The $5.5 billion City Rail Link (CRL) appears on track to open to the public in the second half of this year, with a more detailed start window expected in the coming weeks, Auckland Transport's interim chief executive says.
Officials also say last month's CRL testing went well with "confidence" that a "temporary timetable" would run reliably when the rail link eventually opens. It comes after congestion at rail junctions raised serious issues with day one plans earlier this year.
Once again asked about the opening date of the country's biggest infrastructure project, Stacey van der Putten told Q+A an update was hoped for over the next several weeks.
"We're hoping to give an update on that in the month ahead," van der Putten said.
"May is really busy with emergency management testing. That's an integral part of the journey. I think thereafter we'll be able to give an update on what that window looks like."
Meanwhile, City Rail Link Ltd chairperson John Bridgman told Parliament's transport select committee last week that the project was "only about 60 days away from having the physical works complete".
Bridgman pushed back on the narrative that the project had been delayed, telling the committee: "Everyone says this project is late. Yes, we're not up to the projected timelines, but we're only six months late in a nine-year project."
"Given the challenges we've had and we're inside the funding envelopes ... it's really an outstanding project," he said.
The global fuel crisis, driven by the war in Iran and the almost total closure of the Strait of Hormuz, has added urgency to the project. Petrol prices have risen more than 35% since the conflict began in late February, with diesel surging past $3.40 a litre.
Train commuters are being forced onto replacement buses during the testing. (Source: Breakfast)
Van der Putten told Q+A the crisis was a factor in AT's thinking. She said officials had noticed an uptick in public transport use as commuters looked for cheaper alternatives.
Asked whether the situation could accelerate the CRL's opening, she said: "It definitely will be a factor. There's obviously key things that need to happen until we get to a point where we can make a call on opening too."
Van der Putten said officials were planning station open days ahead of the launch.
AT staff, along with workers from Auckland Council, City Rail Link and KiwiRail, were also volunteering as "dummy crowds" for emergency testing in the stations through May.
Officials 'confident' in temporary 6-month timetable
AT rail services group manager Mark Lambert told 1News that April's testing "gave us confidence we can run the planned timetables reliably".
Officials from rail agencies were "working together to finalise some minor changes from what was tested and implement them into the temporary timetable, which we will launch with when we open the City Rail Link later this year.
"With KiwiRail and Auckland One Rail, we will be monitoring the performance of the network closely in the days and weeks after launch to consider next steps."
Lambert said frequencies would be "gradually increased" for Auckland's train network after "around six months" of the temporary reduced timetable.
"From the west and the south at peak there be a similar average 10-minute frequency to now – although wait times will sometimes be shorter or longer," Lambert acknowledged.
1News reported in March that commuters on Auckland's western rail line would not get more rush hour trains when the CRL opens later this year, with emerging plans for a "temporary transitional timetable" to run for the first six months.
Additionally, train services would come at uneven intervals within the timetable.
Discussions of a temporary timetable were publicised after significant congestion issues were identified during "day one timetable" testing for the CRL in January.
"We aim to increase frequencies within six months of opening, for example, extending to eight-minute peak frequencies on the Western Line," Lambert said.
Trust will need to be rebuilt - AT
The CRL will significantly change how Auckland's rail network works by turning the downtown Britomart station from a dead-end stop into a through-station, with two new underground stations at Te Waihorotiu and Karanga-a-Hape.
But van der Putten acknowledged rail had suffered years of disruption, and winning back public trust would be critical to making the investment pay off.
"Rail has had a lot of disruption over the last five years, and so that consistency and reliability for people has not been there," she said.
"Building that trust and confidence back in the network is going to be key."
Patronage on Auckland's train system remains down as compared to before the Covid-19 pandemic, in line with how commuter rail systems have fared around the world.
Van der Putten said congestion charging, which passed into law late last year, would also play a role in helping realise the CRL's benefits, but warned public transport needed to be reliable and affordable, or the charges would feel punitive.
"We've got to make sure that happens, otherwise it's going to feel punitive if there's no other options for people," she said.
But officials remain tight-lipped about when the new underground stations will open next year. (Source: 1News)
"We need to make public transport affordable and reliable. One of the things we need to do as a city is think about how we maximise use of our assets and commercialise them when we can. In order to offset some of that cost.
"It is expensive running public transport. It is heavily subsidised by both local and central government, so more people obviously makes it more affordable.
"But then also thinking about that, land use integration around the corridors too."
Bridgman described the CRL as "the biggest transport transformation in Auckland since the Harbour Bridge" and said it would "challenge the notion that our infrastructure should only be minimalist and functional" - making Auckland feel "more like a grown-up city".
He also highlighted the 2019 decision to extend platforms for nine-car trains and install structure for platform screen doors, which would enable future driverless operation.
"You can't get to driverless trains without that, and it would be difficult to put that in later," Bridgman told the select committee.
Housing density around train stations 'crucial'
Auckland Council chief economist Gary Blick said the biggest untapped opportunity for making the CRL pay off was in housing development around train stations.
"I'd say it's crucial. There's a lot of people who live in the station catchments on the rapid transit network now, but we know that there are many more people who would like the choice to live there," he said.
"People have shown they're willing to give up a bit of floor area for a better location, and the CRL makes many of the station catchments more attractive than they already are."
Under the government's direction, three suburban train stations set to benefit from the new rail link are being upzoned to 15 storeys and two to 10 storeys.
Blick said enabling more housing across the wider network was vital to realising the council's forecast of about $4 billion in annual productivity gains.
"Not only those five named stations, but across the network, especially in those higher-value locations on the western line, the eastern line, the southern line," he said.
Blick said the Unitary Plan had already shown demand for denser living near transit, with Aucklanders willing to trade floor space for better location and access.
Q+A with Jack Tame is made with the support of New Zealand On Air
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