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One of the station's name signs, now installed within the Wellesley Street entrance.
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Kia ora Nigel,
It's been another busy month, with several features of Te Waihorotiu Station and surrounding streetscapes now clearly visible in the midtown area. Read on for all the updates and more!
As always, to contact us here at Te Waihorotiu Station you can email aotea@linkalliance.co.nz or call 0800 CRL TALK (0800 275 8255 and press option 3) to speak to us.
Kind regards,
The Te Waihorotiu Station team
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Your new streets are taking shape
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Footpath upgrades on Mayoral Drive are almost complete.
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The Link Alliance team continues streetscape reinstatement work across multiple areas. This month we made further good progress in the Mayoral Drive area with footpath upgrades approaching completion.
We're also now well underway building the permanent footpaths around the station's Wellesley Street entrance building, and have completed final road sealing in the service lane below the Crowne Plaza Hotel complex.
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Community and business support
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Sign up to our public station perimeter tours
We have public station perimeter tours happening every month. While these tours do not go underground, they are still popular and always book up - reserve your free place here.
Annual Social Impact and Business Disruption (SIBD) review
Thanks to those who provided feedback for our annual SIBD review. The draft report is now available here. We welcome any further feedback on the report itself - please send this to aotea@linkalliance.co.nz by Monday 16 December.
Final Community Liaison Group (CLG) of 2024
Our final CLG for the year is approaching as fast as the end of the year is! Join us between 12 noon and 1pm on Wednesday 11 December at our public info centre (corner of Victoria & Federal Sts). Drop in for a treat on us and to catchup with project staff. We are also happy to arrange a quick look underground for anyone in our impacted community who hasn't had a tour yet - please let us know so we can arrange a time.
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Station construction update
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Station entrance structures - Wellesley Street
- We’re nearing the end of station building construction - and here’s a sign of that. This month we hoisted one of the station's large name signs into its permanent spot within the Wellesley Street entrance building.
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The name sign is 6.4m long and 800mm high. If you’re in the midtown area, come take a look – it’s visible from the Wellesley Street footpath.
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From concourse level, looking up to the ground floor entrance foyer at Wellesley Street. Hundreds of aluminium rods are now installed as part of the entrance building’s feature ceiling. The rods are designed to mimic the stems of harakeke (reeds) and the movement of water – creating a rippled lighting effect.
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Before the station opens, a kauri carving created by Paraone Luiten-Apirana will be embedded within the rods. The carving will represent the kaitiaki (guardian) of Te Waihorotiu.
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Station entrance structures - Victoria Street
- Te Waihorotiu Station is expected to be New Zealand’s busiest train station – and to cater for the thousands expected to use the station each day we have built three public entrances to the underground station.
- This month we are continuing with fit-out inside both Victoria Street entrance structures (east and west of Albert St) including feature ceiling, lift and escalators down into the station, tiling and ticketing areas.
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I see the sign – this time from inside and out. Near Victoria Street, we've just peeled back the protective wrap on the exterior name sign. This glazed box entrance contains escalators and a lift for access down to the concourse level and ticket gates at this end of the station.
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Passenger concourse level
- The entire Te Waihorotiu Station is designed to mimic the shape of a waka (traditional canoe).
- Take a look here at a view looking down the concourse - if you look carefully you can see a slight "curve" in the station as found in a waka.
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Te Waihorotiu Station's concourse level - floor tiling is almost complete.
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From concourse level, looking ahead and down to platform level. Here you can see one of the station's seven skylights and one of the four cross-beams.
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Platform and train track level
- One of the key construction activities underground is the installation of the floor tiles - we are now not far from having the entire station tiled!
- Also at this level, the station is preparing for the first test train to travel through the CRL - watch this space!
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Ready and waiting – Link Alliance supervisors Dimitri and Jeff take a quick break here on the Te Waihororitu Station platform having just installed some of the final customer wayfinding signage.
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“Please stand clear of the platform – your train is now approaching." These familiar words will light up on the station’s passenger information boards (PIDs). Platform 1 is the station’s northbound platform heading to Waitematā Station and Platform 2 heads southbound to Karanga-a-Hape Station.
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Escalators and lifts are now being tested at CRL stations. Hear from Oleksandra Kolensnyk, Link Alliance engineer, about the testing and commissioning process underway including at Te Waihorotiu Station.
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Northern area (between Victoria & Wyndham Streets)
- The reinstatement of Auckland’s heritage bluestone wall is now well underway, with approximately half of the old wall now reinstated.
- This historic retaining wall was built in 1881 from local bluestone material and is located on the eastern side of Albert Street between Wyndham and Victoria Streets.
- The wall was deconstructed in 2020 to enable Te Waihorotiu Station construction.
- Each of the approximately 1800 blocks were surveyed, numbered, and have been stored offsite for the past four years. Our stonemason contractor is now carefully reinstating the wall, block by block - up against the exterior of the Te Waihorotiu Station wall.
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This month TVNZ's Seven Sharp visited the heritage bluestone wall reconstruction site to catchup on progress and meet some of the stonemason team. Watch their video piece here.
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Auckland Council's midtown regeneration programme
Find out all the latest information about the regeneration of midtown on the ProgressAKL website.
We also recommend you subscribe to Auckland Council's midtown newsletters - use this link to keep up-to-date with other construction project info and the exciting changes happening in the area. Click here to read the most recent midtown construction newsletter.
Midtown Street Parties
This month, Auckland Council hosted the latest iteration of the Midtown Street Party. Next year, these events will continue on the third Thursday of each month (excluding December and January). They will initially take place on Elliott Streets and the surrounding streets (Darby, Wellesley, Victoria), but all businesses in the wider midtown area are invited to participate. If you are interested in participating in these events please email barbara.holloway@aucklandcouncil.govt.nz.
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Public transport changes this summer - Rail Network Rebuild
The CRL is set to transform travel in Auckland with faster, more frequent, and more reliable trains when it opens in 2026. But first, we need to overhaul the wider rail network to make it fit for purpose. Stopping trains for extended periods will enable KiwiRail crews to work safely in the rail corridors – with most work scheduled for quieter times such as summer holidays, school holidays, or long weekends. The entire rail network will be closed from 27 Dec 2024 to 27 Jan 2025. Western and Onehunga lines will reopen Tuesday 28 Jan 2025, and Southern and Eastern lines south of Otahuhu will reopen on 3 Feb 2025. Other closures will take place throughout the year. Find out more about the work here.
During the closures, AT will provide rail replacement buses, including express services. We're working hard to keep weekday services running as much as possible. We appreciate your patience as we work towards smoother, faster, and more reliable commutes with the CRL! 🚆✨ Check out your journey options using AT’s Journey Planner or the AT Mobile app.
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Watch this video to find out more about the Rail Network Rebuild.
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Manideep Medisetti is Auckland Transport's Te Waihorotiu Station lead -- here's a little snapshot of his role helping to get CRL ready for opening in 2026.
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