'Breakthrough' moment in development of Auckland's City Rail Link project

Thursday, 6 December 2018

A 'breakthrough' at Auckland's City Rail Link project brings the completion of one of New Zealand's largest transport projects one step closer.

A 'breakthrough' in Auckland's City Rail Link project brings the completion of one of New Zealand's largest transport projects one step closer.

A curtain bearing the slogan 'Auckland on track to a better future' dropped at the central Auckland construction site on Thursday, marking the joining-up of tunnels on two sides of the project: one on Albert St and the other under the multimillion dollar Commercial Bay development.

With the rumble of traffic overhead echoing through the connecting tunnel Mayor Phil Goff said the milestone was a 'breakthrough' and noted 'we should have started this project five years ago'.

Curtains dropped revealing 'breakthrough' excavation work.

'Like so many things in Auckland we have under-invested in infrastructure and we have brought it in too late.'

**READ MORE:

Auckland Mayor Phil Goff at the tunnel breakthrough near Commercial Bay.

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* RCR Tomlinson in administration: Auckland's City Rail Link prepares contingency plans

* New budget for Auckland's City Rail Link to stay secret**

The tunnelling and excavation work unveiled on Thursday morning will allow tunnels on Albert St to link up to Britomart Station through the multimillion dollar Commercial Bay development.

The work will eventually allow tunnels on Albert St to link through to Britomart station.

At a cost of a billion dollars for every kilometre, the CRL is one of the largest infrastructure projects in the country.

The 3.4 kilometre underground train line will connect four stations in central Auckland.

The City Rail Link is due to open in 2024.

Britomart and Mt Eden stations will be redeveloped and new stations will be built at Karangahape Rd and Aotea Square.

When completed the project is expected to vastly increase the number of passengers that can be carried into the city by rail and improve transport within the central city itself.

CRL CEO Sean Sweeney said the project was 'city-shaping' and would 'completely transform the way people move around the city'.

The Government approved an enlarged budget for the project in July, future-proofing it for increases in rail patronage but CRL's journey hasn't been an entirely smooth one this year.

In October Australian infrastructure company RCR Tomlinson and its NZ partner WSP Opus were awarded a contract to do critical infrastructure, including rail tracks, for CRL.

But a month later RCR had gone into voluntary administration, a shock turn of events for one of Australia's oldest infrastructure companies.

At the CRL unveiling Sweeney said the NZ subsidiary of RCR Tomlinson had continued to work on the project but plans for their involvement in additional work would cease.

'We can't pause a three and a half billion dollar project while all that plays out,' Sweeney said.

'We need a construction partner that is solvent, has a very large balance sheet and financial backing to stand behind what's going to be a very large part of the construction works.'

CRL is due to open in 2024.