Sold out! 10,000 City Rail Link open day tickets snapped up in just one hour

Wednesday, 6 November 2019

This message has prevented people from getting tickets to a 600m wander through a tunnel under Queen St.

Ten thousand free tickets to see the City Rail Link underground tunnel have been snapped up, with organisers making no promises for a second opportunity.

Tickets to walk 600m through the tunnel from Britomart Station to Albert St beneath Queen St on November 17 became available from midday on Wednesday, with a maximum of six per person.

Within about an hour, all of the 10,000 free tickets had been snatched up, CRL spokesman Ewart Barnsley confirmed.

Many took to Twitter to share their frustration in missing out on tickets, with some saying it had been easier to get tickets for Adele and U2 concerts.

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Tickets for the 600m walk in a tunnel from Britomart Station, under Queen St, to Albert St are in such hot demand that the dedicated website can't keep up (file photo).

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While the tickets were available, many were unable to proceed with their order as the website struggled to manage demand.

Construction work on the City Rail Link at the Customs Albert St intersection known as the Albert Street Trench.

'Oops! Something went wrong. Please try again,' a pop-up window said.

Another pop-up said the website had restricted the number of people who could book at one time.

Barnsley directed queries related to the 'glitch' to the website host, iTicket, which was unavailable to make comment.

He said there had been 'unprecedented demand' for the tickets, but said there wouldn't be a second open day for those who missed out.

Those who decided not to go could return their tickets, which would be made available to the public.

Auckland's City Rail Link is the $4.4 billion project consisting of two tunnels and two new stations to connect the existing train networks and speed up journeys.

While still five years from completion, up to 10,000 people will get the chance to walk through and explore one of the unfinished tunnels on November 17 and witness the work taking place under the city.

City Rail Link Ltd chief executive Dr Sean Sweeney previously said it would be a rare opportunity for people to enjoy a 'brief snapshot' of the project.

'It's a great chance for us to say, 'thank you' to people for the support they are giving the project, and for us to show off some of the outstanding engineering behind a project that will re-shape the way Aucklanders travel,' he said.

Participants will enter the tunnel from Britomart Station and walk under Queen Street and into Albert Street covering 600m.

There will be ten entry sessions on the open day, running from 8am to 5pm. The experience will have 'low levels of lighting' and is not suitable for people who have a fear of being in confined spaces.