Foreword City Rail Link Limited's 2020-2021 Annual Report reflects a year of exciting change. City Rail Link (CRL) has finished the
connect CRL to the Western Line are
workers will be required for the
year with a dramatically changed
well advanced at Mt Eden
complex phase of fitting out the
project landscape in 12 breath-taking months - a project at peak production forging ahead; one successfully managing the challenges of the Covid-19 pandemic; one that can demonstrate significant contributions during the year to a more vibrant and sustainable Auckland. Hard work by many is responsible for rapid progress and construction sites are unrecognisable from a year ago. Hitting peak production saw the project’s workforce increase from an early estimate of 1,600 to around 2,500. At Mt Eden, some 25 pieces of big and busy machinery, not counting CRL’s Tunnel Boring Machine (TBM), Dame Whina Cooper, were in action – a ‘heavy metal’ reminder of pace and
• At Karangahape, what will become New Zealand’s deepest railway
The project will have a more definitive
station, work started on platform
view on the pandemic’s impact,
excavation 32 metres below city
including the most recent August
streets
2021 lockdown, on the construction
• The Aotea site began underground station work while continuing to manage challenges around relocating utilities, keeping traffic moving and central Auckland open, and the impact on neighbouring businesses. Importantly, CRL Ltd and Link Alliance signed two contract variations, C5 and C7, that covered redevelopment work around Mt Eden Station, and the installation of rail systems. Contract costs of $825 million are included in the overall $4.4 billion cost of the project.
progress.
CRL Ltd is indebted to the commitment
Anticipation marked the start of CRL
shown by the Link Alliance during
Ltd’s financial year with the arrival from a challenging year. The agility demonstrated by the Link Alliance to China of the TBM, built specifically for Auckland’s soil conditions. Its reassembly, the generous support
adapt to new Covid-related working
conditions was a significant contributor
from Dame Whina Cooper's whānau
to the year’s advances.
at the machine’s public unveiling, the
Despite outstanding progress, the
recommissioning and official launch, and the start of tunnel excavation marked a pivotal and symbolic shift away from years of enabling works to a new focus on construction - building the tunnels, stations and installing the rail systems. The start of tunnel excavation underlined a year for a project that is up and running and starting to take shape, above and below ground. Work continued at pace across CRL’s biggest construction sites: • Tunnel excavation, building a new station and extensive work to 4
stations and tunnels.
Covid-19 shadow remains a long one. Through the Construction Accord, the project raised wider infrastructure
timetable and costs when tunnel excavations are finished, and station construction is substantially completed. As construction shifted up a gear, people had a glimpse elsewhere of the benefits a completed CRL will deliver. The historic Chief Post Office (CPO) resumed its role as the ‘front door’ to the Britomart Station after four years of CRL-related closure, innovative construction and meticulous restoration. The project was joint winner of the prestigious Arthur Meade Engineering NZ award which recognised the skills used successfully to build rail tunnels below the Category 1 heritage-listed building. CRL Ltd adds its congratulations to the team for pushing the boundaries of existing construction techniques to achieve an outstanding outcome. A striking new traffic-free square known as Te Komititanga, which features traditional Māori design, was opened in front of the CPO as part of
industry concerns to Government and
the project.
its officials about difficulties providing
Our C2 contract in lower Albert
access for skilled international workers.
Street ended positively with the
Some progress was made, but there is
Infrastructure Sustainability Council
still some way to go. The time it takes
of Australia awarding an 'Excellent'
to cross the border remains an urgent
'as-built' rating, reflecting the quality
challenge.
of construction. Our contractors,
While nearly all the overseas expertise required for the construction
Connectus, left this part of central Auckland a more attractive destination.
programme such as the TBM operation
On the wider rail network, work
was able to enter New Zealand this
was completed to future-ready the
year, a new tranche of international
Ōtāhuhu Station in south Auckland CITY RAIL LINK LIMITED ANNUAL REPORT 2021
