Executive Report

Foreword

City Rail Link Limited’s 2019-2020 Annual Report reflects a year of significant progress.

Covid-19’s impact on the City Rail Link, the infrastructure industry and wider New Zealand should not overshadow what has been a huge and extraordinary year for New Zealand’s largest transport infrastructure project.

Significantly, a project whose scale and complexity has not been seen in New Zealand demonstrated it could respond with agility and flexibility to the pandemic. It was able to maintain productivity and, after the lockdown, make an immediate contribution to the country’s economic revival.

Notwithstanding this, the pandemic continues to have an ongoing impact on the project - particularly due to the current restrictions on skilled workers entering the country. Additional costs and project delays are expected, however these cannot yet be determined.

Developments since July 2019 were both rapid and agile and total project spend reached almost $1.3bn.

City Rail Link Limited’s (CRL Ltd) new year began with the signing of the Project Alliance Agreement with the Link Alliance to deliver the substantive C3 contract. The alliance will complete the tunnels from Mt Eden into central Auckland, build the Aotea and Karangahape underground stations, and redevelop the existing station at Mt Eden. This financial year the Link Alliance brought together a team of 1200 from all over the world; obtained crucial planning consents; relocated underground utilities to clear the way for construction; and met tight deadlines for work start-ups at its three construction sites. Importantly, the transfer of key CRL Ltd staff into the Link Alliance team was completed successfully. The positive integration of different working cultures will be a significant contribution to meeting the challenges ahead.

All essential building blocks and developments for a successful project were well in place before the pandemic.

CRL was, like most of New Zealand’s infrastructure projects, affected by efforts to contain Covid-19. The nationwide lockdown meant all CRL construction work stopped for five weeks.

The lockdown did impact on construction timetables but work still pushed ahead with critical tasks completed from home. This included building consents, designs, planning and revision of the construction programme to be delivered. Foundations were laid for the project to come out of the re-start blocks quickly when the lockdown was lifted.

Even with a strong restart, the project has needed to adapt further to meet the challenges of working in a Covid-19 environment. The Link Alliance introduced longer working hours at its sites to enable the project to regain construction momentum.

CRL Ltd is making a more detailed evaluation of Covid-19’s long term impact on timings and costs. The outcome will depend on the health of the economy, how project suppliers are faring, and on international efforts to curb the virus and ongoing impacts of border restrictions. The full impacts will not be known until at least January 2021, assuming no resurgence of the virus in New Zealand.

The year began positively when completion of the C6 contract for a stormwater drain diversion cleared the way for significant works at Mt Eden.

The first stage of the C3 contract included removing around 30 commercial buildings and the upcoming closure of Mt Eden Station for two big pieces of work: construction of the southern portal retaining wall ahead of the project’s tunnel boring machine’s arrival later this year, and building the trench to connect CRL with the wider Auckland rail network.

Work is also well underway on C3’s construction of the Karangahape and Aotea Stations in central Auckland.

While the C3 programme continues to accelerate, the construction finish line is in sight for the two “foundation” contracts – C1 (Britomart Station and Lower Queen Street) and C2 (the lower end of Albert Street between Customs and Wyndham Streets).

At C1, the heritage-listed Chief Post Office building was successfully lowered on to new foundations, an operation reflecting engineering innovation that will continue to be a feature of the project. Refurbishment of the historic building’s interior is underway, and in front of its main entrance Lower Queen Street is being paved for a traffic-free pedestrian plaza that will open up access to Waitematā Harbour.

Street improvements continued as part of C2’s urban realm programme. CRL Ltd continues to engage with businesses in Albert Street impacted by delays to the completion of C2 and introduced a Business Hardship Programme to provide rent assistance for those small retail businesses that qualify for support.

Beyond the central city sites, the work by CRL Ltd and KiwiRail to improve rail access to the Ōtāhuhu Station is almost complete and collaboration continues with other network upgrades to maximise CRL’s benefits.

CRL Ltd went beyond the boundaries of its construction sites to play a wider role in the development of Auckland’s future. Community engagement was an important part of the project’s year.

One community-based highlight was last November’s Walk the Tunnel event from Britomart Station through a section of the CRL tunnels. All 10,000 event tickets were snapped up online within 15 minutes, reflecting strong interest and support in the project from Aucklanders.

People across New Zealand voted to name the project’s tunnel boring machine after one of the country’s ground-breaking leaders, Dame Whina Cooper, an enduring champion of social and land rights for Māori.

Children contributed to the artistic development of the project by submitting artwork that will line walls at the Aotea Station. The project continues to be active in providing space to help promote artistic, cultural and social events.

The project acknowledges the support and feedback it receives from its Community Liaison Groups, all stakeholders and from its Sponsors, the Crown and Auckland Council. It remains committed to be the best neighbour possible.

The project also acknowledges that constructing the CRL can be disruptive and values the goodwill of the public whose support contributes to its success.

CRL Ltd and the Link Alliance collaborated with Auckland Council and Auckland Transport to keep people informed and safe from the impact of construction on pedestrian and traffic access around the city and to minimise disruption.

The project proudly accepted the WAFX Cultural Identity Award at the prestigious World Architecture Festival in the Netherlands. Concept drawings for the stations representing historic and cultural ties Mana Whenua Iwi have with Tāmaki Makaurau won ahead of many other international entries.

The invaluable contribution from Iwi continues to ensure Mana Whenua values are reflected in the CRL project. CRL Ltd welcomed the support it received from Iwi through the CRL Mana Whenua Forum.

Sustainability remains a core value and CRL objectives included less reliance on carbon fuels, reducing waste – salvaged materials were shipped to Tonga and Niue and an historic 19th century cottage was relocated to Waikato - and social outcomes. CRL Ltd celebrated the successful introduction of a Progressive Employment Programme initiative for rangatahi (young people). Encouragingly, the scheme has been adopted and expanded by the Link Alliance.

As the work programme accelerated so too did the focus on safety for both the public and CRL teams around busy city streets, live rail lines, and constrained construction environments.

People remain at the heart of the CRL project. The project teams have worked hard and overcome unexpected challenges to advance a project that will benefit New Zealanders for generations to come.

Dr Sean Sweeney

Chief Executive Officer

Sir Brian Roche KNZM

Board Chair