The underground Karanga-a-Hape Station is all set for take-off. Photo / AT
Ferries, buses and trains will connect to provide more frequent, easier and faster journeys around the Auckland region, writes Graham Skellern
The long-awaited City Rail Link (CRL) that will change the way people move around Auckland, and reduce congestion, is just a few months away from opening.
The comprehensive testing of all aspects of the network and the timetable by Kiwi Rail and Auckland Transport (AT) is nearing an end, public open days will be staged, then the transport transformation that is the $5.5 billion CRL will be underway in the second half of this year.
“The CRL completely changes how people get around – not just into the city centre but right across the region,” says Barry Potter, Auckland Council’s director of resilience and infrastructure.
“During peak times, trains will be coming through every four to five minutes in the city centre and busiest parts of the network,” Potter says.
“We will have people moving in the same way they do in most major cities around the world. Buses, ferries and trains will feed into each other and create a whole integrated public transport network.
“The network will drive development around transport nodes, housing and commercial, and it will change where people choose to live and work.”
Presently, Auckland’s traffic congestion is costing an estimated $2.6b a year in lost time and productivity. The CRL is designed to provide some relief with more frequent trains and quicker journeys.
Potter says the CRL provides a choice and frees up arterial roads and motorways for those who must drive, including freight and emergency services.
He says the more people using the rail network and the more vehicles coming off the roads, the more sustainable Auckland becomes.
“CRL is much more than a dynamic transport project - it’s a city-shaping investment.”
CRL is much more than a dynamic transport project - it’s a city-shaping investment.
Andy Baker, Franklin Ward councillor and chairman of Auckland Council’s Transport and Infrastructure Delivery Committee, says “when you look at big modern cities, they are all premised on having a well-functioning, efficient and attractive public transport network based on rail, generally.
“You will have new options for one-seat rides and if you do have to get off and change trains, it’ll be seamless with easy transfers inside modern stations. We are getting a world-class transport system.”
Baker says the upgrade of station neighbourhoods, the CRL itself and the CRL-enabled timetable will improve how the city grows and competes.
“Looking at all four CRL station precincts, one that is going to go nuts is Karanga-a-Hape. It’s one of our most iconic places in the city. It mirrors a lot of the funky, cosmopolitan parts of other big cities – like Fitzroy in Melbourne.
“I’m really looking forward to jumping on a train down the road from my place in South Auckland, exit the station at Mercury Lane, and head to St. Kevin’s Arcade with its awesome restaurants and the other eclectic parts of Karangahape Rd.”
Baker says the rail network will open up parts of the city that have been difficult to get to, and even forgotten. “In the area I represent, there’s a bustling town centre in Pukekohe and people from the city centre will be able to get out there easily and explore other parts of the region.”
The opening of CRL, 12 years in the making, means the trains will pass through the once dead-end Waitemata Station (formerly Britomart) and loop around a more accessible city centre underground, 42 metres below street level at its deepest point.
There are two new stations – Te Waihorotiu near Aotea Square with entrances on Wellesley St and Victoria St, and Karanga-a-Hape with entrances on Beresford Square and Mercury Lane.
Beresford Square, Mercury Lane and the plaza on the eastern entrance to the Waitemata Station have been turned into urban-designed public spaces.
The CRL consists of twin 3.45km rail tunnels connecting Waitemata Station with the re-developed Maungawhau Station in lower Mt Eden.
The rail network will open up parts of the city that have been difficult to get to, and even forgotten.
The renamed East West Line will join existing stations along the way and provide a direct connection from Swanson to Manukau via the city centre.
The South City Line connects South Auckland with the city centre, looping around the city via the brand new underground CRL stations.
Three new stations are being added to this line between Papakura and Pukekohe – Drury, Ngakoroa and Paerata – to cater for the development of Drury into a city the size of Napier within 20-25 years, with a population of 65,000.
When CRL opens, travel from Henderson to mid-town Te Waihorotiu Station will take 35 minutes, a saving of 24 minutes on public transport; from Panmure to Karangahape Rd 21 minutes, saving 14 minutes; and Ellerslie to the same destination 20 minutes, saving 16 minutes.
There’s no need to use a bus from the Ōtāhuhu Station to Karangahape Rd. And travelling from the Maungawhau Station to downtown Waitematā will take just under 10 minutes, about half the current time.
Stress testing the timetable and frequency has revealed network congestion at the Wiri, Ōtāhuhu and Westfield junctions, where freight and passenger services compete for track space. Westfield and Wiri could eventually be grade-separated.
“We’ll tweak a few things before we run the simulation again in the April school holidays, to help us finalise a robust timetable and provide reliable services from day one,” AT’s director of public transport and active modes, Stacey van der Putten, told a recent meeting of the council’s Transport and Infrastructure Delivery Committee.
The project agencies will have removed or improved 13 level crossings in different parts of Auckland ahead of the CRL opening.
Potter says CRL will double the number of people experiencing a public transport journey time of 30 minutes or less into the city centre by train, and this major infrastructure investment will deliver a significant return on the council’s 50% stake in the project.
AT has increased its all-electric train fleet by 30% from 72 to 95 three-carriage trains to handle the additional capacity.
As well, AT is hiring more frontline staff, updating bus routes, developing a new operating timetable, integrating the stations with their neighbourhoods, and updating wayfinding and customer information.
The final timetable will provide 16 trains per hour in each direction through the CRL and have the capacity to move up to 19,000 passengers an hour into the city centre in the peak periods of 7am-9am and 4pm-6.30pm during the working week.
All weekend services will operate on the off-peak timetable, as it does today, and will increase from every 20 minutes to every 15 minutes.
Potter says CRL is designed to carry up to 54,000 passengers in the future, supporting population growth for decades to come.
Moving that many passengers is a long-term prospect, and relies on investment in the wider network, such as longer platforms, extra tracks, more trains and train infrastructure, and level crossing removals – some of which is already underway.
The new CRL stations are all designed with long platforms for future nine-car trains.
To begin with, the final trains through the city centre are expected to run around 11pm from Sunday to Thursday, and around 1am on Fridays and Saturdays.
The CRL stations will close overnight after the last train for cleaning and maintenance. But they will re-open before the first morning service — around 5am on weekdays and just before 6am on weekends.
The fares and zones will stay the same after an average 5.1% increase early last month. A one-way train trip from Pukekohe to any CRL station will be $7.90, from Swanson or Papatoetoe $6.50, and Panmure/Ōtāhuhu $4.90. A quick trip from Kingsland into the city centre will cost $3.
And for everyone using an AT Hop card, there’s weekly cap of $50.
So, will the CRL live up to expectations?
“People are looking forward to it, judging by the number of inquiries we are getting,” says Potter. “The most common question is: ‘When does it open?’
“We will open the doors in the weeks leading up to the opening for public viewing of the CRL stations, and they can see how it works.”
Potter says the CRL has provided a legacy of thousands of men and women bringing their skills and energy to make it happen. It’s been the most complex - and biggest - transport project undertaken in New Zealand.
“The public will be impressed with the quality of the stations and how easy it is to get around. I think they will be very proud of CRL and it will become part of their life.”
Baker says the city centre is coming alive again. It’s been through challenges and hard times – the Covid pandemic and the disruptive CRL works - but it’s over now.
“I was talking to a hotel operator about the Military Tattoo being in town and he remarked they experienced their best weekend ever in January.
“There are 35,000 people living in the city centre, the universities are full, the convention centre has opened, and events are taking place at Wynyard Quarter and Aotea Square.
“Each area of the city centre has its own theme, such as mid-town with its arts and learning and CRL will enable people to rediscover the city and get the vibe,” Baker says.
“CRL is more than just getting workers into the city centre. Melbourne’s has become a tourist attraction in its own right. CRL brings us into line about how we live and operate as a true international city.”
Auckland Council is a sponsor of the Herald’s Project Auckland report.