Auckland City Rail Link maps go up at Britomart
RNZ/Calvin Samuel
A glimpse of a new era in Auckland Transport was unveiled on Monday.
At Britomart Station, an updated map gives commuters a preview of the new stations and rail lines it will use when the long-awaited City Rail Link (CRL) opens.
The over-budget and over-time CRL is nearing completion, but officials are not ready yet to say exactly when it will open.
Auckland's Onehunga, Eastern, Western and Southern lines are being replaced by the Onehunga-West line, the East-West line and the South-City line, new routes detailed in the new map.
It is hoped the re-configured network will make it easier for Aucklanders to get around town, as more trains run from more stations - like ones near Karangahape Road and in Mt Eden - more frequently, and link with express buses.
Work began on the $5.5 billion CRL in 2017. It was due to be completed last year, and its
initial cost was expected to be between $2b and $3b
.
Auckland Transport chief executive Dean Kimpton said capacity on the network had been boosted.
"Currently at peak into the city, we have about 12,000 people per hour," Kimpton said.
"The capacity we're creating though the new CRL, day one, will be up to 19,000. Quite the number of people will depend on demand, but we have that capacity ready and available to go."
Dean Kimpton unveils the new CRL transport map at Britomart, August 2025.
Photo:
Finn Blackwell / RNZ
Parts of Auckland's rail network had been
temporarily closed this year
for upgrades ahead of the CRL opening, causing significant disruption.
Kimpton said the work was necessary.
"We have got very specific planned disruption between our CRL-go-live, and that's designed to bring the network up to a standard to support the frequency that CRL anticipates, and that's the rail network rebuild programme."
KiwiRail programme director Bobby Fischer said the short-term pain for commuters was part of a bigger picture.
"We're going through a significant period of investment in the network that is all in the lead up to CRL opening, once the CRL is open that level of disruption will reduce significantly."
She said KiwiRail has run more than 1600 test trains on the network since February.
Photo:
RNZ/Calvin Samuel
"There's a lot of system testing that's going on, from the signalling system right through to the station system - so the emergency systems testing, ventilation system etcetera, to make sure that when we open everything operates seamlessly as it's meant to," Fischer said.
Auckland Councillor Andy Baker said the CRL build had been big for the city.
"Politicians we're always pretty keen to find something to grizzle about," he said.
"But I think there is, underneath it all, a level of excitement and acceptance that this is what it is."
As for an exact date for next year's opening, Kimpton said that was still up in the air.
"There's still a lot to be done, and we don't want to promise a date until we're ready to promise a date, but you can be sure when we know, you'll know."
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