imperative New Zealand has a “world-class property system where people can own, transact, develop and invest in land and property with confidence”. The need for quality, high-value geographic and property information is self-evident, but given the nature of the CRL project, it is complex to deliver, he says.

In preparation for the lodgement of the Cadastral Survey Datasets, staff from both entities met to ensure mutual understanding of the methodology for what will be complex land and sub-soil surveys.

“With that level of understanding, LINZ staff can now work with the surveyors to maximise the opportunity for how the surveys are captured and depicted,” says Galli.

“Given the scale of the CRL project, and the importance in establishing robust Cadastral Survey Datasets along the route, the parties were able to share their individual thoughts about what they imagined were important issues relating to the surveys, their integration with the cadastre, and the spatial integrity of the current parcel fabric,” says Morris. “There was good commonality, but it was also healthy to note sufficient differences to warrant the continued collaboration.”

Galli says: “We are keen to ensure the Cadastral Survey Datasets are prepared in such a way that the data will be aligned with the requirements for the future 3D cadastre.”

This exciting, multi-year survey project will capture land parcel data that can be viewed in 3D in future, once the 3D cadastre is released. Bringing this project to life in 3D will give a much clearer picture of what the infrastructure looks like below the surface of each overlying property.

Mission Accomplished: tunnelling complete

14 September 2022

Auckland’s world-class underground metro rail network will be a stage closer when the tunnel boring machine Dame Whina Cooper breaks through at Te Waihorotiu Station (Aotea) tonight, marking the completion of the tunnel boring phase of the transformational transport project. Auckland Mayor Phil Goff welcomed the milestone for Auckland’s transport network:

“The final tunnel breakthrough is the culmination of 13 months of hard work by the tunnelling teams. When complete, City Rail Link will make it faster and easier to get into and around central Auckland, immediately doubling the capacity of heavy rail and ultimately carrying up to 54,000 passengers per hour in peak times. “

It will stimulate investment, business opportunities and housing growth, and will be a critical part of the world-class public transport network that Auckland needs to succeed as New Zealand’s international city,” Mayor Goff says.

City Rail Link chief executive Dr Sean Sweeney said the major achievement of boring twin 1.6km tunnels up to 42m below New Zealand’s largest and busiest city was completed under the most challenging construction conditions.

“Building an underground rail network has never been attempted in New Zealand before,” says Dr Sweeney. “To have achieved what this team of 2,000 people have in the face of a global pandemic, multiple lockdowns, restricted Covid-working conditions and multiple other challenges is nothing short of extraordinary.

“There is so much more to do on the CRL project but the final breakthrough is an appropriate moment to pause and reflect on the extraordinary job our people have done in building these twin underground tunnels,” he says.

“These tunnels are the cornerstone of the country’s first rapid transit rail network and will enable a transformational change in our biggest city.”

Key achievements during the tunnel boring phase include:

  • Completion of the tunnel-boring phase of the City Rail Link project, comprising two 1.6km tunnels

  • The TBM travelled more than 3.2 km, placed 2,118 segment rings and removed 260,000 tonnes of spoil during the boring of the twin tunnels - each 1.6kms long from Maungawhau/Mount Eden Station to Te Waihorotiu Station (Aotea)

  • More than 64,200 cu m of concrete used to build the City Rail Link tunnels – the equivalent of 25 Olympic-sized swimming pools

  • The Dame Whina Cooper tunnel boring machine weighs 910 tonnes, is 130m long and has a diameter of 7.15m

Francois Dudouit, project director for Link Alliance, the group of companies building the main contract of tunnels and stations for CRL, says the swifter finishing of the second tunnel reflected operational improvements and efficiency gains.

“I’m absolutely delighted at the performance of our team of 2,000 people who have brought their very best to this important project,” says Dudouit.

“Everyone understands we are building the future of public transport in Tāmaki Makaurau and it will leave a lasting legacy for all its people”. Whānau of Dame Whina Cooper, including daughter Hinerangi, will be present at the event tonight:

“What a journey this has been. I think back to our beginning at Mt Eden and am so grateful we are here, together at the end,” says Hinerangi Cooper-Puru.

“Two wāhine toa have been with us throughout the TBM’s journey – my Mum and Saint Barbara (the patron saint of tunnellers). They have both endeavoured to protect our people and have guided us through to the completion of the tunnels.”

Now the tunnel boring is complete, Dame Whina Cooper will be dismantled and lifted above ground. It will then be transported to the port for shipping back to its manufacturer, Herrenknecht. Parts of it will be repurposed.

About the breakthrough

  • This is the TBM’s final of four official breakthroughs for the City Rail Link project and will occur 15m underground at Te Waihorotiu Station (Aotea)

  • Boring of the second tunnel began in April 2022

  • The first tunnel took seven months, starting in May 2021 and finishing in December2021

  • The TBM has now bored two near-identical 1.6km tunnels up to 42m below Auckland’s city centre

  • The TBM-bored tunnels will connect to the cut-and-cover tunnels previously constructed below Albert and Lower Queen Streets. The total run of tunnels between Waitematā Station (Britomart) and Maungawhau/Mount Eden will be 3.45km each.

  • To mark this significant achievement, members of Dame Whina Cooper’s whānau will join representatives from our Mana Whenua Forum, City Rail Link workers, Minister of the Crown and the Mayor of Auckland to witness the occasion.

About the TBM 

  • The Dame Whina Cooper TBM is an Earth Pressure Balance machine which means it balances the pressure of the earth it excavates, which stabilises the tunnel face and reduces any possibility of settlement occurring

  • This means people above ground will feel little to no impact as it moves deep below ground

  • The TBM was custom-built for central Auckland soil conditions by the German company, Herrenknecht

  • The TBM worked 24/7, operated by an underground crew of 12 alongside another dozen workers above ground

  • At peak operation, the TBM  travelled 32m a day

  • The TBM operated at depths of up to 42m underground and averaged a speed of about 15m per da

  • This makes it faster than the average garden snail but slower than the average starfish

  • Traditional GPS tracking does not work underground, so to ensure the TBM’s accurate arrival, survey instruments called Total Stations were used to determine the machine’s exact location

  • Total Stations measure angles and distances very accurately, within 0.0001 of a degree for angles and distances to 1mm. This meant the TBM arrived in the exact right position

  • Following the breakthrough, the Link Alliance team will dismantle the TBM into separate pieces underground and lift each piece by crane above ground

  • The TBM will then be transported to Ports of Auckland and shipped back to its manufacturers overseas for repurposing

The TBM’s name 

  • In 2020, we asked the public to name the TBM after a ground-breaking Kiwi wahine (woman) in a national competition

  • Kiwis chose Dame Whina Cooper in honour of the Māori rights champion who led the famous hīkoi to Parliament in 1975

  • Members of Dame Whina Cooper’s family will be present at the breakthrough event

The station 

  • Te Waihorotiu (Aotea) will become New Zealand’s busiest railway station once the CRL opens (a title presently held by Waitematā Station (Britomart)

  • Link Alliance began construction of Te Waihorotiu Station (Aotea) in November 2019

  • In under three years, the team has cleared utilities, built the skeleton of the station superstructure (above ground), and excavated most of the station substructure (below ground)

  • Excavation of the platform concourse continues underground and teams are working on the two Victoria Street entrances

  • Te Waihorotiu Station (Aotea) will connect via tunnels to Waitematā Station (Britomart) to the north and Karanga-a-Hape Station (Karangahape) to the south, then link up to Maungawhau/Mount Eden Station and the wider rail network.

  • By the end of 2022, the focus for Te Waihorotiu Station (Aotea) will shift from heavy civils to station and tunnel fitout work, followed by urban realm work for the station streetscapes and surrounds.

  • The tunnel boring machine’s shield (the front 30 metres of the machine) will now push itself forward into Te Waihorotiu Station (Aotea) building, where it will be dismantled and lifted above ground.

  • Te Waihorotiu Station (Aotea) is 15m deep and 300m long with entrances at both Wellesley and Victoria Streets. Itis located in the heart of Auckland’s mid-town precinct, which is undergoing a major revitalisation programme.

  • The station will also feature a 21-story retail, commercial, and residential tower above the station, provisionally called Aotea Central.

PM’s CRL visit heralds new ‘fit-out for our future’ phase

07 September 2022

The Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern’s trip through the City Rail Link tunnels marks an important milestone in the transformational transport project, says chief executive Dr Sean Sweeney.

The completion of the tunnel boring phase is expected this month and works have already started on the next phase in the project, the fit-out for our future, he says. This includes a vast array of equipment and materials, including 16km of rail and more than 1,500 kms of cable.

“These important milestones bring the CRL project into sharp focus and we will soon literally see the light at the end of the tunnel,” says Dr Sweeney. “This project will elevate New Zealand’s largest city’s transport network to match that of other world class cities.

It will allow Aucklander’s to navigate their city quicker, easier and further from the centre.” As part of the next project phase, a System Integration Facility (SIF) has been established and is designing and implementing technical solutions to integrate CRL sub-systems into a new Auckland rail network operating configuration, with state-of-the-art software and hardware already purchased.

These include the control systems, station systems, communications systems, and some of the key rail systems that are all required to operate jointly in order to complete the CRL. Rail tracks are on site and being prepared for laying in the tunnels, as well as sleepers, electronics, safety systems and other essential componentry, adds Dr Sweeney.

“This is the biggest fit-out of a transport infrastructure project in New Zealand construction history,” he says.

During her visit, the Prime Minister travelled across three station sites – Maungawhau/Mt Eden Station, Karanga-a-Hape Station (Karangahape) and ending at Te Waihorotiu Station (Aotea) – riding in an electric buggy through the recently bored tunnel and gaining a unique perspective underground.

Dr Sweeney says a lot has been achieved since the project’s inception. Construction on Te Waihorotiu Station, for instance, began in November 2019 and despite the impact of Covid on construction timelines remains on track. In that time, the team has relocated and upgraded a vast array of city centre utilities away from the station box area, completed all foundation walls for the stations, constructed roof stabs in several areas, completed significant underground excavation, and recently erected external cladding.

“The brilliant station designs, unique to New Zealand Aotearoa’s culture, are taking shape before our eyes,” he says, “while the construction of 3.45km twin tunnels is a massive achievement and something that has never been attempted in this country before.”

The equipment, materials and componentry for the stations and tunnels fit-out includes:

  • 16 kms of rail

  • 816km signal cables

  • 247km low voltage cables

  • 74km cable containment

  • 86km traction cables

  • More than 5,100 sqm metal cladding

  • More than 4,000 sqm glazing

Leading award for CRL works

21 July 2022

The City Rail Link’s work on the Waitematā Station (Britomart) has been awarded a ‘Leading As Built’ rating, an independent verification of the project’s outstanding sustainability outcomes, from the Australian-based Infrastructure Sustainability Council.

The achievement follows the “Excellent As Built’ and ‘Leading Design’ ratings awarded earlier for CRL works at the lower end of Albert St, as well as a wide range of honours for innovation, sustainability, engineering and circular economy practices bestowed upon the project.

The Waitematā works involved the construction of twin 136m-long tunnels under the Chief Post Office, a protected historic building, and lower Queen St and the reinstatement of the surrounding urban realm. The works were conducted by the Downer/Soletanche Bachy (DSB) joint venture, while design works were conducted by Aurecon, Mott MacDonald, Grimshaw, Jasmax and Arup.

CRL chief executive Dr Sean Sweeney says he wants to acknowledge the work of the contractors at Waitematā and the Link Alliance, which has also adopted ISC sustainability guidelines in the design and construction of the project’s main contract for delivery of tunnels and stations.

“CRL is what I believe is New Zealand Aotearoa’s highest value employment project, bringing big changes to the construction industry,” Dr Sweeney says. “During the year we continued to use the scale and complexity of the project to demonstrate our ability to have a positive impact on the wider industry.”

The Waitematā works will result in a 17.8% reduction in peak operational energy use and 23% reduction in operational carbon emissions over the project’s 100-year lifespan. In terms of the project’s aspirational goal of zero waste to landfill, 100% of spoil, 97% of construction and demolition waste and 74% of office waste was diverted from landfill.

“These are meaningful and tangible results that reflect our commitment to sustainable infrastructure construction and, given CRL’s 100-year lifespan, will benefit Aucklanders for generations to come,” Dr Sweeney says.

Downer environment sustainability manager Sarah Sutherland says achieving the highest IS-rated project in Aotearoa is a great accomplishment: “This success was built on the collaborative relationship between CRL and the DSB joint venture and underpinned by the strong sustainability culture set by our senior leaders.

“It is our earnest hope that by setting the bar high, we provide the inspiration for construction projects that follow to achieve even better, more sustainable outcomes,” Sutherland says.

The Link Alliance’s construction of the tunnels and stations is already delivering significant benefits, such as reducing the embodied carbon of the concrete used by substituting fly-ash for cement, as well as energy efficient station designs that include minimising lighting and ventilation energy use.

Works across the Waitematā Station (contract 1) and tunnels and stations (contract 3) have seen more than 16,785 tonnes of construction demolition diverted from landfill for recycling or reuse during the financial year. Across CRL contracts, 1,415,841 tonnes of waste, including spoil, have been diverted to date.

Dr Sweeney says these facts represent an important achievement for New Zealand and the construction industry, in particular: “Construction and demolition accounts for about half of New Zealand’s total waste to landfill, so as the country’s largest infrastructure project, we have an important leadership role to play in reducing waste to landfill.

“Our peers in the industry can see what we’re doing and how we’re doing it and this is going to lead to a signficant culture shift and help lead the construction industry to a more sustainable approach to its work,” he says.

Among the re-use purposes the waste has been put to include basalt rock from Maungawhau Station (Mt Eden) being used to build sea walls on the Coromandel Peninsula and create bike obstacles at the Totara Park Mountain Bike Club in South Auckland and timber offcuts being used for works of art.

Second Tunnel breakthrough at Karanga a Hape Station

15 July 2022

The City Rail Link has achieved another significant project milestone with the tunnel boring machine, Dame Whina Cooper, breaking through at Karanga a Hape Station today as it bores the final second tunnel toward Te Wai Horotiu (Aotea) in midtown. 

The breakthrough represents good progress on construction of the 3.45km twin-tunnel underground rail link up to 42m below the Auckland city centre, says chief executive Dr Sean Sweeney.

The tunnel boring machine’s journey to Karanga a Hape from Maungawhau (Mt Eden) took three months and demonstrated the project’s continued advancement.

“Boring of the second tunnel only began at Maungawhau Station (Mt Eden) on 26 April and Dame Whina Cooper is slightly ahead of schedule by arriving at Karanga a Hape Station today,” Dr Sweeney says. “Given everything that’s happened over the last two years, it’s particularly pleasing to see us meet our objectives on this section of the project.”

The completion date for the CRL project is currently set for late 2024. Over the past two years, the impacts of the pandemic have been substantial and are still impacting all construction projects. CRL is currently calculating the cost and time impacts and will share these as soon as possible.

To reach the breakthrough point at Karanga a Hape Station, Dame Whina Cooper travelled 900m, placed 526 segment rings and removed 74,000 tonnes of spoil.

Over the next two weeks, the tunnel-boring team will push the machine forward through the 230-metre Karanga a Hape Station (Karangahape) tunnel cavern to the Beresford Square site. Hundreds of workers have worked around the clock at Karanga a Hape Station since November 2019 to prepare for the breakthrough and to build what will be Aotearoa New Zealand’s deepest train station.

Once at Beresford Square, the tunnel boring machine will undergo maintenance, including replacing the teeth of the cutterhead, before embarking on the next part of its journey travelling beneath Pitt and Vincent Streets through to Te Wai Horotiu Station (Aotea). Its breakthrough into the midtown station is expected this Spring.

A national competition saw New Zealanders choose the name of the tunnel boring machine. The names of thousands of ‘ground-breaking Kiwi women’ were entered in the competition and Dame Whina Cooper was chosen the winner, with the support of her surviving whanau.

Throughout her life Dame Whina Cooper worked tirelessly for the rights of Māori and her name is synonymous with the mana and reputation she earned as a woman of influence and significance for Māori and for Aotearoa.

‘Kia Mataara’ is a phrase gifted to the project by Dame Whina Cooper’s tamāhine (daughter), Hinerangi Cooper. It recognises the four TBM breakthroughs and means to be alert, to observe, or to witness. Dame Whina Cooper spoke the words herself in an address to her supporters in her 1975 hīkoi to Parliament.

Te Reo Maori station names go to Geographic Board

31 May 2022

The City Rail Link (CRL), in conjunction with its partner Auckland Transport, has formally applied to the New Zealand Geographic Board Ngā Pou Taunaha o Aotearoa to name its four rail stations.

The station names are Maungawhau Station (Mt Eden), Karanga a Hape Station (Karangahape), Te Wai Horotiu Station (Aotea) and Waitematā Station (Britomart) and have been submitted to the Geographic Board asking it to adopt the names.

NZGB is responsible for the nation’s nomenclature and assigns new names and alters or discontinues existing ones. People can provide feedback on the names to the NZGB once it starts its consultation process.

The proposed new names were released earlier this month and were well-received by the public, interested parties and partner organisations.

The names were gifted to the people of Auckland by the CRL’s Mana Whenua Forum and celebrate the project’s strong links to mana whenua history and storytelling and more accurately reflect the station’s geographic locations.

Dr Sean Sweeney, CRL chief executive, says the gifted names reflect the respectful and fruitful relationship forged with the Mana Whenua Forum, representing eight Auckland iwi: “The CRL is designed to carry Aucklanders forward into a world-class rail-driven future but it is important to anchor our efforts to the past and the history of the people who have lived here.”

Maungawhau Station directly references the significant nearby dormant volcano, Maugawhau/Mt Eden (the mountain of the whau, so named for the whau tree growing on its slopes and which was an important resource for Māori).

Karanga a Hape Station is actually a correction of the existing name, Karangahape, and means the Call of Hope. It references how a kaitiaki (guardian) helped Hape cross the ocean and arrive in Aotearoa before the Tainui waka that had left him behind.

Te Wai Horotiu will be New Zealand’s busiest rail station when the CRL opens and its name is a direct link to the past when the Wai Horotiu stream flowed below nearby Queen St and provided a service to local people. Waitematā is named after the Waitematā Harbour and the rail station itself is built on land reclaimed from where its waters and Wai Horotiu merged.

New CRL contracts to improve connectivity

26 May 2022

The City Rail Link (CRL) has signed a new contract with rail specialists Martinus to complete a range of works around the Waitematā Station (Britomart), at the eastern end.

Chief executive Dr Sean Sweeney (left) says the scope of works is designed to better enable connectivity of the new rail network and improve passenger experience when accessing the CRL at Waitematā Station (Britomart).

Martinus was chosen because of its exceptional work and experience in delivering rail infrastructure and systems across Australasia, says Dr Sweeney.

The contract for structural works and track and rail systems also demonstrates how the CRL continues to seek the best return on investment on behalf of ratepayers and taxpayers, he says.

Martinus chief executive Treaven Martinus says he is delighted to partner with the CRL for New Zealand’s largest ever transport infrastructure project.

“We are thrilled to be awarded additional works on this significant social infrastructure project which will provide our team with an abundance of opportunities and build industry capability for years to come,” Martinus says.

“Through the successful delivery of various other works on CRL, we have forged an incredible partnership with the CRL team, which is built on a culture of collaboration and camaraderie.”

“Winning this contract also means our team is able to transition smoothly onto the next section of works with a like-minded team focussed on best-for-project outcomes,” he says.

The scope of works Martinus Rail will complete includes:

  • Structural strengthening and streetscaping

  • Pedestrian emergency egress walkways within the existing tunnel

  • Demolition and construction of new underground support walls on the north and the south side of the existing tunnel

  • Track slab construction and track realignment

  • Track-side cable installation and new track crossing

  • Changes to the signalling equipment foundations and fixings

Dr Sweeney says works are scheduled to commence in June, with some preparatory work completed later this month, and completed by February 2024.

There will be construction operations in Britomart Place and Scene Lane and Martinus says the work sequencing is designed to avoid disruption to commuters as much as possible, with appropriate traffic management in place to ensure an optimum travel experience during surface works.

“Track closures at Waitematā Station will be confined to the night-time, with occasional weekend closures and Christmas shutdowns, to maximise productivity and significantly reduce commuter inconvenience,” he says.

CRL station names and designs reflect “unique” Auckland

06 May 2022

City Rail Link Ltd (CRL Ltd), in partnership with Auckland Transport (AT), has announced details of the proposed te reo Māori names for City Rail Link (CRL) stations.

The station names are: Maungawhau (Mt Eden), Karanga a Hape (Karangahape), Te Wai Horotiu (Aotea) and Waitematā (Britomart).

Details of the names coincides with the release by CRL Ltd of the striking final design renders (drawings) for the Maungawhau, Karanga a Hape and Te Wai Horotiu Stations. The names and renders together celebrate the project’s strong links to mana whenua history and storytelling and more accurately reflect the stations’ geographic locations.

Minister of Transport Michael Wood spoke at the launch

LAUNCH: Transport Minister Michael Wood at the launch

“The names and the designs are important developments for the city and acknowledge the unique cultural and historic heritage of Tāmaki Makaurau/Auckland,” says Dr Sean Sweeney, CRL Ltd’s Chief Executive.

The names were gifted by CRL Ltd’s Mana Whenua Forum and honour the long-standing partnership the Forum’s eight iwi have had with CRL since day one of the project in 2012.

“We are honoured to have been gifted these ngā ingoa tuku iho (traditional names) by our Mana Whenua Forum along with invaluable mātauranga (knowledge) Māori throughout the project,” Dr Sweeney says.

“CRL’s eyes are set firmly on building a world class railway for Auckland’s future, but the names anchor us to the past and the history of the people first to call the land the stations occupy their home."

CRL Ltd and AT – which will run CRL when it opens – will submit a joint proposal to the New Zealand Geographic Board (NZGB), the country’s place naming authority, asking it to adopt the names.

AT’s Chief Executive, Shane Ellison, says te reo Māori in public spaces is essential for a thriving Māori identity in Tāmaki Makaurau.

“In the last few years, we’ve seen the presence of te reo Māori on Auckland’s public transport network increase substantially – from onboard announcements on trains and buses to the new signage that is being installed across the city.

“The gifted station names continue AT’s commitment to ensuring te reo Māori is seen, heard, spoken and learned across our network and we’re thrilled to be part of that journey” Mr Ellison says.

The renders illustrate designs that are different for each station, reflecting their geographic location and their ties to mana whenua history and story-telling. The renders do not include CRL’s fourth station, Waitematā. When it reopened last year, the refurbished and heritage-listed Chief Post Office - the main entrance to Waitematā – included elements of tikanga (custom). Outside Waitematā, Auckland’s newest civic space – Te Komititanga - was designed by mana whenua artists and weavers, and their paving patterns represent moving waters.

“The process is about reinstating the traditional names of the areas the stations will serve – looking back to a time before concrete and skyscrapers when people lived off the land. When we re-establish a traditional name, for example Maungawhau, it offers a sense of place,” says CRL Ltd’s Mana Whenua Forum.

Transport Minister Michael Wood and Auckland Mayor, Phil Goff, were among the guests present when the proposed names and the renders were released at the Te Wai Horotiu Station site.

Minister Wood says the stations will become cornerstones of a modern, vibrant, and connected city.

LAUNCH: Auckland Mayor Phil Goff and Reuben Kirkwood( Ngāi Tai ki Tāmaki)  Mana Whenua  artist for Karanga a Hape Station at the launch

Auckland Mayor Phil Goff and Reuben Kirkwood( Ngāi Tai ki Tāmaki)  Mana Whenua  artist for Karanga a Hape Station at the launch

“Everyday tens of thousands of Aucklanders will use these stations. They will drive urban renewal including new housing, commercial activity, and cultural expression. They will also be beautiful public spaces that make Aucklanders proud to use public transport. The Government is committed to delivering a linked-up transport network that includes CRL, making it faster to move around the city, connecting communities, providing greater access to businesses, all while reducing congestion,” Mr Wood says.

Mayor Goff says the names and designs also celebrate the city’s past.

“The stations will be unique, emphasising Māori culture and heritage, which are our point of difference to the world. It will tell us, as Aucklanders, about what once happened on these sites and how they once looked. For visitors, it will help make their experience in Tāmaki Makaurau memorable and different from other places in the world which they have visited,” Mr Goff says.

AT and CRL Ltd will submit their proposal for the te reo Māori names to the NZGB at the end of this month. People will have the chance to provide feedback before the NZGB makes its decision

Watch highlights of the announcement event

Underway again! Dame Whina Cooper digging second CRL tunnel

26 April 2022

Karakia and prayers celebrated the start this morning of the second transformational journey City Rail Link’s Tunnel Boring Machine (TBM) will make below Auckland’s skyline building the country’s first underground railway.

The TBM, named in honour of Māori champion, Dame Whina Cooper, started its subterranean drive from CRL’s Mt Eden site into the central city. Its first destination will be the underground station below Karangahape Road before a planned arrival next spring at the project’s Aotea site.

“Fantastic teamwork by the TBM crew to get cracking today despite all that omicron could throw at us is a great achievement and something Aucklanders should rightly celebrate as we take a huge step towards completing CRL,” says Dr Sean Sweeney, Chief Executive of City Rail Link Ltd (CRL Ltd).

Dame Whina Cooper is operated by the Link Alliance – the six national and international infrastructure companies delivering CRL’s main tunnels, stations and rail systems contract – completed the first of the two CRL tunnels on the eve of last Christmas. Link Alliance Project Director, Francois Dudouit, says the TBM’s second drive will be just as challenging as the first.

“No matter how well you plan, things can always change,” Mr Dudouit says. “We learnt a lot from last year but constructing a bored tunnel is a unique and complex task bound to bring challenges, particularly when you’re working below a city. Importantly, our TBM crews are experts at successfully confronting obstacles – restricted working conditions because of covid or Auckland’s ground conditions – and getting the job done safely.”

Kaumātua from Ngāti Whātua Ōrākei and Father Christopher Denham, Dean of the Cathedral of St Patrick and St Joseph blessed Dame Whina Cooper and its crews before power was officially switched on and the TBM’s 7.15-metre-wide revolving cutter head began digging into the earth.

Dame Whina Cooper is a multi-tasker. The 130-metre-long TBM completes three jobs: cutting the spoil, removing the spoil by conveyor built to the surface, and installing the concrete segments - 14,735 in total – that will line the twin rail tunnels. There will be a crew of 12 working each shift on the TBM, supported by another team of around 12 above ground.

In keeping with mining tradition, big machines working underground are named after a significant woman to honour St Barbara, the patron saint of miners. Dame Whina Cooper is a champion of Māori land and social rights. New Zealanders helped the Link Alliance and CRL Ltd choose her name as an appropriate one for a TBM playing a significant role in Auckland’s transport future.

Dame Whina Cooper completes its work at the southern end of the station being built at the Aotea site. Tunnels already built from Britomart connect with the northern end of the new station.

The travel impacts of a completed CRL will be huge. The 3.45-kilometre-long railway will make it easier for Aucklanders to reach the centre of their city. The entire rail network will operate more effectively, trains will be frequent, they will be longer with more seats, and journeys will be quicker.

City Rail Link successfully lifted to another level

26 March 2022

One of City Rail Link’s heaviest single lifts was completed successfully today (Saturday) when a huge bridge span was hoisted into position over Auckland’s Western/North Auckland Line (NAL) at the project’s Mt Eden site.

It took a team of seventy supported by three titanic cranes four hours to manoeuvre the steel span 46 metres long and weighing 160 tonnes into position.  The span is the ‘foundation’ for a new overbridge that will give people safe access seven metres above railway lines at Porters Avenue.

“A great deal of careful planning and teamwork has produced a great outcome for the project and for the people of Auckland,” says Dale Burtenshaw, Construction Manager NAL for CRL’s Link Alliance. “We had to move a very big piece of steel, but the lift went off without a hitch.”

The span was delivered overnight earlier this week on an 83-metre long truck that took six hours to transport its huge load from Ōtara in south Auckland to Mt Eden.

The Western Line was closed to complete today’s lift safely. 

“The valued support we get from Aucklanders is very important to help us make successful project advances like today’s lift and we do our very best to minimise any disruption for our neighbours and for rail users,” Mr Burtenshaw says. 

Railings, stairs, lifts and push or rundle ramps will be installed on the span later this year to give walkers, cyclists and those with prams, mobility scooters and wheelchairs easy and safe access over the rail corridor.  The bridge will also carry public utility services across the line. A completed Porters Avenue overbridge is planned to open in late 2022.

The bridge will be shaped like a bow tie. Its architects, Jasmax, say the bow tie shape will minimise its overall size and maximise sun and light to surrounding properties without compromising safety for bridge users.  Designs on the bridge will reflect the importance to Māori of volcanic basalt from nearby Maungawhau/Mt Eden as a gardening and building tool.

“Not only will CRL revolutionise Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland’s public transport network, it will also unlock the potential to create high quality, sustainable neighbourhoods that support active modes of transport,” says Chris Jack, Principal and Transport & Infrastructure Lead at Jasmax. “The design for the overbridge represents the city’s unique cultural identity, linking to the whakapapa of Maungawhau/Mt Eden and its significance to mana whenua.”

When CRL is completed, the overbridge will span four railway lines instead of the existing one at present.   It will  support access to a redeveloped station at CRL’s Mt Eden site and to the extensive residential and commercial expansion planned around the station. 

The original Porters Avenue level crossing was closed to vehicles and pedestrians in 2020.  Because of the additional lines, vehicles will continue to use alternative routes when the overbridge opens.

Porters Avenue is the first of four permanent bridges to be built over the rail corridor at CRL’s Mt Eden site.

CRL will have a huge impact on Auckland’s growth and prosperity.

The project will enable Auckland’s rail network to run more efficiently – there will be more trains and more seats,  and journeys will be easier and quicker – and the number of people within 30 minutes travel of the CBD – the country’s largest employment hub – will double.

‘Titans’ get ready to lift City Rail Link to another level

20 March 2022

Sturdy, strong, steel ‘titans’ are starting to reveal their mechanical muscle today to advance the next stage of the country’s largest transport infrastructure project  

The titans are three heavyweight cranes being assembled at the City Rail Link (CRL) Mt Eden site to help bring big and safe changes for Aucklanders.

“The cranes are huge, each with enough grunt to lift 450 tonnes, and they have a huge job to do,” says Dale Burtenshaw, Deputy Construction Manager for CRL’s Link Alliance. 

The cranes will lift and position a gigantic steel bridge span 46 metres long and weighing 160 tonnes to support a new pedestrian and cycle overbridge across the Western/North Auckland Line at Porters Avenue.  The cranes will lift the bridge span this weekend. 

“The span is a very big steel hull and a lot of technical planning will be involved to make sure it is positioned precisely and safely,” Mr Burtenshaw says.  “This is a job that will mark another important development to progress CRL.”

The span will be the “foundation” for the overbridge. Railings, stairs, lifts and push ramps will be installed later this year to give walkers, cyclists and those with prams, mobility scooters and wheelchairs easy and safe access over the rail corridor.  The bridge is also designed to cleverly conceal a full range of public utility services that also need to cross the rail line.

The bridge will provide access to the redeveloped station at Mt Eden and to the extensive residential and commercial expansion planned around the station. 

The original Porters Avenue level crossing was closed to vehicles and pedestrian in 2020.  Vehicles will continue to use alternative routes when the overbridge opens.

“There is currently one railway line at Porters Avenue, but when CRL opens there will be four so safe access for everyone is an important issue for CRL,” Mr Burtenshaw says.

The completed Porters Avenue overbridge will reflect cultural designs linked to nearby Maungawhau/Mt Eden, and it will be built to maintain privacy and light to neighbouring properties. 

Porters Avenue is one of four permanent bridges being built over the rail corridor at CRL’s Mt Eden site.

City Rail Link uncovers “breathless” buried secret

08 March 2022

Building for Auckland’s transport future with the City Rail Link (CRL) project has discovered fragments from the city’s past that would most probably have left many of its colonial users gasping for breath.  

Contractors at CRL’s Aotea Station site in central Auckland uncovered concrete foundations and timber footings used to support a landmark wooden fire bell tower built in Albert Street near the intersection with Victoria Street. Watchmen had to huff-and-puff their way up five sets of steep stairs to reach the tower’s lookout perched almost 23 metres – roughly the length of a cricket pitch - over a town built mainly of wood and brick and vulnerable to the threat of fire.  

“The city’s given up another of its buried secrets – an archaeological snapshot of the past and a reminder of what it was like to live without all the mod cons we take for granted today,” says City Rail Link Ltd’s Chief Executive, Dr Sean Sweeney. “The tower would have been a critical part of the pioneer town’s fire-fighting infrastructure.”

Built in the early 1880s, the tower was topped by a heavy bell known as “Big Ben”.  There was no electricity at the time and watchmen had to use hydraulics to ring “Big Ben” and raise the alarm. It could be heard 11 kilometres away - providing it was a still day with no wind.  The number of the bell’s gongs indicated the location of a fire.

(Auckland Libraries Heritage Collection)

“Big Ben” and the tower were decommissioned in 1902 when the city’s main fire station moved to opposite its present site in Pitt Street.   

The tower’s foundations were exposed when Link Alliance contractors were excavating earth along Albert Street for CRL.

“They were in pretty good nick considering they had been underground almost 150 years,” says Matt Sinclair, Aotea Station Manager for the Link Alliance. “The wood has been identified as kauri and some of the segments we found still lock together in a set.”  

The foundations have been inspected by an archaeologist and will be preserved in a new location that appropriately fits their fire-fighting past.  The CRL project has donated them to the Auckland Fire Brigade’s Museum & Historical Society. 

The kauri used to support the tower

“It’s a real treat to have such an amazing piece of our history back – something that we have only ever seen photos of before. We also now know the exact location of the tower in Albert Street,”  says Colin Prince, Secretary and Archivist for the Museum. 

The fire tower foundations are the latest is a growing list of artefacts from Auckland’s past uncovered by CRL.

Discoveries include an old well, bricks used for buildings and drains, an old boiler, part of a seawall, wharf piles, bottles, the remains of a scrubbing brush, and fragments of two trees buried for almost 30,000 years.  A colonial kauri cottage was removed from the Mt Eden site and shifted by truck to a new location.

Link Alliance donated the tower segments to the Auckland Fire Brigades Museum & Historical Society – from left: Dave Neil (Auckland Fire Brigades Museum & Historical Society), Jason Haggerty (Link Alliance), Matt Cheyne (Link Alliance), Matt Sinclair (Link Alliance), Vaughan Mackereth (Fire & Emergency NZ), Hunter White (Link Alliance), Murray Binning (Auckland Fire Brigades Museum & Historical Society)

Two significant features of Auckland’s pioneer past will continue to serve the city.    CRL re-opened a restored heritage-listed Central Post Office a year ago as part of the Britomart Station, and work will start at the end of this year reinstalling a 19th century bluestone wall temporarily removed stone-by-stone to make room for project construction at Aotea.

Rail passengers on a new track for CRL at Mt Eden

23 January 2022

Views through carriage windows will be a little different tomorrow (Monday, 24 January) for passengers on resumed Western Line services after an ambitious and successful programme of holiday work at City Rail Link’s Mt Eden Station site.

Their trains will ride on 1.3 kilometres of new track through the busy site - a switch critical to connect the Western/North Auckland Line with CRL at a redeveloped Mt Eden Station.

“Our teams worked flat stick, including double shifts, in some pretty sweaty summer temperatures over the holidays to complete a big step for the project,” says Dale Burtenshaw, North Auckland Line Construction Manager for the Link Alliance, CRL’s main contractor. “Importantly, we’ve regained a lot of construction momentum lost to the covid lockdowns and restrictions.”

The country’s largest transport infrastructure project took advantage of KiwRail’s maintenance closure of the Western/North Auckland Line over Christmas/New Year – known as a Block of Line - to make the switch.

Trains, passenger and freight, running in both directions continue to use a temporary single line through Mt Eden. The previous line has been removed for necessary construction in that corridor with trains now using the new one on the northern side of the redeveloped Mt Eden Station. It is anticipated that both lines will return to dual track operations in mid-2023.

The tight construction timetable work required close collaboration between Link Alliance, KiwiRail, Auckland Transport and rail specialist contractors Martinus and Siemens. Completing a successful switch involved around 200 working on the tracks, signalling, installing electrified overhead lines and bonding and earthing them, and associated civil works.

“Exceptional teamwork produced an exceptional outcome towards an improved rail network for Aucklanders, Mr Burtenshaw said.

The Link Alliance acknowledged the support of its Mt Eden neighbours.

“Their patience and understanding during some long hours of work helped contribute to our success,” he said.

KiwiRail and Auckland Transport welcome CRL progress at Mt Eden.

“I’m proud of what’s been achieved from the immense amount of work across the Auckland rail network, including Mt Eden, to prepare for the opening of CRL,” says David Gordon, KiwiRail’s acting Chief Executive.

Auckland Transport says it is delighted to welcome people back to its Western Line services.

“Achieving the completion of the new rail line ready for passenger service is no small feat, especially during a holiday period. Thank you to those involved,” Christian Messelyn, Portfolio Delivery Director of Alliances for Auckland Transport.

Other Mt Eden work included relocating safety hoardings, earthworks for new retaining walls and utilities, building a new haul road, and works to prepare for the second drive of CRL’s Tunnel Boring Machine, Dame Whina Cooper, later this year. Further Block of Line closures at Mt Eden are planned for March and April to help deliver a CRL project that will allow Auckland to grow and prosper.

Christmas cracker! Dame Whina Cooper comes to town  

22 December 2021

City Rail Link’s Tunnel Boring Machine (TBM), Dame Whina Cooper, broke through into the Aotea Station in central Auckland today, marking the end of its epic underground journey for the project and for the city.

“Our aim was always to get into central Auckland before Christmas and here we are – pleased and proud at what a committed Link Alliance team of contractors has achieved in some pretty testing times. It’s been a hard year but a better rail network for an international city like Auckland is getting closer,” says City Rail Link Ltd’s Chief Executive, Dr Sean Sweeney. 

Transport Minister Michael Wood, Auckland Mayor Phil Goff,  Dame Whina Cooper’s whanau and CRL workers welcomed the TBM as it cut through a concrete protective wall into Aotea at the end of tunnelling that had started at Mt Eden in May.

The Crown and Auckland Council are CRL’s Sponsors, and both Minister Wood and Mayor Goff recognised the significant progress made by the project despite the pandemic. 

“It’s great to see Dame Whina Cooper finish its journey – a positive milestone that is an exciting Christmas delivery for Auckland,” Mr Wood says. “CRL will form the heart of linked-up high-capacity rapid transit network for the city.”

Mr Goff describes the Aotea breakthrough as remarkable.

“While we continue to face challenges due to the pandemic, we are making good progress on delivering this essential infrastructure. Once complete, the CRL will be a gamechanger for the region, doubling train capacity, reducing journey times and carrying the equivalent of up to 16 extra traffic lanes into the city at peak times,” the Mayor says.  

Dr Sweeney describes the breakthrough as the “icing on CRL’s Christmas cake” after a year of significant advances - re-opening the city’s restored Chief Post Office, connecting Aotea to the Albert Street section of tunnels, mining New Zealand’s deepest station at Karangahape, re-locating the huge Huia 2 watermain at Mt Eden, and navigating through a Covid-19 pandemic.

“This breakthrough is a great morale booster for a dedicated team working at times under stressful conditions. It gives us great confidence going into the second half of the project next year,” he says.

“Covid is responsible for a lot of disruption. CRL Ltd and the Link Alliance are now assessing the impact of that disruption on construction timetables and costs. We’ll have a clearer picture next year. What is important today is that the Link Alliance has progressed a vital piece of Auckland’s transport infrastructure.”

During its seven month-long journey, the TBM multi-tasked – cutting into the earth, removing spoil to the surface, and installing the concrete panels that line the tunnels.

Following centuries-old mining tradition, the TBM’s name recognises a woman of significance and mana – for CRL it is Dame Whina Cooper. Today’s breakthrough occurred less than a fortnight after the Māori champion’s day of birth in 1895. 

Dame Whina’s son, Joseph, says the breakthrough reflects in many ways the impact his mother made on Māori and all people living in New Zealand/Aotearoa.

"Kite matau nga iwi te kopura marama i tera moka o Te Kauhanga Raro – we the people can see the light at the end of the underground sacred passageway,” Mr Cooper says.

The breakthrough marks the end of the first of two underground journeys for Dame Whina Cooper. 

The front section, known as the shield, will be lifted out in sections and transported back to Mt Eden. The shield’s supporting sections, or gantries, will move back through the newly excavated tunnel to Mt Eden and reconnected with the shield for the TBM’s second drive to Aotea next year.

A completed CRL connects a redeveloped Mt Eden station directly with Auckland’s main station at Britomart. Two underground stations along the 3.45-kilometre route – Aotea and Karangahape – will make it easier to access the central city for work and pleasure. 

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No holiday rest as big Mt Eden milestone nears for CRL

16 December 2021

Accelerated work that began at City Rail Link’s (CRL) busy Mt Eden site last month will step up a further gear during the summer holidays.

The country’s largest transport infrastructure project is taking advantage of an almost complete closure of the rail network’s Western/North Auckland Line to make significant changes around the site of the old Mt Eden Station.

“The closure gives us the momentum for our teams to complete big and necessary work around the rail corridor safely without having to worry about trains” says Dale Burtenshaw, North Auckland Line Construction Manager for the Link Alliance. “We’re mindful of our neighbours and we have measures in place to minimise any disruption.”

KiwiRail’s closure, known as a Block of Line, runs from Boxing Day, 26 December, until 23 January. During this time, CRL’s additional work hours will include weekends, public holidays and nights.

The essential part of the holiday work programme involves switching 1.3 kilometres of track. The existing single line through the station site will be removed and trains travelling in both directions switched onto a new section of track. The switch is one part of a construction programme to connect the Western Line with CRL at a redeveloped Mt Eden Station.

We’ve got a very tight timetable to do all this - lift the existing track, making the switch and commissioning the new track, and completing construction work for the CRL lines,” Mr Burtenshaw says. “This is significant milestone for the project and needs to be finished by around 12 January with an overnight train running the length of the newly laid track for the first time.”

In addition to the track work, some civil construction activity will also continue on the Mt Eden site.

“We’re very aware that we work close to homes and businesses and we will do all we can to manage noise, dust and vibration,” says Mr Burtenshaw.

“Our experts will continue to closely monitor environmental impacts and install mitigation measures where required. Noise mats will be used where possible around work sites and equipment, and water misters and cannons will be used to dampen the material and reduce dust. Lights used during any night works will be angled down directly onto the work site to avoid light spill to surrounding properties.”

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CRL celebrates Christmas ”get together” below Auckland

10 December 2021

Fifteen metres under a busy central Auckland street, workers this morning removed the final pieces of a concrete wall and began connecting the new Aotea Station to tunnels running from Britomart for the transformational City Rail Link project.

“The wall wasn’t all that thick – about 300 millimetres wide – but its removal marks a huge step forward for our work,” says Dr Sean Sweeney, Chief Executive for City Rail Link Ltd. “While it’s still a busy construction site out of sight for most, a project to deliver far-reaching changes for Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland is rapidly taking shape below them.”

The breakthrough under the intersection of Albert and Wyndham Streets joins the twin tunnels completed in early 2020 from Britomart Station and under Commercial Bay and Albert Street with the Aotea Station, destined to become the country’s busiest when a completed CRL is fully operational.

Francois Dudouit, Project Director for the Link Alliance – CRL’s main contractor – says the wall’s removal took about two weeks. “It was careful work connecting two separate sections of the project, and, at the same time, doing that without disturbing roads, walkways, shops and offices just a few metres above us,” Mr Dudouit says. “The successful removal and the connection are a Christmas bonus for us.”

After the breakthrough, Mr Dudouit placed the first steel reinforcing bar to link Aotea into the existing tunnel. Joining the tunnels and station clears the way for a new stage of work – fitting out the tunnels and getting them ready for the installation of rail track and rail systems like signals and communications.

At Aotea, foundation work for the entire station is planned to be finished before the Christmas break. By then, more than 400 bored piles and 140 diaphragm wall panels will have been built. A large section of the station roof has also been constructed, with excavation of underground dirt continuing daily.

Aotea’s footprint is 350 metres long beneath Albert Street, from the Wyndham Street intersection south to the Wellesley Street/Mayoral Drive intersection.

At Aotea’s southern end, final preparations are underway to welcome the project’s Tunnel Boring Machine (TBM), Dame Whina Cooper. The TBM is nearing the end of a journey that began in May from CRL’s Mt Eden site through the mined tunnel for the Karangahape station and into central Auckland.

The upcoming breakthrough at Aotea will be the final link in the first of two tunnels running the full 3.45 kilometres of the CRL between Mt Eden and Britomart.

The TBM will be returned to Mt Eden in sections and reassembled to excavate the second rail tunnel in 2022.

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Work ramps up over Auckland Metro Network Christmas shutdown

16 November 2021

KiwiRail, Auckland Transport and City Rail Link are finalising plans for an unprecedented Christmas works programme to improve and upgrade the Auckland metro rail network.

While Aucklanders enjoy the summer holidays and patronage on the network is traditionally light, the network will temporarily close so that work on several projects can go ahead safely and efficiently between 26 December and 23 January. KiwiRail will have more than 1000 people working across the network and City Rail Link (CRL) will have 200 at its Mt Eden site.

“With the Government’s $1.5 billion investment in Auckland’s rail network, there is a massive programme underway to develop a world-class rail service for Aucklanders,” says KiwiRail Capital Projects and Asset Development Manager David Gordon.

“The Christmas shutdown allows us to get a huge amount of work done over a short period of time. Our projects would take years longer to complete without the ability to make big strides during intermittent shutdowns so we thank Aucklanders for their understanding.”

“It will take a few years but, once complete, the network will allow a more frequent and more reliable train services for Auckland Transport’s passenger trains and greater capacity for freight trains.”

KiwiRail will focus its Christmas works on the project to bring electrification to the line between Papakura and Pukekohe, continue construction on the third main line through the busiest part of the network between Westfield and Wiri, replacing track in the complex entry to Britomart Station, and carrying out necessary track repairs across the metro area. Years of under-investment in the track infrastructure, while more and more services run through Auckland, means parts of the network are in urgent need of modernising.

All this work needs to be complete or well advanced before City Rail Link (CRL) opens.

The CRL project team will use the summer closure to accelerate work at the big and complex Mt Eden site where tunnelling operations are based. CRL is being connected to the North Auckland/Western Line and a new Mt Eden Station is under construction.

“It allows us to build construction momentum again after all of Covid’s disruptions,” says Francois Dudouit, Project Director for the Link Alliance delivering the main CRL contract. “Getting the job done as quickly and as safely as we can benefits wider Auckland, and, just as importantly, helps reduce disruption for our neighbours.”

To achieve the most work in the available time, the network will close to all passenger trains with buses replacing trains on all lines from 26 December to 16 January.

From 17 January to 23 January track work will continue at Britomart Station and at CRL’s Mt Eden site. Buses will replace trains on the Western Line, and between Newmarket and Britomart for other services. Eastern Line trains will use The Strand Station in Parnell during this time.

Auckland Transport would like to remind customers that scheduled buses may be quicker for some customers than the rail replacement services. Customers are encouraged to use the Journey Planner or AT Mobile app to find the most suitable alternative.

“Working on a network that operates 24/7, 365 days a year is a complex undertaking, which is why we try to do as much as possible during network closures,” says Mr Gordon.

“We plan works in a way that minimises overall disruption and we will give commuters and rail corridor neighbours notice of the changes that are likely to affect them.”

“However, we know that some inconvenience and noise is inevitable, and we apologise in advance for that and thank Aucklanders for their patience.”

For more information about bus replacements, please see: AT.govt.nz/railclosures

For more information about Auckland rail improvement work over the Christmas shutdown: www.kiwirail.co.nz/akl

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CRL progress: One “lady” on the move again, two others “retired”

10 November 2021

Dame Whina Cooper, City Rail Link’s (CRL) Tunnel Boring Machine (TBM), has started the second leg of its four-stage journey below Auckland streets for the country’s largest transport infrastructure project.

The TBM’s 785-metre-long drive from Karangahape Station to Aotea Station in the heart of Auckland’s midtown is planned to finish early in the new year.

The TBM completed its first leg – 860 metres from CRL’s Mt Eden site to Karangahape - last month.

“We’re very happy to be on the move again for Auckland,” says Francois Dudouit, Project Director for the Link Alliance, which operates the TBM. “Our teams above and below ground have adapted successfully to working in a covid environment and arriving safely for breakthrough at Aotea is our new goal.”

Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland’s recent five-week-long Covid lockdown delayed the TBM’s planned September breakthrough at Karangahape. Tunnelling accelerated when lockdown restrictions eased and its Karangahape arrival was well ahead of its rescheduled time.

The 130-metre-long TBM ‘pushed’ its way 223 metres to the northern end of the Karangahape Station cavern to resume its work – cutting into the earth, removing spoil along a conveyor belt, and lining the tunnel with concrete panels.

Dame Whina Cooper’s resumed mahi (work) from Karangahape coincides with the “retirement” of CRL’s two other hard working “ladies”.

Two roadheader machines - one named Dame Valerie Adams to honour our world and Olympic athletics champion and the other after New Zealand aviation pioneer Jean Batten – have ended their work excavating Karangahape’s two platform caverns. The job was completed with the last breakthrough from the caverns into the ‘box’ where the Mercury Lane entrance to the station is being built.

“This is a job very well done,” says Francois Dudouit. “Construction like this - building a station 35 metres below ground in a busy city – is something New Zealand has not seen before.”

Karangahape will be the country’s deepest railway station. It stretches below the Karangahape Road ridgeline with entrances at Mercury Lane and Beresford Square.

Together, Jean Batten and Dame Valerie Adams excavated and removed approximately 84,000 tonnes of sandstone.

Temporary support within the platform caverns and connecting cross passages or adits has so far involved the installation of 7,000 rockbolts and spraying 6,000 m3 of shotcrete.

Large machines like roadheaders and TBMs working underground are traditionally named after women of significance.

At Aotea, Dame Whina Cooper will be dismantled underground and returned to Mt Eden in sections, reassembled and then excavate the second rail tunnel in 2022.

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End of the line for CRL’s astonishing ‘can do’ contract at Britomart

21 October 2021

Work on one of the most complex engineering challenges undertaken in New Zealand ended today with completion of City Rail Link’s (CRL) C1 contract at Britomart Station.

“Over 5-years of exceptional and inventive work pushing construction techniques to new limits delivered an outstanding result – preserving Auckland’s historic past while building a world class railway for a modern city,” says City Rail Link Ltd Chief Executive, Dr Sean Sweeney. “There is a lot our C1 workers, and wider New Zealand, to be proud of.”

C1 was one of the earliest contracts for New Zealand’s largest transport infrastructure project to revitalise the city’s rail network.

Critical to CRL’s success was turning the dead end Britomart Station in Auckland’s downtown into a two-way through station with twin rail tunnels built in the basement of the city’s imposing and historic Chief Post Office (CPO).

Work began in 2016 when the CPO, the main entrance to the Britomart Station, was closed. CRL Ltd and its contractors, Downer NZ and Soletanche Bachy JV, built the tunnels in the 109-year-old heritage-listed building, across the lower end of Queen Street and below the Commercial Bay office and retail development to connect with CRL tunnels in Albert Street.

“Achieving all that required some astonishing engineering - we pushed accepted construction boundaries with some amazing innovative techniques,” Dr Sweeney says.

  • Fourteen thousand tonnes of a building with a top heritage rating were safely transferred on to temporary foundations

  • Machinery was modified specifically for use in confined conditions under the CPO

  • Special grade steel manufactured in New Zealand for the first time teams was used in the contract

  • Workers had to contend with muddy reclaimed land with the old building perched on temporary foundations just a few centimetres above them

  • Britomart Station remained fully operational with a connecting door separating busy platforms from a construction site.

  • Delivery was challenged by multiple Covid Level-4 shutdowns in Auckland

“Great collaboration produced a great ‘can do’ attitude,” Dr Sweeney says.

Years of planning, design and partnerships involving CRL Ltd and its contractors with Heritage NZ,Auckland Council, Auckland Transport, the Commercial Bay developers and other neighbours, andTāmaki Makaurau Iwi were the foundations for a positive outcome.

Around 10,000 Aucklanders were given a ‘sneak peek’ behind the project’s hoardings when they walked a section of Britomart tunnels in November, 2019.

The project handed back to Auckland a fully restored CPO last April. The building has resumed its role as the “front door” for the Britomart Station.

Traffic-congested Lower Queen Street in front of the CPO has been replaced by a striking people-friendly square known as Te Komititanga, Meaning to mix or to merge. The layout of Te Komititanga’s basalt pavers was designed by Mana Whenua artists and weavers.

Dr Sweeney says C1 ticked many other boxes: sustainability, preserving fragments of Auckland’s past uncovered during construction, cultural and social impacts including job creation opportunities and an improved environment.

“C1 set very high standards and new benchmarks for other CRL contracts, and for the wider infrastructure industry,” he says.

The $4.4bn CRL project connects Britomart and the Mt Eden Station on the Western Line with tunnels 3.45 kilometres long under central Auckland. Two new underground station will improve access in and out of central Auckland – New Zealand’s largest employment hub.

CRL is planned to finish in late 2024 and will double the number of people living within 30 minutes of travel of the central city with train services that will be more frequent and faster.

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Breakthrough!  Karangahape welcomes Dame Whina Cooper

17 October 2021

Stylised image of two hands together in the shape of a heart. Kia Mataara Dame Whina Cooper TBM Breakthrough Karangahape Station October 2021. CRL and Link Alliance logos


Auckland’s City Rail Link (CRL) is today celebrating a mighty milestone with its powerful Tunnel Boring Machine (TBM), Dame Whina Cooper, breaking through into the Karangahape Station construction site at the end of its 860-metre-long journey from Mt Eden.

CRL workers 32 metres below ground at Karangahape welcomed Dame Whina Cooper as the TBM breached a 100-millimetre-thick protective wall of concrete into the station cavern.

The muddy cutter head of the Dame Whina Cooper TBM breaking through into the Karangahape station cavern, leaving a pile of rock and concrete in front.

“Despite all the curve balls, complications and challenges Covid keeps throwing our way, we’ve arrived – it’s a positive, exciting and significant arrival,” says City Rail Link Ltd’s Chief Executive,

Dr Sean Sweeney. “Aucklanders can’t see it, but far below their streets a railway that is going to change their lives for the good is rapidly starting to take shape.”

Dr Sweeney says breakthrough success is tempered by Covid’s continuing consequences for New Zealand’s largest transport infrastructure project.

“It is very clear, and it shouldn’t surprise anyone, that the pandemic has had serious impacts on our project costs and construction timings” he says. “Assessments are underway now so that we have a much clearer picture of the extent and depth of covid’s effects on us.”

New Zealand’s recent five-week-long covid lockdown delayed the TBM’s planned September breakthrough. CRL’s main contractor, the Link Alliance, continued to operate the TBM during the lockdown, well below full capacity, to stop earth settling around it. Tunnelling accelerated when lockdown restrictions eased.

“Great collaboration, planning and old-fashioned hard labour from all our teams below and above ground helped us regain some of that momentum lost to the lockdown – we’re at Karangahape in great shape well ahead of our rescheduled time in November --a real bonus,” says Link Alliance Project Director, Francois Dudouit. “The TBM was running sweetly at a rate higher than planned during its drive under Spaghetti Junction on the motorway.”

Covid-related health and safety protocols curtailed larger breakthrough celebrations. The TBM operators did mark their arrival with a symbolic gift for Karangahape Station workers - a hardhat representing the Link Alliance’s commitment to achieve industry-leading standards in health, safety, and wellbeing. The hard hat bears Dame Whina Cooper’s portrait.

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Celebrations as Dame Whina Cooper drives on for Auckland

01 October 2021

Celebrating the first 500 metres! Dame Whina Cooper TBM logo, CRL and Link Alliance logos

The project’s big Tunnel Boring Machine (TBM), Dame Whina Cooper, has reached the 500-metre mark onthe first leg of its 1.6-kilometre-long journey from Mt Eden into central Auckland.

“This is fabulous news for the project, and for Auckland too,” says City Rail Link’s Chief Executive, Dr Sean Sweeney. “It’s giving everyone a lift – there’ a lot of dedicated work behind this - and we’re telling Auckland we’re not going to be stopped by all the challenges the pandemic keeps throwing our way.” The TBM is currently below Symonds Street in Auckland’s uptown district. It is operated by CRL’s main contractor, the Link Alliance.

“Arriving at the 500-metre mark is an important target for tunnellers everywhere,” says Link Alliance Project Director, Francois Dudouit. “Getting there so soon after the level four lockdown ended is a great achievement and demonstrates the persistence and hard work of our teams above and below ground to get the tunnels built.”

Dame Whina Cooper began tunnelling CRL’s southbound tunnel in late May. During the five week-long covid lockdown, the TBM continued to operate, well below full capacity, to reduce the risk of becoming trapped by the pressure of the earth around it. “We were well prepared to ramp up our work once the lockdown ended,” Mr Dudouit says.

Covid-related health and safety protocols are observed while tunnelling continues at pace operating 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Teams are working 12-hour shifts – one team of 12 on the TBM and another 12 above ground, with many others supporting the operation.

Dame Whina Cooper will soon pass under the Auckland motorway network’s Spaghetti Junction on its path towards the next important destination – CRL’s Karangahape Station. Arrival there is planned for the end of the year. The final leg of the TBM’s first drive – Aotea Station in central Auckland – will be completed early in the new year. Dr Sweeney says the pandemic has impacted the tunnelling programme.

“Since March 2020, and not including Auckland’s latest ongoing level 3 alert, CRL has endured 205 days of lockdowns or restricted working conditions under levels 4, 3, 2.5 and 2. By anyone’s reckoning, 205 days is still an awful lot of disruption,” he says. “But very importantly, no-one at CRL has lost sight of how important the project is for Auckland and the big changes it will bring to the people who live and work here.”

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Advance Interim Payments under CRL Targeted Hardship Fund

23 September 2021

City Rail Link Ltd (CRL Ltd) will soon be able to assess applications from small businesses who qualify for Advance Interim Payments under the Targeted Hardship Fund (Fund) as details of the Fund continue to be developed.

Advance Interim Payments will provide timely financial help for businesses which are likely to qualify for the Fund and which are currently experiencing genuine hardship as a result of major CRL construction disruption.

“These payments will provide some financial assistance for these businesses while eligibility and assessment criteria for the Fund itself is finalised,” says CRL Ltd’s Chief Executive, Dr Sean Sweeney.

On 3 September 2021, CRL’s sponsors - the Government and Auckland Council - announced the establishment of the $12m Targeted Hardship Fund to help businesses experiencing financial hardship due to major and sustained CRL construction disruption.

The sponsors are meeting representatives of Auckland’s central city business communities to hear their views before the Fund’s eligibility and assessment criteria are finalised. Advance Interim Payments will provide some financial assistance for eligible businesses while that work is being completed.

It will be available to qualifying small businesses neighbouring construction sites of CRL’s huge tunnels and stations C3 contract – Aotea Station midtown, Karangahape Station, and uptown at Mt Eden Station.

The Fund will be managed by CRL Ltd with outside support to administer the scheme. Dr Sweeney says CRL Ltd is now able to assess requests for Advance Interim Payments.

“Flexibility will be a key part of the processes we’re putting in place - Advance Interim Payments can be made while a business owner’s application is being considered in more detail. Our focus will be to assess requests for interim payments quickly to those businesses that qualify,” he says.

Payments and information included in applications made be audited at any time to ensure the appropriate use of public funds.

Payments under the scheme will be ex gratia - based on goodwill not a legal obligation. The Fund is available to business owners, not landowners nor landlords.

Small business support measures already introduced by CRL Ltd and its C3 contractor, the Link Alliance, will remain in place alongside the Fund.

Applications can be made online at www.cityraillink.co.nz/targetedhardshipfund

They can be backdated to 1 February 2021. Businesses that were operating at that time can apply even if they have now closed.

The $12 million Targeted Hardship Fund will be available until the end of 2022, when it will be reviewed. The sponsors will each contribute a 50 per cent share.

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CRL ready to “get cracking again” after Covid lockdown

20 September 2021

City Rail Link expects a rapid and successful return to work at CRL construction sites on Wednesday with strict health and safety protocols operating in line with the Government’s Covid-19 Alert Level 3 announcement.

All sites at New Zealand’s largest transport infrastructure project - Mt Eden, Karangahape, Aotea in the central city and Britomart – are re-opening after Auckland’s five-week-long lockdown under Alert Level 4.

“We’re an important part of the New Zealand economy with our big workforce and our big spend locally on construction materials so we’re keen to get cracking again. That’s good news for Auckland and good news for New Zealand,” says Dr Sean Sweeney, Chief Executive for City Rail Link Ltd.

Enhanced health and safety protocols developed by the wider construction industry and endorsed by Worksafe New Zealand will be operating. They include physical distancing, health monitoring, enhanced cleaning, segregation between different work crews and wearing personal protective equipment including masks.

“Our restart’s immediate priority will be the welfare of our workers and the communities around us. Those protocols worked very well for us before, and they will again help with a safe, successful and quick restart for us,” Dr Sweeney says

A karakia led by Auckland Iwi kaumātua will be held at dawn at the Aotea site to bless the resumption of work. Around 750 workers will be back on CRL sites immediately under Level 3 with a gradual return to around the 850 working under normal conditions. Office-based support teams will continue to work from home during Level 3.

Dr Sweeney says CRL spent Level 4 preparing for a quick restart under Level 3. Around 100 workers remained on site during the lockdown providing security, maintaining plant and other equipment, and operating the project’s tunnel boring machine well below full capacity levels to prevent earth settling around it. Backroom teams, including designers, planners and office support teams, worked from home.

“We’ve made the most of the lockdown to be ready for Wednesday – I think we’re in pretty good shape for our teams to make a successful and quick resumption of work. Nevertheless, covid continues to cast its long shadow and there are challenges and uncertainties ahead.”

Dr Sweeney acknowledges that the current lockdown and a stricter health and safety regime on construction sites will affect the project.

“Current Covid-related impacts, and those before, are of a scale and uncertainty we could not have reasonably predicted a couple of years ago. They are exceptionally hard to rigorously quantify and will not be able to be fully determined for some time yet. But it is highly likely there will be significant consequences for the project,” Dr Sweeney says.

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Lockdown risk removed for CRL’s TBM

19 August 2021

City Rail Link Ltd has advised the Government that it will operate its Tunnel Boring Machine at reduced level allowed under current Covid-19 health and safety regulations.

“TBMs are not designed to be ‘parked’ underground for an open-ended period – they need to keep moving forward, even at reduced capacity, to avoid the risk of getting stuck,” says Dr Sean Sweeney, City Rail Link Ltd’s Chief Executive.

Dr Sweeney says the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE) has been advised of the rationale for operating the TBM within current regulations.

“We are not planning to continue full-scale mining – the TBM will be working at a much lower level than full capacity. We will be operating on a ‘do minimum/as necessary’ basis that falls within the parameters of this month’s Covid-19 Public Health Response Order.”

“This low-level operation will allow us to remove the risk of pressure from earth settling around a stationary TBM and ‘trapping’ the machine. If that happened here, the costs and time involved in freeing the TBM would be catastrophic and completely derail the project,” he says. Details of the low level operation are being finalised.

“Our priority will be to keep our workers safe – they will be working under strict health and safety guidelines. Our neighbour are being kept informed of our actions,” Dr Sweeney says.

City Rail Link’s TBM, named in honour of Māori rights champion, Dame Whina Cooper, is a bespoke machine costing around $13 million built specifically for Auckland’s soil conditions.

The TBM is operated by CRL’s main contractor, the Link Alliance. It began excavating the first of the project’s two rail tunnels in May – mining from Mt Eden first to Karangahape and then on to central Auckland to connect with already constructed tunnels from Auckland’s downtown.

A completed CRL and its two underground stations will give New Zealand’s largest city a world class railway - improved access in and out of central Auckland and quicker and more frequent trains across the wider city.

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COVID-19 Alert Closes CRL Construction Sites

18 August 2021

After the Prime Minister’s announcement that New Zealand is now at Covid-19 alert Level 4, City Rail Link Ltd (CRL Ltd) confirms construction at all City Rail Link project sites will stop immediately for a minimum of seven days.

“Our immediate priority is ensuring the safety of our people and the security of our sites,” says CRL Ltd Chief Executive Dr Sean Sweeney.

“Our construction sites look very different now compared with the lockdown periods last year – we are using a lot of heavy machinery to build the stations and tunnels. We will make sure that appropriate measures are put in place to keep each site and the surrounding areas safe for our teams and for our neighbours.”

Dr Sweeney says many project staff are still able to continue working from home and will do so as the shutdown continues. A small number of people will also remain at CRL sites to inspect and maintain structures, plant and equipment to ensure the safety and security of the works. “We are doing everything we can to ensure that we are well placed to come out of the blocks very fast when the restart call is given,” Dr Sweeney says.

City Rail Link Ltd and the Link Alliance are available able to speak with people and provide information. For queries people can contact 0800 CRL TALK (0800 275 8255) or email info@cityraillink.govt.nz or, if they have questions relating to a specific area, they can email the following:

Aotea Station – aotea@linkalliance.co.nz
Karangahape – karangahape@linkalliance.co.nz
Mt Eden - mteden@linkalliance.co.nz
CRL social media pages (Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn) and the project website www.cityraillink.govt.nz will also continue to keep people informed.

“In the meantime, everyone stay safe and be well, and we look forward to getting back on site as soon as the shutdown is over,” Dr Sweeney says.

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Response to graffiti attacks around Aotea Station

12 August 2021

The Stuff news site contacted City Rail Link Ltd requesting comment about graffiti attacks in the area around the Aotea Station construction site. Stuff received the following response CRL Ltd:

Contractors for City Rail Link’s Aotea construction site in central Auckland check the site every day to identify and remove graffiti.

There has been a significant increase in tagging in the past few days.

The Link Alliance has reported the issue to the Police. Tagging is not specific to the Aotea site and the Link Alliance has been informed that the wider city centre area has been targeted by taggers.

The City Rail Link project is committed to keeping all construction sites as clean and as tidy as possible, including the prompt removal of graffiti. The Link Alliance has installed CCTV around the Aotea site, improved lighting for people, and employs a full time security guard to patrol the area at night.

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Breakthrough at New Zealand’s deepest railway station

05 August 2021

Two sections of New Zealand’s deepest railway station are joined up after an underground breakthrough at City Rail Link’s Karangahape Station.

The breakthrough occurred 18 metres below the station entrance under construction at Mercury Lane – the building is now connected directly to the mined tunnel excavations underway for Karangahape’s platforms.

“It’s quite a milestone for us – one that shows we’re overcoming challenging ground conditions to ensure we are ready for the arrival of CRL’s Tunnel Boring Machine’s from Mt Eden next month,” says Jonathan Hill, The Link Alliance’s Project Manager for the Karangahape Station.

“Construction of the station building below street level began in early March and within five months, we’ve laid the concrete slabs for two of the station’s floors, removed 16,000 cubic metres of spoil, and joined up with the mined tunnels beneath.”

A combination of vibro ripper and hammer working inside the station entrance excavation chiseled its way through layers of rock to open the hole in the roof of a pilot tunnel below that had been used to excavate the platform tunnels.

With access now available from both the underground station and the mined tunnels, there is more flexibility to share resources between teams to excavate the remaining 16,500 cubic metres of rock for the station.

On- site innovation solved a safety challenge facing Link Alliance workers. Before the breakthrough, the pilot tunnel was backfilled with spoil from the mined tunnel, eliminating the risk of machinery falling into the tunnel from above, or debris falling if the breakthrough had been tackled from below.

When completed, Karangahape will be 32 metres below ground. Excavation work has finished on the southbound platform tunnel closest to Mercury Lane and work is underway on the adjoining northbound one. The platforms are 203 metres long to accommodate nine-car trains instead of the current six used on the Auckland network.

Karangahape is one of two underground stations being built for the City Rail Link project to improve access into central Auckland and to better connect the city’s entire rail network.

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Immediate start to CRL work at closed intersection  

30 June 2021

Work has started immediately on the next phase of construction progress for City Rail Link’s Aotea Station in central Auckland after the closure overnight of the Victoria Street/Albert Street intersection.

The first priority is to survey and cut open the intersection’s surface to find the many utilities essential to keep the city running buried there and then relocate them away from the station’s footprint. Fence lines erected to keep the work site safe include wayfinding and business signage and artwork to support the neighbouring community.

“The quicker we start and finish is a benefit for everyone,” says Matt Sinclair, Aotea Project Manager for CRL contractor, the Link Alliance. “We have a challenging task and it may include a surprise or two. During our earlier closure of the Albert Street/Wellesley Street intersection a block away we discovered that not everything underground was where we expected it to be.”

Underground utilities that need to be relocated include a steel gas pipe that feeds most of the city centre as well as a network of pipes and cables that carry power, fresh water and storm water, and telecommunication services.

When services have been relocated work will start on construction of what will become New Zealand’s busiest railway station serving a revitalised city centre.

The Victoria Street/Albert Street intersection is closed only to through traffic and remains open to people on foot to access cafes and restaurants, and other businesses in the area.

Alongside work at the intersection, the Link Alliance is delivering a comprehensive programme to support the project’s small business neighbours.

“Disruption from the project of this size in the middle of a city can’t be avoided, but we’ll be working very hard to make sure it’s ‘business as usual’ around us,” Sinclair says.

The Albert Street/Victoria Street intersection will be closed for about two years. The Wellesley Street/Victoria Street intersection re-opened last Sunday after it was closed in March 2020.

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Intersection and public transport changes for Aotea Station build

24 June 2021

The City Rail Link (CRL) project is launching the next phase of Aotea station construction progress with a traffic “switch” involving two central city intersections.

This Sunday, 27 June, the project and Auckland Transport will re-open the Wellesley Street West intersection with Albert Street to all through traffic. Two days later - Tuesday, 29 June - traffic at the nearby Victoria Street and Albert Street intersection will close to through traffic for two years until it reopens in 2023.

Both intersections will remain open for business and to pedestrians, but the necessary changes will have a significant impact on people using public transport, and drivers and riders.

The Crowne Plaza service lane below Albert Street will stay open from Victoria Street, allowing essential vehicles to access businesses in the area.

“While the intersection switch is necessary to build the station, we’re committed to keeping central Auckland moving,” says CRL Chief Executive, Dr Sean Sweeney. “Shops, cafes and restaurants and other businesses and offices in the area will stay open throughout construction and will always be accessible by foot.”

CRL’s main contractor, the Link Alliance, has a comprehensive development response programme planned to support the project’s neighbours through the closure period. It includes a business support programme and a range of activations and events in the area. The area will be kept tidy and well lit, and there will be wayfinding to help people safely find their way.

The changes to the intersections are part of project’s planned programme of works. CRL closed Wellesley Street West to traffic in March 2020, to move underground utilities. The focus now moves north to the Victoria and Albert Street intersection. Underground utilities that need to be relocated include a steel gas pipe that feeds most of the city centre as well as power, water supply and telecommunication services.

“When we finish building our world class rail system for Auckland, the benefits will be huge - CRL will double the number of people within 30 minutes of travel of the central city, New Zealand’s largest employment hub,” Dr Sweeney says.

Auckland Transport (AT) is making changes to 35 bus routes that travel into the city centre. All services currently using the Victoria Street will be re-routed. AT’s Executive Manager of Integrated Networks, Mark Lambert, says the return of buses to Wellesley Street will benefit passengers.

“When Wellesley Street reopens, there will be increased bus priority to cater for up to 150 buses an hour at peak times. This will mean quicker travel times for the 30,000 passengers who travel into the city centre each day,” Mr Lambert says.

Auckland Transport’s website, has details to help people plan their journey, no matter how they travel. People should be mindful that using public transport, walking or cycling may be a more convenient travel option than using a car to get to the midtown area.

While general traffic can use the re-opened Wellesley Street intersection between Albert Street and Queen Street eastbound, access westbound is restricted only to buses and heavy vehicles. Mayoral Drive is the best option for general traffic to travel across the city centre.

Dr Sweeney thanks Aucklanders for their support during the Wellesley Street closure.

“That support plays an important part in the progress we continue to make,” Dr Sweeney says. “Relocating services is one example of the huge scale and complexity of construction New Zealanders have probably not seen in a city centre before.”

Aotea will become the country’s busiest railway station when CRL opens. Together with the Wellesley Street bus corridor, it will become a key transport hub helping drive residential, business and leisure-based redevelopment of Auckland’s midtown.

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Creative homeless artists contribute to City Rail Link

22 June 2021

Homeless artists living on the streets of Auckland have found a unique place to showcase their creative talents – inside one of the buildings used by the country’s biggest transport infrastructure project.

Five sculptural reliefs by artists who belong to a homeless collective known as Awhina Mai Tatou Katoa (AMTK) greet visitors at the entrance of the Te Manawa building at 1 New North Road, Eden Terrace.

Meaning ‘The Heart’, Te Manawa is home to the City Rail Link’s public visitor centre and staff training and induction facility.

One of Awhina Mai Tatou Katoa’s artists, Teare Turetahi, says he and his three fellow artists are “honoured and humbled to use their art and be part of CRL.”

The other AMTK collective artists involved are Melvin Henry, Martin Rawiri and Rob Smith. Their sculptural reliefs are to be used as visual learning aids incorporating painting and traditional carving patterns. Te Manawa is a place of learning and the reliefs will be used to share mātauranga – traditional knowledge and education – with those who view them.

City Rail Link’s lead contractor, the Link Alliance, welcomes the collective’s contribution.

“We’re very pleased to accept the collective’s creative works as an indoor extension to what we call Auckland’s largest public art project with local artwork already displayed on perimeter fences around our main construction sites,” says Francois Dudouit, Project Director for the Link Alliance

“The project will have a huge impact on Auckland’s future, but the Awhina Mai Tatou Katoa artists remind us that it’s equally important not to lose sight of the past and the themes and narratives important to Tāmaki Makaurau. Their works rightly sit at Te Manawa where people come to learn and to share.” The City Rail Link is planned to open in late 2024, providing more frequent and quicker rail services into central Auckland.

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Plan for central Auckland’s big traffic switch

31 May 2021

City Rail Link and Auckland Transport have confirmed dates for significant changes to the layout of two major midtown intersections that will impact on drivers, riders and people on foot.

On Sunday, 27 June, Wellesley Street West is planned to re-open to through traffic. Two days later - Tuesday, 29 June - the nearby Victoria Street and Albert Street intersection will close temporarily for approximately two years.

Both intersections will always remain open for business and to pedestrians.

The intersections are in the middle of City Rail Link construction of the Aotea underground station.

“Construction of the Aotea station is massive in scale,” says City Rail Link Ltd’s Chief Executive, Dr Sean Sweeney. “ With a project of this size, disruption is unavoidable, but we are committed to keeping central Auckland moving. It is important to remember that the city centre around Aotea remains open for business and for leisure – it will always be a great place to work, to visit, and to support local.”

Dr Sweeney says CRL Ltd, its Link Alliance contractor, Auckland Council, Auckland Transport and other organisations are collaborating on plans to minimise disruption, and to reschedule and redirect bus services.

Most bus routes will return to Wellesley Street West, which will have dedicated 24/7 bus lanes in each direction. Detailed information about bus route changes in the area can be found online at AT.govt.nz/betterway

The changes to the intersections are part of project’s planned programme of works. CRL closed Wellesley Street West to traffic in March, 2020, to move underground utilities like power, gas and telecommunication lines, to start station construction. The focus now moves north to Albert/Victoria Street.

“Just like Wellesley Street, the closure here allows us to safely and quickly move existing utilities before building the station walls, roof, platforms, and eventually the station’s entrances,” says Dr Sweeney.

The Link Alliance is building Aotea top down – the station’s roof is built first and then the station excavated under it.

“Opting for this construction method will help reduce disruption at street level,” Dr Sweeney says. “ We can re-open Wellesley Street while station excavation and construction continues beneath for the next few years. “

The Link Alliance is supporting station construction with a comprehensive development response programme to support local businesses. The programme includes a range of community events, activations, and public art in the area it will always be a great place to work, to live, and to enjoy supporting local businesses.

“I want to thank our neighbours for their support during the Wellesley Street closure – it’s an important part of getting the done as quickly as possible. I acknowledge there will be further challenges but we’ll be doing our very best to manage them and to support the people who live and work beside us,” Dr Sweeney says.

Construction of Aotea also includes a permanent upgrade of the streetscape in the construction footprint.

Aotea will become the country’s busiest railway station serving the central city – New Zealand’s largest employment hub – when CRL opens in late 2024 and modernises and transforms Auckland’s rail network.

For more information on the bus route and traffic diversions, visit AT.govt.nz/betterway

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CRL closing Normanby Road to rebuild safer rail crossing

28 May 2021

The busy Normanby Road railway level crossing in Grafton will close next week as work on the City Rail Link progresses.

The crossing will close to all vehicles next Wednesday, 2 June. Pedestrians can continue to use the crossing until mid-July when a temporary bridge over the Western Line opens for them.

CRL’s Link Alliance contractors will permanently remove the crossing and replace it with a road-over-rail bridge that will be much safer for drivers and people on foot. The railway will run in a trench under the new bridge.

“We recognise the closure will cause some disruption, and we are working closely with organisations like Auckland Transport on traffic-related measures that will keep people moving and reduce disruption,” says Link Alliance Project Manager Francois Dudouit.

“CRL construction work around the rail corridor and neighbouring roads in the area is extensive and the level crossing has a high-risk rating in Auckland. Closing it to traffic will keep people and our work teams safe. We plan to open the new bridge that will keep drivers and walkers safely and permanently separated from trains next year.”

KiwiRail Chief Operating Officer Capital Projects, David Gordon, says KiwiRail’s preference is for grade separation between roads and level crossings because it creates a safer transport network.

“We are always glad to see crossings separated out from the road and replaced with bridges, especially in busy urban areas where there is a high volume of trains and vehicle traffic, like Normanby Road,” Mr Gordon says.

The Link Alliance encourages people who use the Normanby Road crossing to start planning for alternative routes. The Auckland Transport website, AT.govt.nz/betterway includes travel options to support temporary road layout changes it and the Link Alliance have made to keep traffic flowing around the crossing.

  • Drivers should consider using Mt Eden Road as an alternative. Before the level crossing closes, the Link Alliance will reduce traffic management on the nearby Mt Eden bridge and open it to three lanes of traffic - one dedicated bus lane travelling towards the city, and one lane in each direction for private vehicles.

  • New traffic signals are being installed at the Mt Eden Road and Normanby Road intersection with controlled pedestrian crossings and adding an extra turning lane at the Boston Road-Mt Eden Road intersection to separate left and right turning traffic.

  • Businesses in the area will remain open and can be accessed by foot or by car.

  • The Normanby Road, Boston Road and Nugent Street roundabout will later be raised to be level with the new road-over-rail bridge once it is built.

“Traffic changes will help offset the impact of the closure, but if you do drive in the area near the Normanby Road level crossing, expect delays and add extra time in our journey to ensure you arrive on time,” Mr Dudouit advises.

The Link Alliance says the temporary bridge at Normanby Road will not have elevators and will not be suitable for people with accessibility needs. Some people may need to use an alternative route, such as Enfield Street, to reach Mt Eden Road and Boston Road.

The level crossing closure and the new bridge is a key programme of CRL work to transform Auckland’s rail network.

“Before CRL construction, two rail lines used the Normanby Road level crossing. Each time a train passes, up to 12 per hour at peak, vehicles and people are forced to stop until it is safe. Once CRL opens three rail lines will carry many more trains an hour underneath Normanby Road without any hold-up to those who ride, drive or walk,” Mr Dudouit says.

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Steady as she goes! Dame Whina Cooper’s historic journey starts

27 May 2021

The Tunnel Boring Machine (TBM), Dame Whina Cooper, has started its historic and transformational journey below Auckland’s skyline to excavate the City Rail Link tunnels – New Zealand’s first underground railway.

“Progress over the first initial metres is cautious but steady while our crews bed down getting used to the machine and conditions underground,” says Francois Dudouit, Project Director for the Link Alliance. “Happily we – the project team and wider Auckland - have plenty to celebrate. When the work’s done, Dame Whina Cooper’s legacy will be a world class railway for Auckland, and travelling around the city will never be the same again.”

Tunnel excavations have started from City Rail Link’s Mt Eden site. Its first destination is the Karangahape Station, 830 metres away. From there it bores on to the Aotea Station in central Auckland – a total journey for the TBM of 1.6 kilometres - to join the section of CRL tunnels already built from the Britomart transport hub.

After Transport Minister Michael Wood and Auckland Mayor Phil Goff ceremonially turned on the TBM for the first time earlier this month, final commissioning checks, which included excavating the first few metres of tunnel, were completed successfully.

“It’s not unlike getting a new car – we have a bespoke TBM built just for the soil conditions in this part of Auckland and we needed to make absolutely sure everything is working properly,” Mr Dudouit says. “We are not ready to ‘put the foot’ down just yet and we’ll take the first stages pretty slowly at first.”

The TBM will travel at an average of 15 metres a day and with a top speed of 32 metres a day, operating 24 hours a day, 7 days a week at peak. Next week, tunnel excavations will ramp up when the TBM starts operating 24 hours a day, 5 days a week.

Underground, the TBM has three tasks: cutting the spoil, removing the spoil by conveyor built to the surface, and installing the concrete segments - 14,735 in total – that will line the twin rail tunnels.

Dame Whina Cooper is 130 metres long it will not completely disappear underground until the end of June. It will breakthrough at Karangahape this spring, and at Aotea towards the end of the year. The TBM will then be moved back to Mt Eden and will start boring the second tunnel next year.

People can follow Dame Whina Cooper’s journey, and learn more about it and the team driving it at: digCRL.co.nz

Mr Dudouit says people above the TBM will feel little to no impact from the tunnel borer.

“To give it its full name, Dame Whina Cooper is known officially as an Earth Pressure Balanced TBM – it controls and balances earth pressure at the front of the machine where it is cutting into the spoil and reduces any possibility of settlement occurring.”

The TBM was built by the German company, Herrenknecht, at its factory in China. It was shipped to New Zealand in sections and reassembled at CRL’s Mt Eden site.

Dame Whina Cooper is operated by the Link Alliance – the six national and international infrastructure companies delivering CRL’s main tunnels, stations and rail systems contract for City Rail Link Ltd (CRL Ltd).

There will be a crew of 12 working each shift on the TBM, supported by another team of around 12 above ground.

Mt Eden will be ‘base-camp’ for the TBM, and the equipment and systems required to operate it. These include the spoil enclosure and conveyor system, workshops, water treatment plant and a storage area for the pre-cast concrete segments that will line the interior of the tunnel.

In keeping with mining tradition, big machines working underground are named after a significant woman to honour St Barbara, the patron saint of miners. Dame Whina Cooper is a champion of Māori land and social rights. New Zealanders helped the Link Alliance and CRL Ltd choose her name as an appropriate one for the CRL TBM that will play a significant role in Auckland’s transport future.

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City Rail Link provides master class for Kiwi students

25 May 2021

Students from Cape Reinga to the Bluff are getting the chance to “visit” New Zealand’s largest transport infrastructure project – Auckland’s City Rail Link – without leaving their classrooms.

Video technology will turn the project into a virtual classroom for students from all over New Zealand, allowing them to access videos to see how the project is being built while also highlighting careers available in the infrastructure industry.

At the same time, the imagination of primary, intermediate and secondary Year 7 to 10 students will be tested with a competition for them to design their own public transport station.

“City Rail Link is committed to leaving a strong legacy for New Zealand – we’re a huge and complex project with a lot to show and share – and we’re delighted we are contributing to this classroom initiative,” says Link Alliance Project Director, Francois Dudouit.

The design competition and the virtual classroom is a collaboration between the Link Alliance, which is delivering the main CRL stations, tunnels, and systems, the Ministry of Education and online education group LEARNZ, part of CORE Education.

“The focus is on Māori and Pacific, and female students. This work is all about opening the eyes of tamariki to the breadth of future pathways they could aspire to,” says Mr Dudouit.

“There is a lack of representation in the construction industry, particularly females. This programme is about helping people see the opportunities, and also increasing understanding of the sector. Construction can be highly technical. It is about problem-solving and delivering for people and communities.”

One of the biggest challenges facing the construction industry is the shortage of people and skills throughout the sector, impacting its capacity to deliver the growing pipeline of construction projects. Women make up only 18 per cent of the construction-related workforce in New Zealand and Māori and Pacific are under-represented in the skilled professions and at leadership level.

CRL’s virtual classroom programme starts on 8 June and a design competition for students kicked off Monday 24 May to coincide with the start of the country’s Techweek. This challenge will continue until the end of Term Two. Classes also get the opportunity to connect with one or more of the experts in a live web conference on 9 and 10 June as part of the school programme. Project Director Francois Dudouit will be involved in these online class sessions, too.

“The whole idea of our involvement is to educate students about the CRL and the transformational transport benefits it will bring to Auckland, and to give them a glimpse of the diverse opportunities an infrastructure project of this size provides,” he says.

Mr Dudouit says as well as all the mahi involved in construction, the programme will showcase CRL Māori, Pacific and women workers, and highlight the project’s partnership with mana whenua.

More details are available at www.cityraillink.co.nz/resources-for-students-teachers-city-rail-link.

The online programme is here: www.learnz.org.nz/futurejourneys212

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12 May 2021

CRL Station taking shape below Auckland streets

Construction of New Zealand’s deepest railway station is celebrating a significant milestone with the project pouring the last concrete to complete the first underground floor ( B1 in pink below) of City Rail Link’s Karangahape Station.

The floor at the Mercury Lane entrance to the station is one of five that will carry people to and from the platforms 25 metres below ground.

Diagram of the Karangahape Station Mercury Lane. The total depth is 25 metres, and B1 is indicated in pink, one floor below ground level.

“It’s great to see a station that’s going to have a huge impact on the Karangahape Road area slowly taking shape,” says Jonathan Hill, the Karangahape Station Manager for the Link Alliance.

“There’s been some pretty intense work in a confined central city area to complete the floor successfully.”

The excavation beneath the street level entrance floor and then the construction of the first underground floor has taken 10 weeks. Approximately 9000 cubic metres of material – enough to fill three Olympic-sized swimming pools - was first removed before 880 cubic metres of concrete was poured and some 280 tonnes of reinforcing steel fitted.

Deeper below ground, work on excavating the top heading of the first of the two 223-metre-long platform tunnels is almost complete, and at the station’s Beresford Square entrance preparations are underway to begin pouring the first underground ‘B1’ level of the station.

Work on the Karangahape Station began in late 2019 with the demolition of the old Mercury Plaza and adjacent buildings. The station structure is due to be completed by 2023 to be followed by the station fit-out - the installation of mechanical and electrical equipment that includes lighting, escalators, lifts, ventilation and communication systems.

The Link Alliance is delivering the stations, tunnels and rail systems contract for City Rail Link Ltd.

The $4.4 billion City Rail Link is the largest transport infrastructure project undertaken in New Zealand. It is planned to be completed in 2024 and Aucklanders will benefit from a transformed public transport network when it opens.

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Dame Whina Cooper at CRL’s starting line after official launch

07 May 2021

Completing Auckland’s City Rail Link has taken an exciting step forward today with the official launch of the Tunnel Boring Machine (TBM), Dame Whina Cooper, at the project’s Mt Eden site.

Final checks are now underway before the TBM starts cutting into Auckland soil in mid-May, excavating the first of the two rail tunnels that will completely change the way people can travel around Auckland.

Transport Minister Michael Wood described the launch as an “exciting milestone” for New Zealand’s largest ever transport infrastructure project – “one,” he says, “that is helping our economic recovery and supporting jobs.

Transport Minister Michael Wood and Auckland Mayor Phil Goff in hard hats and orange hi-vis vests, prepare to press the start button in the TBM's control room

“Building infrastructure like the City Rail Link is part of our COVID-19 economic plan - this project is providing real jobs and opportunities for thousands of Aucklanders. It’ll give us a step-change in our public transport and cultivate a diverse and highly-skilled workforce,” Mr Wood says.

The Transport Minister was joined by Dame Whina Cooper’s whanau, Auckland Iwi, the city’s Mayor Phil Goff and City Rail Link workers at the launch celebration.

Mayor Goff welcomed the launch of the TBM.

“When complete, the City Rail Link will transform rail travel in Tāmaki Makaurau. It will carry up to 54,000 people an hour, moving the equivalent capacity of three Auckland Harbour Bridges or 16 extra traffic lanes into and through the city at peak times,” he says.

“The official start of tunnelling represents an important milestone on Auckland’s journey towards providing a world-class, 21st century transport network.”

At exactly 8am the Minister and the Mayor entered the TBM’s control room and pressed the button to start the machine to allow its cutter head to make a couple of ceremonial revolutions.

Alongside CRL’s contribution to Auckland’s future, mining tradition also had a significant role at the event.

One tradition involved breaking a bottle of champagne on the TBM to mark its official launch. Father Christopher Denham, the Dean of Auckland’s Cathedral of St Patrick and St Joseph, also blessed the TBM and the teams who will operate it – an acknowledgement to St Barbara, the patron saint of miners and others who work underground.

The other significant woman acknowledged this morning was Māori rights champion, Dame Whina Cooper. Big underground machines, by tradition, carry the name of a influential woman. New Zealanders helped the project chose Dame Whina Cooper as a fitting name for its TBM.

City Rail Link Ltd’s Chief Executive, Dr Sean Sweeney, congratulated workers for reassembling and commissioning the TBM after its arrival in sections from China last year.

“A lot of work hours in some pretty demanding conditions have got us here today. Dame Whina Cooper will have its first encounter with some real dirt very soon, an encounter that shows the project remains on track despite the challenges thrown up by covid in the past year or so,” Dr Sweeney says.

The TBM will be operated by the Link Alliance, the group of New Zealand and international design and construct companies responsible for CRL’s main stations, tunnels and rail systems contract.

The first 50 metres of tunnel at Mt Eden have already been mined to provide room for the front sections of the 130 metre-long TBM.

Dame Whina Cooper will excavate 1.6 kilometres under the Central Motorway Junction and Karangahape Road into central Auckland to connect with the CRL tunnels already built from the Britomart Station.

The TBM has three busy jobs as its crawls below Auckland. excavating spoil, removing spoil by conveyor belt from the tunnel, and lining the tunnel walls with concrete segments.

The TBM will complete the first tunnel towards the end of the year. It will then be returned to Mt Eden in sections and prepared for its second tunnel drive next year.

The $4.4 Billion CRL project, sponsored by the Crown and Auckland Council, will make the city’s rail network more efficient. Trains will be able to run more often, more quickly and carry more people, and it will double the number of people living with 30 minutes train travel of central Auckland – New Zealand’s biggest employment hub.

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Aotea going underground brings big changes to central Auckland

16 April 2021

An official spade in the ground celebration this morning marking the move underground to build  City Rail Link’s Aotea Station also heralds the re-opening of one major road in central Auckland and the temporary closure of another as construction shifts focus.

Auckland’s Mayor, Phil Goff, turned the first spade of soil to symbolically start underground construction, and, at the same time, provided an update on the re-opening of the Wellesley/Albert Street intersection and the temporary closure of the Victoria/Albert Street intersection.

“The start of work underground on Aotea Station is a significant milestone for the City Rail Link and for Auckland,” Mayor Goff says.

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“Aotea Station is expected to become New Zealand’s busiest train station after it opens and the CRL itself will be a game-changer for the city, doubling rail capacity and ultimately moving 54,000 people at peak hours, the equivalent capacity of three Auckland Harbour Bridges or 16 extra traffic lanes.”

Exact dates are still to be finalised, but Wellesley Street is expected to re-open first in June or July, followed a few days later by the closure of the Victoria Street / Albert Street intersection.

“It is time to start preparing for these changes by planning a better way into the city centre,” says Dr Sean Sweeney, Chief Executive for City Rail Link Ltd.

“As New Zealand’s largest-ever transport infrastructure project, disruption is unavoidable, but it is important to remember that the city centre around the Aotea site remains open for business and for leisure – it will always be a great place to work, to visit, and to support local.”

Dr Sweeney says the project is also working with Auckland Council, Auckland Transport and other organisations to minimise disruption, and to reschedule and redirect bus services.

“The easiest way to reach this part of town will still be by public transport, by foot, bike, e-scooter or another sustainable travel method,” he says.

During construction, CRL’s contractor, Link Alliance, is delivering a programme to support local businesses, as well as a range of community events, activations, and public art in the area.

Wellesley Street re-opens after it was closed to traffic in March 2020 to move underground utilities and to begin station construction.

Victoria Street will remain open to people on foot but will close to traffic for approximately two years until 2023.

“Construction around and under the Victoria Street end of the station is massive in scale. The closure allows us to safely and quickly move existing utilities before building the station walls, roof, platforms, and eventually two public entrances,” Dr Sweeney says.

The Link Alliance, which is delivering CRL Ltd’s main stations, tunnels and railway system contract, is using a top-down method to build the Station. The station roof is built first and then the station excavated under it.

“Opting for this construction method will help reduce disruption at street level,” Dr Sweeney says.

The station will be 15 metres deep, with 300 metres long platforms and entrances on Wellesley and Victoria Streets.

When completed, Aotea Station will become the busiest railway station in New Zealand serving central Auckland which is regarded as the country’s largest employment hub.

Mayor Goff adds: “It’s fantastic to kick off this phase of work today, which will help deliver the 21st century public transit network our city needs to be world class.”

Construction of the City Rail Link – including the Aotea and Karangahape underground stations and 3.45 kilometres of tunnels connecting the existing Britomart and Mt Eden stations - will revolutionise Auckland’s rail network and supporting bus and ferry services.

Longer electric trains will carry more passengers more frequently and more often – the biggest rail makeover in years for New Zealand’s largest city.  CRL construction is planned to finish in late 2024.

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Open again! Iconic Chief Post Office ready for new CRL role

06 April 2021

The end of four years of City Rail Link-related closure, innovative construction and meticulous restoration is celebrated today with Auckland’s historic Chief Post Office (CPO) returned to the city, ready to resume its role as the ‘front door’ to the Britomart Transport Centre.

The re-opening follows a complex engineering feat to remove original support columns out of the way of the City Rail Link tunnels and transfer the CPO’s weight to new foundations without damaging the Category A-listed heritage building.

Auckland Mayor Phil Goff welcomes the CPO’s reopening.

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“This is one of Auckland’s iconic historical buildings and a much-loved feature of our city centre for more than 100 years—it’s great to see it open to Aucklanders and visitors once again,” he says.

“Opening out onto Te Komititanga, the new public square on lower Queen Street, and close to attractions such as the new harbourside park, the reinvigorated Quay Street and the Commercial Bay precinct, the CPO is already one of New Zealand’s busiest and most important transport hubs and will gain further importance when the City Rail Link opens in 2024.

“With many aspects of the original design still in place, the CPO provides a glimpse of Auckland’s heritage as well as being part of the future of our increasingly vibrant and people-friendly downtown,” Mr Goff says.

Dr Sean Sweeney, Chief Executive of the City Rail Link (CRL) project, says, “Aucklanders rightly have plenty to celebrate.

“The iconic best of Auckland’s past is preserved and revitalized to play its new role in the city’s transport future.”

The CPO reopens this afternoon after a morning blessing lead by elders from Tāmaki Makaurau Iwi. Transport Minister Michael Wood joined workers from CPO construction teams for the blessing at first light.

At ground level, the CPO again becomes the main entrance to the Britomart station with ticketing and information facilities, access to Britomart’s adjoining train platforms, and shops. The upper levels will be used for offices. The big difference is out of sight below ground - two CRL tunnels now run through the building’s basement, and more than 70 kilometres of power and communication cables installed.

Many of the CPO original interior features – including windows, lighting and brickwork – are retained. The building’s support columns, old and new, have been turned into engineering features for people to admire on the ground floor.

Mark Lambert, Executive General Manager of Integrated Networks at Auckland Transport (AT), says AT is excited to welcome Aucklanders back to the CPO.

“Each weekday up to 38,000 customers use Britomart Station. This iconic building will be the start of many journeys for Aucklanders on our public transport network,” he says.

Auckland Transport is restoring and repairing the CPO’s façade.

“This work is to clean and restore the stonework, and windows of this Heritage Category 1 site. We want to ensure that this grand 109-year-old building continues to receive the attention it deserves” Mr Lambert says.

The CPO is a pivotal part of CRL – New Zealand’s largest-ever transport infrastructure that will transform public transport in Auckland by building the country’s first underground railway between Britomart and the Mt Eden Station 3.45 kilometres away.

The 109-year-old building was closed in early 2017, one of the first CRL contracts taken to convert Britomart from a dead-end to through station as part of an ambitious project to transform the city’s rail network and make it more efficient.

“What followed was some astonishing engineering to overcome many challenges to build the tunnels - working in confined spaces, dealing with some pretty sticky reclaimed land at the bottom end of town, protecting a building with a top heritage-rating weighting 14-thousand tonnes while we transferred its weight safely and carefully onto new foundations, and keeping Britomart Station next door open and operational all the time,” Dr Sweeney says.

“We pushed accepted construction boundaries with some innovative techniques and use of machinery modified specifically for use under the CPO, and supported the building on high strength steels manufactured in New Zealand for the first time.”

Dr Sweeney says years of planning, design and modelling involving CRL Ltd, contractors Downer NZ and Soletanche Bachy JV , Heritage NZ, Auckland Council and Auckland Transport was rewarded with a successful and positive outcome.

“Great collaboration produced a great ’can do’ attitude. Working together helped replace that old ‘number- eight-fencing-wire’ makeshift attitude with some skillful engineering advances that will continue to serve New Zealand for years to come. Everyone involved with the CPO can rightly be proud of what they achieved.”

When the CPO reopens the main entrance to the building will be from Te Komititanga – the safer pedestrian square that has replaced a two-way bus station at the lower end of Queen Street. Besides work on the Façade, construction around the CPO in adjoining Galway and Tyler Streets will continue for the next few weeks.

From Britomart, the tunnels under the CPO continue below Te Komititanga as well as the Commercial Bay development and up Albert Street as far as Wyndham Street. Construction of the tunnels, together with two new underground stations, continues from that point to Mt Eden.

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Never quite the same again – CRL’s “astonishing” CPO legacy

New Zealand’s construction industry will never be quite the same again after the successful preservation and restoration of one of Auckland’s most iconic buildings that sits in the path of the city’s ambitious City Rail Link project.

That building is the Chief Post Office - 109 years old, with a Category A heritage listing and a varied role in the growth of New Zealand’s largest city.

City Rail Link Ltd’s Delivery Manager, Scott Elwarth, says that constructing tunnels is fairly straight forward. However, do this under a heritage building in reclaimed land and the engineering challenges soon mount up.

“It involved one of the most complex engineering challenges seen in New Zealand – transferring the CPO’s weight on to temporary foundations to keep the historic building protected during construction,” Elwarth says.

“For a start, the CPO building with a top heritage rating could not to be damaged in any way. We had to work in some pretty confined spaces, under 14-thousand tonnes of masonry building, excavate reclaimed land below sea level with the Waitematā Harbour just across the road. We kept working under new health and safety construction protocols as a result of the covid pandemic, and more recently stopped work to evacuate the station due to a tsunami scare.”

Elwarth says there are two chapters to the CPO success story: one is excellent delivery with commitment to quality and safety; the second is that this is only possible by bringing together a group of individuals and building a team relentlessly committed to collaboration, bold enough to tackle problems, and willing to take a leap of faith together.

“Put the two together and you have a brilliant outcome for CRL Ltd’s C1 contract, which will not only bring huge changes to Auckland’s transport network, but also leaves a legacy for the infrastructure industry and Auckland. I think what we achieved an amazing outcome.”

C1 was CRL’s first big contract - one promising huge transport changes to New Zealand’s largest city by converting Britomart station adjoining the CPO, from a terminating to through terminus.

The CPO opened in 1912. Its handsome exterior providing elegant Edwardian-age presence in the heart of the city - not only as a communications hub, but the place where public announcements were made, where important visitors were welcomed to New Zealand, and where we farewelled soldiers marching off to a distant war.

Elegant on the outside, a rabbit warren inside - endless corridors, offices and little rooms. Over time the CPO became disused and derelict. The threat of the wrecking ball lifted when the railway was extended into the city centre in 2003 and the building converted to provide ticketing and access facilities for the new Britomart Station.

Temporary closure of the CPO in 2017 followed months of detailed planning, design and modelling involving CRL Ltd, it’s contractors, Downer NZ and Soletanche Bachy (DSBJV), Auckland Transport, Auckland Council and Heritage NZ.

“Two years of consultation and collaboration with some very committed parties was the solid foundation that anchored us throughout the years ahead,” Elwarth says.

First spades hit the ground mid-2017. Work started removing the first layers of reclaimed land for a 14-metre-deep trench in lower Queen Street in front of the CPO.

The trench provided basement access for worker and machine to tackle engineering complexity on a scale not seen in New Zealand before – some original foundation columns were blocking the CRL tunnels and the immense weight of the CPO had to be transferred onto new foundations constructed outside the line of the CRL tunnels.

“Supporting 14,000 tonnes of old building on temporary foundations while permanent new ones are constructed is the sort of past and present challenge that might keep you awake at night. But this is where all our collaboration, a willingness to push some boundaries, and some inventive solutions paid dividends,” Elwarth says.

“First, 340-tonnes of steel beams were required to span between rows of new piles (Diaphragm or D walls) built either side of the CRL tunnels. The CPO’s weight was transferred onto the beams to enable construction of permanent reinforced concrete foundations below. The weight of the building was then transferred onto permanent foundations.

“This was a painstaking operation for our construction teams, often working in cramped conditions with little headroom.”

Elwarth says the process required a number of new materials, innovative procurement and constructions methods.

50mm high strength steel reinforcing bars required for the D walls, was manufactured in New Zealand for the first time. Sourcing offshore would have been uneconomic.

“We had an 82-tonne reduction in the total weight of steel by replacing double rows of 40mm bar with single rows of 50mm bar, and with a bonus of lower greenhouse gas and transport emissions,” Elwarth says.

In a New Zealand first, the project used Automatic Total Stations (ATS) and monitoring prisms to monitor the vertical and horizontal movements of the ground and buildings to +/- 1mm accuracy. Each ATS sent signals every 20 minutes.

“The system was sensitive enough to pick up readings from the Kaikoura earthquake 890 kilometres away.”

A low-headroom hydrofraise (reverse circulation rig) was designed for CRL to install the D walls. The 90 tonne rig had to be small to navigate between building columns, often with only millimetres to spare. A tracked unit transported the powerpack behind the rig proved critical.

“Separating rig and powerpack was a project innovation involving the production of a brand-new machine. Without it, the rig would not have been able to manoeuvre inside the CPO”.

Elwarth says it is difficult to put into words what was achieved.

“It was astonishing. To say it was a job well done to a very high standard is an understatement. Transferring the CPO’s weight was successful – there was no damage or settlement of the heritage building. Throughout construction we kept Britomart Station open and operational. High fives all round!”

Elwarth says alongside engineering advancements, many other construction-related disciplines contributed to C1’s positive legacy.

Preserving heritage

CPO Restoration 15 March21 Mark Barber_209A2291-MED3 (002).jpg

Apart from the primary objective of protecting the CPO, the building’s interior including distinctive curved skylights and original building materials has been meticulously reinstated. The CPO’s building columns, old and new, are a feature of the ground floor. A number of clay and glass artefacts were unearthed within the site’s relatively small construction footprint, and the remains of the very first Queen Street Wharf built in the 1800s will become part of the final designs for the renovated Britomart Station.

Sustainability

Replacing diesel generators with electricity sourced from the national grid has saved some 34,000 litres of diesel saved since construction began. Since the start of works, C1 replaced over one million litres of potable water with either water collected onsite or bore water. An incredible 99.5 per cent of unwanted materials from C1 have been diverted from landfill and reused.

Cultural impact

Mana Whenua has had a prominent role in the C1 contract. Workers were given a deeper understanding of the cultural context they were working in, and Mana Whenua influences are visible in the contracts designs – Auckland’s newest premier civic space – Te Komititanga (meaning to mix or to merge) in front of the CPO was designed by Mana Whenua artists and weavers.

Social impact

CRL’s commitment to leaving a positive legacy for New Zealand through its Social Outcomes Strategy has been exemplified on C1. Since 2017, around 15 groups of high school students and graduates have visited C1. CRL Ltd’s employment programmes included C1 and focussed on young Māori, Pasifika and women, all of whom are underrepresented within the infrastructure industry.

Improved Environment

The opening of Te Komititanga has removed a busy two-way bus interchange in lower Queen Street in front of the CPO. Inside, improvements include safer access to and from Britomart station and more space for people.

Elwarth says a dedicated and inspirational team of people have been involved with work at the CPO.

“One of CRL’s objectives is to leave things better than they were at the start. I think we’ve accomplished that objective hands down – not just for the people of Auckland but for the country as well,” Elwarth says.

CRL is the largest infrastructure project ever to be undertaken in New Zealand. The 3.45km double-track underground rail line will run between Britomart Station, below the CPO and Auckland’s CBD with new stations at Aotea in the central city and Karangahape Road and the redeveloped Mt Eden Station on the Western Line. The project, which will transform Auckland’s public transport services, is planned to be completed in late 2024.

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250 wheels spin for CRL Tunnel Boring Machine’s big move

11 March 2021

The 450 tonne front section, or shield, of City Rail Link’s Tunnel Boring Machine (TBM) has been successfully  positioned in front of the Mt Eden tunnel portal after a 500-metre long drive that took one-and-a half hours to complete.

The shield was moved from the western edge of the Mt Eden site along a specially built road by a  truck towing a hydraulic trailer fitted with 15 axles and 250 wheels to safely carry the shield’s weight.

“Despite this morning’s grey skies and rain, everything went smoothly. It was a very big and delicate operation but many hours of planning and all our hard work on site has paid dividends for us,” says Francois Dudouit, Project Director for the Link Alliance.

“That’s only one part of the job.  The next exciting phase is putting everything together.  We’ll position the shield inside the first 50 metres of the CRL tunnel and connect the shield to the TBM’s “’factory’ – the 11 sections or gantries that provide the hydraulic, mechanical and electrical power the shield will need to excavate the tunnels, remove the excavated spoil, and install the precast concrete segments that will line the tunnels.”

When all the gantries are connected, Mr Dudouit says the TBM,  named in honour of Māori rights champion, Dame Whina Cooper, will undergo extensive commissioning tests and trials before to starts excavating the first of the twin CRL tunnels in late April.

The Link Alliance will operate the TBM to the new Karangahape Station and then on to the Aotea Station in the central city where it will join with the tunnels already built from the Britomart Station and under the lower end of Albert Street.

CRL’s 3.45 kilometre-long tunnels are planned to open in late 2024 and will transform Auckland’s rail network and the way people travel around the city.

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Big Watermain Shift Underway at CRL’s Mt Eden

5 March 2021

Excavations have started on a significant programme of work at Mt Eden so that Auckland’s Western railway line can be realigned for the City Rail Link (CRL) tunnels and the reconstructed Mt Eden station.

A four-metre-wide trench is being dug along Fenton Street adjoining the Western Line near the closed Mt Eden station to relocate the Huia 2 watermain.

“Shifting utilities like watermains and other services safely out of the way while maintaining access for neighbours are important parts of the project and relocating Huia 2 with a new pipe is one of the biggest jobs we have,” says Dale Burtenshaw, Construction Manager South for the Link Alliance. “Relocating this section of Huia 2 to safeguard the city’s water supplies will take three months to complete given the size of the trench close to a live rail corridor and ground conditions.”

Mr Burtenshaw says strict health and safety protocols are being observed on site during the Level 3 Covid-19 lockdown to keep workers and neighbours safe.

He adds that the Link Alliance and Watercare are working together to minimise disruption to people living and working near the site.

“We value the support we get from the community. Everything is being done to keep noise and vibration down, and there will be traffic management in place to ensure people can access properties.”

In early 2019, CRL used a micro-Tunnel Boring Machine named Jeffie to build a 423-metre-long stormwater main 17 metres below ground at Mt Eden. The existing main was in the path of the CRL tunnels and had to be diverted.

The Link Alliance is delivering the main CRL tunnels, stations and rail systems contract for City Rail Link Ltd. Mt Eden is the southern end of New Zealand’s largest transport infrastructure project where the CRL tunnel from central Auckland connects with the Western Line. Relocating Huia 2 is one of 10 different programmes of CRL work currently underway at Mt Eden.

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“Unwrapped and growing” - CRL’s big machine takes shape

25 February 2021

The massive job of putting together the giant Tunnel Boring Machine (TBM) that will help transform the way Aucklanders travel around their city is underway at City Rail Link’s Mt Eden site.

“We’ve started joining up the first sections or gantries of what will become a travelling factory 135 metres long  when we finish,” says Florent Detraux, Tunnelling Project Manager for the Link Alliance.

“We did all the unwrapping a few weeks back and now there‘s the excitement of putting our mechanical ‘present’ together – moving the gantries to the portal as we join up them up. It’s amazing watching the different sections grow into this fantastic machine.”

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A truck with a multi-wheeled hydraulic trailer has moved the first four of the TBM’s 11 gantries, into position near the entrance to the CRL tunnel’s southern portal. 

“Moving and aligning them into place is both a big and delicate operation,” Mr Detraux says. “Mt Eden’s a very busy construction site - there would be about 10 separate pieces of works going on around us at the moment – and the gantries weighing approximately 70 tonnes each are moved across uneven ground.

“The team had to build a dedicated road and ramp down to the portal to support the move. Concrete slabs were poured by the portal, and rail tracks installed to position the gantries correctly.”

All 11 gantries will be in place by mid-March. The TBM’s final piece, the  front section or shield, will then be connected. The shield weighs almost 500 tonnes and to move it into position will be another challenging and impressive operation.

The gantries provide the hydraulic, mechanical and electrical power the shield will need to excavate the tunnels, remove the excavated spoil, and install the precast concrete segments that will line the tunnels. 

The gantries also  carry all the ‘mod cons” the TBM’s tunnellers will need underground - a small office, canteen, a refuge chamber if there is an emergency, and a toilet.  

“Once the shield and all the gantries are connected,  we will then put the completed TBM through some pretty vigorous tests and commissioning to ensure it is safe to begin its journey through the first tunnel,” Mr Detraux says. 

The TBM, which is named in honour of the Māori rights champion, Dame Whina Cooper, is due to start tunnel excavation into central Auckland in late April. It will be operated by the Link Alliance, City Rail Link Ltd’s main contractor for New Zealand’s largest ever Transport infrastructure project.

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CRL helping  Valentine’s Day “love” bloom uptown

09 February 2021

Forget about chocolates and red roses this Valentine’s Day, the City Rail Link (CRL) has another way to help capture your love’s heart!   A very special couple – CRL’s Mt Eden site and Auckland’s Uptown Business Association – have a romantic plan to share the love with people and their important others – person or pet – with a community festival they call, Aroha In Uptown. 

“People might think we’re more used to holding a jack-hammer or a spade than a glass of champagne or a Valentine’s Day ring,  but we’ve got a romantic side too and we want to celebrate it with our neighbours,”  says Dale Burtenshaw,  Construction South Manager for CRL’s Link Alliance. 

Aroha In Uptown will be held this Sunday – Valentine’s Day, 14 February – to include as many people as possible.  The festival involves businesses and creative spaces radiating out from the Maungawhau/Mt Eden station.

Organisers says there will be lots of ways for people to share the love: the chance to dance cheek-to-cheek at the free Ceroc lessons, having a romantic photo taken with your pet, hearing the ‘love story’ between plants and microbes, and making a Seedloveball at the community’s Organic Market Garden. There will be live music – inside and outside – and the Link Alliance will have tours for people to visit artwork around its Mt Eden construction site. There will also be an opportunity for people to leave their Valentine’s Day mark on the CRL project by helping paint a mural to be used as hoarding around its Mt Eden site. The full programme for Aroha In Uptown is available at uptown.co.nz/aroha

“The Link Alliance is delighted to support Aroha In Uptown with the Uptown Business Association and we hope as many people as possible can come and share the love on Sunday,” Dale says. 

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26 January 2021

Busy “holiday” keeps CRL on track at Mt Eden

Non-stop work over the Christmas and New Year holidays has allowed the City Rail Link project to regain full construction momentum at its Mt Eden site. 

“Since last Boxing Day our tireless crews have been going flat-stick in some pretty hot conditions and with hardly a breather – working seven days a week and sometimes around the clock,” says Nick Adams, North Auckland Line Deputy Construction Manager for the Link Alliance.

“Mt Eden’s big and complex with a lot going on and the holiday break’s been a great opportunity to keep the foot down firmly on the construction pedal and accelerate work. Progress these past few weeks keeps us on track to start work with our Tunnel Boring Machine (TBM) in April. ”

MT EDEN 1.PNG

Mt Eden is the location of the southern  portal of the CRL tunnel being built under central Auckland, and the place where New Zealand’s largest ever transport infrastructure project will connect with the existing Western Line.

The Link Alliance is delivering the main stations, tunnels and rail systems for City Rail Link Ltd.

Mr Adams says Link Alliance collaboration with KiwiRail over its maintenance closure of the Western Line – known as a Block of Line – helped advance its programme of work.

“With the line temporarily closed to trains, it made it safer for us to work in and around the rail corridor and complete a lot of our necessary work.”

The Link Alliance’s programme included track changes to prepare for the CRL connection, relocating utilities, building retaining walls and new drains, piling and associated activities, and work related to new bridges. Elsewhere at the Mt Eden site, work continued on mining the first 51 metres of the CRL to accommodate the TBM.

Mr Adams has thanked people living and working near the site for their support.

“We do our very best to control disruption like noise and dust and we extend our sincerest thanks to our neighbours for their patience. Their support is important to us, and one big plus for getting so much done this month means future extensive work like this will not have to happen so often.” Mr Adams says the extensive holiday period of work for CRL will end at Mt Eden next  Sunday, 31 January.

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