Transport Minister Chris Bishop has flagged a full post-completion review of the $5.5 billion City Rail Link after the project's former leader suggested billions could have been saved by running shorter trains, but far more often
The country's largest infrastructure project has been under construction, in some form, for over a decade and has had several cost escalations over that time.
Bishop said in a statement to 1News on Thursday he had "a lot of respect" for former CRL boss Sean Sweeney and took his views "seriously".
"Like everyone, I'm unhappy at the cost of CRL," Bishop said.
"I am determined to do a post-completion full review of the project, which is something not often done in New Zealand.
"This review needs to look at the history of the project, along with the business case(s), and costings. It also needs to look at missed opportunities.
"I’ve been open about how CRL was only really ever envisaged as a transport project when it is so much more than that."
Sweeney's comments were reported by the NZ Herald this morning.
The infrastructure leader, who ran the country's biggest transport project before taking roles in Ireland and now Australia, was blunt when journalist Katie Bradford asked whether the CRL had been over-engineered and too expensive.
"I'm not going to make any friends for saying this, but in a nutshell, yes," Sweeney said.
Q+A goes underground to see the new stations and asks what it takes to get a return on the investment. (Source: Q and A)
"I've spent the last nearly two years spending a lot of time in Europe. I spend a lot of time with the people who built the Copenhagen metros.
"They have been brutally disciplined about how they've specified scope, and they've built very small, affordable stations all through Copenhagen at a quarter of the cost of CRL."
Shorter trains more often, former CRL boss posits
He said the project could have been delivered for half the cost, "but it would have looked different". "The stations would have looked quite industrial, and they would have been smaller, and they wouldn't have had anywhere near the extra facilities in them."
Asked whether he should have stepped in as CEO to rein in costs, Sweeney said he "probably didn't have the experience in building metro stations" at the time.
He said there reasons CRL stations cost so much more than their European counterparts. Auckland's system currently runs six-car trains at peak, but the new rail link has been futureproofed for nine-car trains and extra capacity.
Officials take the first passenger trip on Auckland's City Rail Link after numerous budget blowouts and delays. (Source: 1News)
"I now know that nine-car versus three-car probably doubles the cost," he said.
"CRL is for nine-car trains. In Copenhagen, they have three-car trains. They have three-car stations, 60 metres long, our stations are 200 metres long.
"They have two escalators, one up, one down. We have between six and eight escalators."
Sweeney recalled visiting a Copenhagen station and asking one of the lead designers where the toilets were. "He said, 'There are none.' I said, 'Why not?'
"He said, 'Sean, we run trains every minute and a half. Why should we provide a toilet when you're going to be here less than 80 seconds?'
Sean Sweeney said politicians cancelling one project to start another is driving up prices. (Source: 1News)
"They have been a really stripped-down, lean version of what you need for a metro, and as a result, it cost a quarter of what we pay for ours."
Copenhagen's metro system is fully driverless and operates 24 hours a day, while Auckland's underground stations are connected to the existing suburban railway network.
Also in the Herald interview, he was asked about the next harbour crossing for Auckland. Sweeney said it should be a tunnel, suggesting that tunnelling technology had become cheaper and safer.
He said Australia was "smashing" New Zealand on infrastructure investment, spending hundreds of billions on transport, while New Zealand had stalled.
Auckland Mayor Wayne Brown had previously called the CRL stations "cathedrals" and also criticised the build cost of the project.
Brown spoke to Q+A about his plans for Auckland and his pitch for Labour and National to govern together. (Source: Q and A)
Sweeney's views on the politics of infrastructure have also shifted.
Sweeney left the CRL in 2024 to take charge of Dublin MetroLink. He has since resigned from that role and returned to New Zealand.
In a 2024 Q+A exit interview as he left the CRL for Dublin, Sweeney spoke positively about Ireland's approach, saying major infrastructure there had been "largely depoliticised" and that all parties had signed up to a long-term strategy.
But after two years working in Dublin, Sweeney told the Herald he had found the reality was different. He said Ireland was "deeply haunted by the GFC" and that projects experienced delays due to Treasury rules and EU regulations among reasons.
"I had a view that they were doing a whole lot of things a whole lot better than New Zealand. I'd probably say that that's not as clear cut as I thought it was," Sweeney said.
Sean Sweeney said the costs of building infrastructure in New Zealand had a "premium". (Source: 1News)
"I actually think New Zealand is doing some things better than Ireland, particularly in the planning and also our speed to getting things built."
The question of how to stabilise the country's infrastructure pipeline remains unresolved.
Last month, the Infrastructure Commission told a conference of sector leaders in Auckland that a bipartisan pipeline was "a step too far", saying it lacked the resources to plan one and that political disagreement over projects was "a healthy thing".
Bishop backed that position, telling the conference the country should pursue bipartisan consensus on best practice rather than chasing an agreed list of projects. He said today that his immediate focus remained on completing the CRL and getting it open.
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