Auckland's City Rail Link is celebrating a major milestone after the tunnel boring machine broke through Karangahape Station on Sunday, at the end of its 860m journey from Mt Eden.
“Aucklanders can’t see it, but far below their streets a railway that is going to change their lives for the good is rapidly starting to take shape," City Rail Link chief executive Dr Sean Sweeney said.
The machine began mining from the Mt Eden Station construction site in May, cutting into the earth, removing spoil to the surface, and installing the concrete panels that line the tunnels.
At Karangahape, the 130-metre-long machine will now be pushed 223-metres to the northern end of the station cavern and readied for the next stage of its journey, to Aotea Station.
Its planned arrival is early in the New Year, where it will connect with the tunnels already built from Britomart and under the lower end of Albert Street.
The second tunnel from Mt Eden to Aotea will be bored in 2022.
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