Auckland City Rail Link project cost rises to $4.4 billion
Wednesday, 17 April 2019
The cost of the country's biggest public transport project, Auckland's City Rail Link has jumped to $4.4 billion – a $1 billion increase on earlier estimates.
The price was confirmed on Thursday following the announcement of a consortium called Link Alliance as the preferred bidder, with a final contract yet to be signed.
The announcement was made by Sean Sweeney, the chief executive of the council-government company City Rail Link Limited.
The City Rail Link is a pair of 3.5 km rail tunnels under Auckland's CBD, creating a loop by linking the Britomart terminus to the existing line at Mt Eden.
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The estimated cost of the country's most expensive public transport project has risen several times since taking shape in 2010.
An early estimate of $1.5 billion rose to $2.5 billion as design work crystallised the route and costs.
By 2017 when the project passed from Auckland Council to City Rail Link Limited, a joint venture with the government, the cost was put at $3.4 billion.
The cost had always been flagged to further rise significantly, partly due to design changes making the underground stations longer and larger to future-proof them for growth.
The July 2018 design changes included re-instating a second entrance to the Karangahape Rd station, 33 metres underground.
The $3.4 billion estimate had been set in 2014, and had been expected to be driven higher also due to the volume of infrastructure work heating up prices in Australasia.
'It's a bit like buying a house in Auckland four years ago, it's probably going to cost a bit more now,' CRL's chief executive Sean Sweeney told Stuff in October 2018.
Sweeney said on Wednesday the revised costs would be considered by the council and the Government in May.
The main components of the $1 billion increase included upgrading stations to accommodate larger nine-car trains, at a cost of $250 million, and contingency and escalation costs, at a cost of $310 million.
The preferred contractor, Link Alliance, is made up of Vinci Construction, Downer, Soletanche Bachy, WSP Optus, AECOM and Tonkin and Taylor.
Sweeney said the project was still due for completion in 2024.
Transport Minister Phil Twyford said on Wednesday the re-costing showed the last government did not set aside enough money for inflation and cost escalation.
'On top of that, competition created by a surge in large-scale infrastructure projects throughout Australasia has driven up construction costs,' he said in a statement.
'The Government will match Auckland Council's contribution and we're committed to seeing this project through.'
The project is the defining achievement of Len Brown, the first mayor to lead the Auckland Council after it was formed in 2010 by merging eight previous councils.
Brown campaigned on the transformational project in the face of opposition from the then National-led government.
By the end of his first term in 2013, Brown had secured backing from the government and construction of an initial section began shortly before he stepped down in October 2016.
Auckland Council funded the initial stage of construction, a 350-metre section of trench from Britomart, under the Commercial Bay high-rise development, to Wyndham St, where the main tunnelling contract begins.
The link will increase the capacity of the rail network with trains travelling more frequently on a loop through the CBD rather than stopping at a dead-end at Britomart.
Journey times to the centre-city Aotea Station from outer suburbs will be cut by 17 minutes from Henderson in the west and nine minutes from Papakura in the south.