“In a city experiencing enormous growth, this infrastructure investment is of vital importance to Auckland. It supports the ongoing economic development of the city and meets the ever-growing demand for public transport”
How the CRL will deliver significant benefits for Auckland
A train at least every 10 minutes in peak - just turn up and go.
More trains in and out of the city more often.
Significant travel time savings.
New and improved connections.
Double the number of people within 30 minutes travel of New Zealand’s biggest employment hub.
Eases congestion on our roads by providing commuters with a viable transport alternative to driving.
Significant commercial and residential development. opportunities around the stations with more than 70 large building projects underway or proposed along the CRL route.
Attractive public spaces around CRL stations.
Reduced bus congestion in the city centre.
Job creation for up to 2,000 people during the construction peak.
“The CRL is the foremost transformational project in the next decade. It creates the most significant place-shaping opportunity.”
CRL will bring significant urban regeneration
Latest costings
Our latest costings announcement in March 2023 reflected revised costs and time required to complete the project as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic, lockdowns and associated impacts.
The cost of the project is now estimated to be $5.493bn a $1.074bn increase on the previous estimate of $4.419 billion, which was approved by the Sponsors (the Government and Auckland Council) in May 2019.
CRL Ltd has also provided the Sponsors with a revised completion date, with construction of the stations and supporting rail infrastructure now expected to be completed by the Link Alliance by November 2025.
Following the end of the construction programme, CRL Ltd will hand over the completed infrastructure to KiwiRail and Auckland Transport, who will then carry out the additional work required to open the CRL to its first passengers.
Chief executive Dr Sean Sweeney says the extra funding and additional time for completion is primarily due to Covid impacts – time lost on-site and the knock-on effect on the supply chain, resourcing, materials, and labour costs.
“People need to remember that in Auckland we endured two level four lockdowns, a further 280 days of restricted working conditions (Covid traffic light system) and we lost 3.2 million hours through illness among staff, with 800-plus workers infected.”
“The request for extra funding has not and will not delay continuing work on the project, which is progressing well,” he says. “Together with our contractors Link Alliance, we have got through Covid and surmounted its impacts and are now well advanced in our work to build New Zealand’s first underground metro rail network.”
