Auckland City Rail Link: Work starts on tunnel machine entry

Thursday, 13 February 2020

Work has started on the southern-most part of the City Rail Link project at Mt Eden earlier this year, marked by Auckland Mayor Phil Goff, CRL CEO Sean Sweeney and Transport Minister Phil Twyford.

Work has officially begun on the site where a tunnelling machine will begin the big drill for Auckland's $4.4 billion City Rail Link project.

The construction alliance building the project has cleared a previously commercial area in Mt Eden, to build the entry for a tunnelling machine to start work in 12 months.

City Rail Link has launched a public competition to name the tunnelling after a ground-breaking New Zealand woman - continuing a global tunnelling tradition considered to bring good luck.

The twin rail tunnels will open in late 2024, completing a loop under the city centre with two new stations. Work has started at the Mt Eden site.

'The underground rail link will double the number of people living within a 30 minute [train trip] of central Auckland,' Transport Minister Phil Twyford told a ceremony at the site.

The $4.4 billion twin rail tunnels will open in late 2024, completing a loop under the city centre with two new stations.

Work has begun at the Mt Eden construction site where the CRL will join the western line. From left, CRL chief executive Dr Sean Sweeney, Auckland mayor Phil Goff (mayor of Auckland) and Transport Minister Phil Twyford.

The link will cut rail journey times into the city centre, and double the capacity of the rail network which currently terminates at the downtown Britomart station.

The project is now getting into the main construction phase, after five years of initial preparatory work, followed by the construction of twin underground lines from Britomart, to 500 metres up Albert Street to what will be the northern end of tunnels.

Construction work on the City Rail Link beneath the former Chief Post Office building, now the Britomart Train Station

The tunnel boring machine will take nine months for each of the two lines, first heading 1.6kms almost to the city waterfront, before turning around for the return leg.

CRL Limited's chief executive Sean Sweeney said work is expected to begin on the Karangahape Road station in the next month, followed by work on the biggest station Aotea.

The work at the Mt Eden site will be the most complicated part of the project, connecting the new tracks, overhead lines and technology, to the existing western rail line.

Mt Eden station will close at the end of May for four years, during the construction work.