City Rail Link
About the City Rail Link project
The City Rail Link (CRL) will help shape the city’s future, creating a modern rapid transit system to support economic and population growth, helping Auckland become a globally competitive city. The project is being delivered by Auckland Transport.
The CRL is a proposed new 3.5 kilometre double track underground electrified rail line running up to 45 metres below Auckland city centre streets from Britomart to the western line near Mt Eden station. Britomart would become a through station and up to three new stations would be allowed for near Aotea Centre, Karangahape Road and Newton.
Changing Britomart to a through station will create a rapid transit system radiating from downtown Auckland that will boost central city life.
It is estimated the CRL will take five and a half years to build at a cost of $2.4 billion. While discussions are continuing, both central government and Auckland Council have agreed that it is sensible to protect a route now to enable future construction.
The route and station locations will be chosen to avoid private property and city heritage buildings as much as possible.
Click to enlarge map, right (JPG 1MB)
Why does Auckland need a City Rail Link?
Auckland’s city centre relies heavily on its accessibility for its prosperity and future development.
Over the next 30 years, 75 per cent of New Zealand’s population growth is expected to occur in Auckland. By 2040, 2.1 million people are expected to live in Auckland, an estimated 42 per cent of New Zealand’s population. Keeping Auckland moving in the face of this growth is a major challenge.
The transport network’s constraints
The ability of private transport to meet this projected growth will be severely limited by the capacity of city centre streets, parking and demands from buses and pedestrians. There are already significant constraints in the existing transport network; most approaches to the city centre are at or near capacity in peak periods.
Over the past decade, rail patronage has increased from 2.2 million trips a year to 9.5 million – a growth of 332%. The rail system is constrained by the limited capacity of the Britomart terminus.
Investment in the transport network to cater for increased travel demand will be essential if Auckland is to achieve its goal of a thriving regional economy and becoming the world’s most liveable city.
The benefits of a rapid transit system
The benefits of the CRL include:
• Making the city more accessible and therefore more productive
• Making journeys shorter and creating other, more direct city centre connections
• Catering for the city centre’s projected growth
• Eliminating capacity constraints at Britomart which will improve the reliability and frequency of rail services
• Reinforcing the existing role of central Auckland as the main regional destination for workers, students and residents
• Providing for changes in land use, value and growth opportunities, particularly around stations
• Maximising the benefits of existing and proposed investment in transport
• Lifting the country’s economic performance through Auckland’s contribution
Background to the proposed City Rail Link
In 2009, an investigation was undertaken to determine a route for the CRL for inclusion in Auckland’s District Plans.
In 2010, consultants were appointed to identify the preferred route, prepare a concept design and an initial business case for the project. The findings of that work was released in November 2010, and forwarded to the Government for consideration.
The initial business case identified three options to meet the future growth needs of the city centre:
On surface bus capacity improvements;
Central area bus tunnel with three stations; and
City centre rail tunnel with three stations (CRL).
The assessment was that the CRL would provide the most cost effective means of meeting the projected demand for transport demand to the city centre as it would provide a dedicated rapid transit corridor unaffected by traffic congestion.
At the request of the Minister of Transport, the Ministry of Transport and Treasury, in conjunction with the New Zealand Transport Agency (NZTA), reviewed the business case (the Review).
The Review, completed in May 2011, concluded that while more work needs to be done before proceeding with a project, it made strategic sense for Auckland Council to protect the route to enable it to happen.
Information on the Ministry of Transport website
Read the Review (business case for the City Rail Link)
What needs to happen next
Auckland Transport, in conjunction with Auckland Council, is working to address the issues identified by the Review to improve the future case for development of the CRL. They include implementation of the Auckland spatial plan and city centre master plan and a city centre future access study.
Questions about the City Rail Link
The proposed City Centre Rail Link is a 3.5 kilometre double track underground rail line running beneath the central business district from Britomart to the western line near the existing Mount Eden Station, with up to three underground stations.
The Auckland region is growing significantly. By 2040, 2.1 million people are expected to live in Auckland. The ability of private transport to meet this projected growth will be severely limited by the capacity of streets in the city centre, parking constraints, and demands from buses and pedestrians meaning that we need another solution.
Investment in the transport network to cater for increased travel demand will be essential if Auckland is to achieve its goal of a thriving regional economy and becoming the world’s most liveable city.
Improving accessibility to the central city means more people can choose to work in the city. Accessibility will help lift Auckland’s productivity and, therefore its economic performance. The increase in economic productivity of the central city will have flow-on effects to the wider region and the country with greater tax take on income, profit and good and services. That benefits everyone.
In terms of transport benefits, the CRL will increase capacity across the whole rail network and improve timetable resilience by releasing the capacity constraint at Britomart. Journey times will be shorter and services more reliable and frequent.
The CRL will maximise the benefits of existing and proposed investment in transport; for example, on the Western Line, the CRL will provide more direct access to the city centre compared to the current route via Newmarket.
With CRL, a journey from New Lynn to the Aotea Station will take less than half the time and from Manukau to Karangahape Road, the journey will be a third faster than now.
How long will it take to build the CRL and how much will it cost?
Construction of the CRL is expected to take five and a half years based on current estimates and cost up to $2.4billion.
Funding options are being investigated and work is being undertaken to respond to the issues raised in the government review of the initial 2010 business case.
Surface land and sub- surface land will be required for the CRL, its construction and operation. Any new development in these areas would need to be discussed and approved by Auckland Transport.
The route being investigated travels under city centre streets as much as possible to minimise the need for private property. How much private land is affected won’t be known until the route is confirmed. Auckland Transport will work closely with any affected landowners.
Contact us about the City Rail Link
Mail: City Rail Link, Private Bag 92250, Auckland 1142
Email: carol.greensmith@aucklandtransport.govt.nz
Phone: 09 447 4194