The City Rail Link is the largest transport infrastructure project ever to be built in New Zealand.

Rail transport growth statistics suggest that by 2035, CRL stations will need to cope with 54,000 passengers an hour at peak travel times, rather than the original estimate of 36,000.
There’s a redeveloped Maungawhau Station, where the CRL connects with the North Auckland (Western Line) and new underground stations - one mid-town at Wellesley and Victoria Streets called Te Waihorotiu Station and Karanga-a-Hape Station just off Karangahape Road with entrances at both Mercury Lane and Beresford Square.
Our Mana Whenua Forum gifted us names for the CRL stations- Maungawhau / Mount Eden, Karanga-a-Hape (Karangahape), Te Waihorotiu (Aotea) and Waitematā (Britomart). These have been approved by the New Zealand Geographic Board Ngā Pou Taunaha o Aotearoa.
The CRL will improve travel options and journey times and double the number of Aucklanders within 30 minutes travel of the CBD. From Maungawhau Station, it will take only about three minutes to get to the uptown Karanga-a-Hape Station, six minutes to the mid-town Te Waihorotiu Station and nine minutes to the downtown Waitematā Station (Britomart).
Thanks to CRL, the station will no longer be a "dead end" station but a through station.
The CRL extends the existing rail line underground through Britomart, to Albert, Vincent and Pitt Streets, and then cross beneath Karangahape Road and the Central Motorway Junction to Symonds Street before rising to join the western line at Eden Terrace where the Maungawhau/ Mount Eden Station is located.
We have future-proofed it so it can be extended to the North Shore- but whether rail ever goes there is a government decision.
The cost 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 in May 2019.
CRL Ltd has 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.
CRL is funded jointly by the Crown (NZ Government) and Auckland Council.
City Rail Link Ltd which came into being on 1 July 2017, has full governance, operational and financial responsibility for the CRL, with clear delivery targets and performance expectations.
A single Alliance is delivering the main CRL works - the stations and tunnels. The successful bidder was the Link Alliance (Vinci Construction Grands Projets S.A.S., Downer NZ Ltd, Soletanche Bachy International NZ Limited, WSP Opus (NZ) Limited, AECOM New Zealand Limited and Tonkin + Taylor Limited).
Te Waihorotiu Station will be 11m depth and Karanga-a-Hape Station 33m.
Think of it like the Waterview Tunnel which joined up Auckland’s motorways.
This does the same with the rail lines. CRL will connect with the Western Line at a redeveloped Maungawhau Station and so open up the entire rail network.
As the “link” name states, it’s a link to all the existing rail lines on the southern, eastern and western lines.
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In 2012, CRL approached Mana Whenua across Auckland to explain the project, the area it would travel through and ascertain their wish to be involved.
A Mana Whenua forum was established and since then it has been formalised through the project’s legally binding consent conditions. The role of the forum includes:
• Developing practical measures to give effect to the principles in the Urban Design Delivery Work Plan (DWP)
• Input into, where practicable, the design of the stations
• Input into the preparation of the Construction Environment Management Plans (CEMPs) and DWPs
• Working collaboratively around built heritage and archaeological matters
• Undertaking kaitiakitanga (guardianship) responsibilities associated with the CRL project, including monitoring, assisting with discovery procedures and providing input of Maori mātauranga (knowledge) in relevant stages of the project
• Providing a forum for consultation with Mana Whenua regarding the names for the CRL stations.
The forum meets monthly and as required has additional design, consent, sustainability and other workshops.