Full steam ahead on expanding rail link
Plans to expand the City Rail Link have been agreed by Auckland Council and the Government — a decision which will add several hundred million dollars to the $3.4 billion cost.
The decision comes after original projections for the rail link were found not to reflect rocketing growth in rail patronage across Auckland.
The new agreement means the tendering process can now consider widening tunnel sizes, lengthening platforms at new rail stations to cater for nine-carriage trains instead of six, a second Karangahape Rd station entrance and other station work.
The second Karangahape entrance would be built at Beresford Square, to complement the first on $3.4b
Cost excluding expansion
54,000
Passengers an hour at peak
2024
Projected opening
Mercury Lane. A result of new estimates predicted that city rail stations need to cope with the capacity of 54,000 passengers an hour at peak, rather than the original estimates of 36,000 by 2035.
Auckland Mayor Phil Goff said the growth in rail travel is a success story for Auckland.
“The growth in popularity of rail travel in Auckland required council to take the decision today to increase our investment in the CRL and expand new rail stations to cater for the huge number of people who will be commuting by rail in the next 10 years,” he said. “Getting the work done now while CRL is still under construction will avoid retrofitting the system which would double the cost and require the tunnels to be closed for two years for widening within a decade of it being opened.”
Transport Minister Phil Twyford said these changes would ensure that when CRL opens in 2024, Aucklanders will get a modern and efficient rail service that benefits the entire transport network for decades to come.