Auckland's City Rail Link chief executive officer Sean Sweeny has resigned and will leave his position in September.
The City Rail Link is a 3.45km-long tunnel being construction beneath Auckland's city centre.
It will connect Waitematā Station (Britomart) and Maungawhau Station (Mt Eden), and includes two new city-centre stations and other works. It aims to increase the efficiency, reliability, and frequency of Auckland's passenger rail network.
In March 2023, the project announced a cost blowout as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic and its associated impacts.
It took the initial $4.419 billion cost estimate to $5.493 billion, an increase on $1.074 billion.
A statement issued by CRL said Sweeny was headed to Dublin to work on its MetroLink project.
"I have been more than honoured to lead CRL and with our finish line approaching rapidly it was no easy decision to leave a project that will always remain special to me," Sweeney said.
"It will not only do so much for Auckland and Aucklanders, but CRL demonstrates the very best in outstanding teamwork, innovation and design – everyone of us who have worked on CRL can rightly feel proud and privileged to have done so."
Project won't slow down – chairman
City Rail Link Ltd chairman John Bridgman said Sweeney’s resignation is accepted with regret, but it won't slow down "the project's momentum".
"One of Sean’s legacies is the strong leadership team he has established. Construction is more than 80 per cent complete, there is a good atmosphere across all our sites and CRL’s testing and commissioning phase is gathering pace. The project is in great shape and we remain on track to complete the project and hand it over to Auckland Transport and KiwiRail at the end of next year."
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