Mayor backs CRL project despite cost concerns

Auckland Mayor Wayne Brown says he remains concerned about the final cost and timelines for the new City Rail Link (CRL).

But after recently touring the project from Maungawhau/Mt Eden Station to Waitemata Station (Britomart), Brown said despite his worries, he believes it will transform Auckland’s public transport system and reduce roading congestion when it finally opens.

“Ratepayers and taxpayers are making an enormous investment in an incredibly complex project, with a governance and management structure that I would not have chosen,” he said.

“Nevertheless, when finished, fitted out, fully tested, and supported by modernised lines, crossings, and stations throughout the region, CRL will deliver Auckland the worldclass passenger train network that residents of and visitors to other large cities have taken for granted for generations.

“When all planned improvements to the network are finished in the years following the completion of the CRL itself, Aucklanders and our visitors will see a nine-carriage trains arriving at stations as frequently as once every two minutes, carrying up to 54,000 people an hour at peak times across the network.

“The CRL and the world-class regional rail network it will enable must be at the heart of the single, big, joined-up transport

Shore – it could be easily connected to the existing Auckland rail network without having to alter any part of the CRL tunnels or system.

CRL required that the stations be designed to new idea stop us from getting the maximum benefits that it promises for our city, region and country,” Brown said.