The first train is due to run on Auckland’s $5.5 billion City Rail Link (CRL) before the end of the year, the Herald can reveal.
But before passengers get to ride on the country’s first underground rail line, more than 1200 test trips by train have to be completed through the twin tunnels as part of a rigorous testing and commissioning phase, said CRL chief executive Dr Sean Sweeney.
No opening date has been set for commuters, although the parties involved in the mega infrastructure project have penciled in 2026.
Sweeney said the civil works are complete, the track has been laid, and 60 per cent of the fit-out is complete on the two new subterranean stations - Karanga-a-Hape at Karangahape Rd and Te Waihorotiu in the city - and a new Maungawhau Station at Mt Eden.
These works are a doddle compared to the testing and commissioning phase, which are outside Sweeney’s area of expertise and, in his words, pose an “uncertain” level of risk.
Many systems - rail, mechanical, electrical, fire and hydraulics, and communications - have to be tested individually and then tested to work together.
Sweeney said there are about 1200km of electrical and communication cable being installed to run the stations and the tunnels, and multiple types of electronic equipment.
The cabling stretches nearly the length of driving from Auckland to Wellington and back.
It’s a bespoke system, said Sweeney, being installed with a lot of experts from overseas and a large number of locals who have never been involved with this kind of work.
In the back of his mind is the Crossrail line under London, which was four months away from completion when an electrical failure triggered a series of delays and failures, blowing a large hole in the budget and opening nearly four years late.
“We have fewer risks technically than Crossrail… and we’ve already avoided a number of things that Crossrail fell victim to,” said Sweeney.
He said the team is smashing it up the middle, and making good progress, but it’s bruising and hard work, often involving people working in cramped conditions laying cables, with up to five layers of cable tables sitting on top of each other.
Only once all the equipment and cabling are installed, and tested multiple times to ensure the network works, can trains run through the tunnels.
There was a date to run the first train, but that has changed, said Sweeney, saying “nothing is nailed down”.
But the aim is to run the first train by the end of the year.
After the first train runs at a very slow speed to ensure it does not hit the side walls of the tunnels, it will run a little faster, and up to operational speed, followed by running multiple trains, and then multiple trains at operational speed.
The next step is to simulate a timetable, which generates another set of tests, including a range of scenarios and emergency procedures, such as a fire on a train, a health event of a passenger, and a terrorist event.
Once CRL Ltd has proved the system works, and gives the Link Alliance main contractor practical completion, the project will be handed over to Auckland Transport and KiwiRail to prepare for day one operations.
“Think of it like this,” says AT executive programme director Mark Lambert.
“It’s like being handed a house without any furniture or any contents”, albeit in working order.
AT’s job is to train 270 train drivers on the CRL before it can open to passengers, training staff to operate the stations, organising maintenance and management of the stations, and setting up retail outlets, he said.
What’s more, 23 new trains are being built in Mexico for the extra services, once the CRL opens, and about 60 extra train drivers will be hired.
Lambert said once the CRL opens, the number of trains will increase from 18 trains per hour going through Britomart train station at the peak, to 16 trains per hour in each direction - an increase in capacity of about 60 per cent.
Bernard Orsman is an award-winning reporter who has been covering Auckland’s local politics and transport since 1998. Before that, he worked in the parliamentary press gallery for six years.