City Rail Link
Station-Render-Te-Waihorotiu-Aug2022-CRL-AOT-ARC-LKA-RND-9004-WEB.jpg

Location, Name and Design

Location, Name and Design

Te Waihorotiu station, located in Auckland’s midtown, will have entrances on Victoria and Wellesley Streets and is expected to become New Zealand’s busiest station.

It is close to Aotea Centre, Auckland Town Hall, Q Theatre, The Civic Theatre, SkyCity, Auckland Art Gallery and Central Library.


The station design

CRL's longstanding partnership with Mana Whenua, including artist Grahame Tipene, is evident in the stunning designs of Te Waihorotiu Station which has Māoritanga intrinsically woven throughout. 

At the Wellesley Street station entrance foyer, the undulating pattern of the hanging rods in the ceiling design mimics the Waihorotiu Stream, moving and connecting people in place as they flow through the station.



The gifted name Te Waihorotiu

Arā noa atu ngā manga iti o Waihorotiu, e tupu nei te mauri, e tupu nei te ora (There are many branches and watercourses of Waihorotiu where life and vitality flourishes)

This name has been gifted in recognition of the Waihorotiu stream and wetland system that flowed in close proximity to the station, past the Horotiu pā down to the Waitematā, providing fresh water for iwi living nearby in the past.

The station’s gifted te reo Māori name reflects the link between the past and present. The past where the original water source at Waihorotiu provided a service to local people for cooking, cleaning, bathing and growing food, to the present where Te Waihorotiu station will soon provide the service of transport.

New Zealand Geographic Board Ngā Pou Taunaha o Aotearoa invited the public to make a submission on the proposed names of the City Rail Link stations. These were open public submissions were open until 9 November 2022 and a decision was announced on 16 March 2023. Read the decision


How to pronounce Te Waihorotiu