City Rail Link: school children's art work will decorate new station

Friday, 10 May 2019

Artwork submitted by primary school students will decorate a wall at the underground Aotea station, which is part of the $4.4b City Rail Link project.

School children have the chance to see their artwork immortalised on a wall at Auckland’s major underground rail project, City Rail Link.

Twin tunnels and two new stations will make up the $4.4 billion City Rail Link project, which Auckland Council approved an additional $500 million funding for last week after it was announced it was delayed and would cost $1 billion more.

Paintings and drawings submitted by pupils will be fired onto ceramic tiles and used to line the walls at the new planned underground Aotea station, near Wellesley and Victoria Streets.

11-year-old pupils were tasked to imagine where they would like to go on a City Rail Link train.

City Rail Link Ltd chief executive Sean Sweeney said the children who submit designs would be young adults when the project was due to be completed in 2024.

An artist's impression of the new station at Karangahape Road, one of two additional stations the City Rail Link project will deliver.

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'We've chosen Year 6 children – 11-year-olds – because they will be leaving school when the project opens in 2024 and as young adults will be among the first to enjoy the benefits the City Rail Link project delivers for Auckland,' he said.

Working with the Ministry of Education and Auckland Council’s Sustainable Schools programme, pupils have been tasked to imagine where they would like to go on a City Rail Link train when coming up with their designs.

'We've had many awesome, colourful and delightful works of art – anything and everything from a rail trip to the dairy, to the Eiffel Tower, under the sea and to the moon – but there will be some big walls at Aotea and there's room for a lot more art,” Sweeney said.

Edendale Primary teacher Kus Fausett, whose pupils are taking part, said other schools should support the Aotea art wall.

'It was fun and engaging for our tamariki as they were able to unleash their imagination on an artwork project that will connect them with their city and its people via the City Rail Link,' Fausett said.

Eleven-year-old Isabel Hernandez said idea of the art wall as 'pretty cool'.

'When I drew my picture, I just wanted to think about somewhere I'd want to go and hang out, and maybe eat some ice cream,” she said.

“When the train station will be built I'll be able to see my picture, and the pictures my friends drew as well.'

CRL Ltd has already received enough artwork to make around 3000 tiles.

CRL Ltd spokesperson Ewart Barnsley said historical and culture values important to Màori would also be incorporated into the design.

“At Aotea station, there will be seven skylights that represent the seven Pleiades stars of Matariki and at the new Karangahape Road station there will be a representation of an ancient kauri forest at the entrance,” he said.

“Stations will also include interior designs that represent traditional Maori weaving patterns.”

The twin tunnels, will stretched 3.5 km from Britomart railway station in the central city to the existing line at Mt Eden, as part of the biggest transport project in the country.

It will create a rail loop through the CBD, adding two new stations, doubling the capacity of the rail network and reducing train journey times.

Sweeney said Aotea station would be one of the busiest on Auckland's rail network.

'Up to 54,000 people will use it during rush hours, all of them walking past the art walls. The tiles will be an important part of the fabric of CRL – a fantastic legacy lasting 100 years or more,” he said.