The $5.5b question with only one acceptable answer: Can trains bring a city back to life?

Monday, 27 October 2025

In a two-part series, Stuff asks if the City Rail Link will be the silver bullet New Zealand’s biggest city needs and if its $5.5 billion price tag is money well spent.

When the City Rail Link finally opens next year, it will arrive in a city that’s been through a long grind of cones, scaffolding and economic strain.

The 3.45km of train track, two new stations and one substantially upgraded one, have been held up as transformative, bringing life back to struggling areas of Auckland and connecting the suburbs to the city centre.

But will it really make that much of a difference? For those on the North Shore, the answer’s probably no, but for others, there is hope that it will mean good times are around the corner.

Real Groovy owner Chris Hart spent decades trading on Queen St, but more recently moved to a site on Victoria St next to the new Te Waihorotiu Station. He welcomes the City Rail Link, but he’s not expecting miracles.

“The economy is a train wreck in Auckland. People are reluctant to spend money,” Hart said.

His store, selling vinyl records, CDs, music merchandise and more, relies heavily on discretionary spending - something many Aucklanders have less of now.

“That’s significant for a sector such as Real Groovy.

“Then there's inflation, where you come out of the supermarket with a lot less money than you would have five years ago. So there are a lot of factors conspiring to make life difficult for us.”

Hart said the CRL won’t transform the city overnight.

“My optimism has probably been tempered somewhat with a bit of realism.

“I don't think the CRL on its own is going to make as big a difference as what a lot of people, the stakeholders in it, would have us believe.”

Still, his location close to one of the new station entrances gives him reason for hope.

“I am positive and I do think that there's going to be a benefit and, coupled with everything else, it could be a significant benefit to Real Groovy… but it won't be like turning a light switch on and all of a sudden people will come. There's got to be a new cycle of growth, where people start coming in, and then retailers, other hospitality and other businesses are willing to take the risk.”

A decade of disruption

That realism is shared by Viv Beck, chief executive of the Heart of the City business association, who has spent years championing downtown and midtown businesses through construction, Covid disruptions and changing work habits.

She says the opening of the CRL will be an opportunity and a test, believing it’s crucial that Aucklanders embrace it as soon as it opens.

“It is going to make it easier and more convenient for Aucklanders to get into the central city,” Beck said.

“We are positive, but there's no question that it's challenging now, and it's been challenging for the last decade.”

For her, the key is making sure Aucklanders use the new rail network from the outset. Expectations around the number of peak time users have already been reduced, from 27,000 per hour to 19,000.

“The reduced capacity was a little bit of a gulp moment, to be honest,” she said.

“That means it's going to be important that people get on it from the start, embrace it, and we start to get a stronger sense of a culture that can really rely on quality public transport.”

Years of construction have left scars on city businesses, particularly in the midtown area, where CRL works have been most disruptive.

“The last decade has had a significant impact here,” Beck said. “We've had this really long, overdue City Rail Link construction, plus all of the council and Auckland Transport projects.”

Now, she says, the challenge is to rebuild the city’s audience — the residents, workers and visitors whose absence has hollowed out downtown. “We've definitely got a job to do to attract more people here,” Beck said.

“That's the task, and it's a combination of having more people living, working, visiting and studying. Fortunately, the international student numbers are getting back up again.”

Opportunities to reconnect

Beck sees the CRL not just as transport infrastructure but as a foundation for a more vibrant city.

“We are ripe for intensification around the rail link,” she said.

“There are opportunities that will come with a stronger transport hub, but there's definitely work to be done in the coming six, 12, 18 months to capitalise on this opportunity and make sure we've got barriers down on some of the things that have been challenging for people.”

A city that feels ‘grown up’

From his vantage point, 21 storeys above the Waitematā, Andrew Roborgh, co-owner of Queens Rooftop and Wineshop Bar, says the CRL will help make Auckland feel more sophisticated, and more fun.

“On the whole, it helps the city feel more international and grown up,” Roborgh said.

“It probably gives us the chance to start to compare ourselves to some of the fantastic international cities that all tend to have really good public transport systems.”

His bar is atop 1 Queen St, just across the plaza from the Britomart transport hub.

Hospitality thrives when people can move easily between venues, says Roborgh.

“… For a day or night out, we envisage that people don't just come to our venue, they engage with a number of various places,” he said.

“The more that people can move around the city with ease, comfort, safety and in style, the more exciting it is for the city and the businesses within the city.”

After a difficult winter, he’s cautiously upbeat about the months ahead.

“We're positive about things like the City Rail Link and the summer coming up, the changes to the Official Cash Rate and more people returning to work. International tourism is up, so all those little things give us cause for a good level of optimism.”

Beyond the tunnels

For business owners and civic leaders alike, the CRL represents both promise and patience. No one is saying it will instantly restore the energy of pre-Covid Auckland, but it could make the city easier - and more inviting - to be part of again.

Hart, for one, isn’t expecting a “silver bullet”, but he recognises that infrastructure matters.

“Don't get me wrong, I am positive,” he says. “But it won’t happen overnight.”

Beck shares that realism but believes the payoff will come if Aucklanders reclaim their city.

“People do love events and shared experiences. If we can give them reasons to come back, the rest will follow.”

And for Roborgh, perched above Queen St, the tunnels below are a symbol of a city building a new, much needed foundation. The CRL may not fix everything, but there is belief it could give Auckland the rhythm it’s been missing.