MINISTERS AND MAYOR RIDE CRL TRAIN UNDER AUCKLAND
8 August 2025
Auckland’s City Rail Link (CRL) celebrated an exciting milestone today, welcoming Prime Minister Christopher Luxon, Auckland Mayor Wayne Brown, Government Ministers, civic leaders and project partners as passengers on the transformational railway under the central city.
“The Government and Auckland Council are joint funders of the $5.5 billion project, and we’re delighted to have been able to show off the progress we are making and offer a preview of the benefits thousands of Aucklanders will enjoy when CRL opens next year,” says City Rail Link Ltd’s Chief Executive, Patrick Brockie.
The train travelled beneath the city centre through the twin 3.45 kilometre-long tunnels, starting at the new Maungawhau Station and passing through Karanga-a-Hape and Te Waihorotiu underground Stations and Waitematā Station (Britomart) before returning to Maungawhau.
Mr Brockie says with heavy construction complete, work is focused on commissioning and testing all the tunnel and station systems necessary to operate the CRL safely.
“While the finish line is getting closer, there is still a lot of work to be done before the CRL can open to passengers in 2026,” he says.
The trip was organised under strict safety protocols as part of the CRL’s rigorous train testing phase. Since the first test train ran in February this year, more than 1,600 individual test train journeys have already taken place inside the tunnels and Mr Brockie says there is a lot more to do to ensure the CRL and future train services are safe and reliable.
“We know from lessons learned overseas, this is our most challenging and complex phase and getting this right for Aucklanders is our utmost priority.”
All project partners are working together to complete and open the CRL as quickly as possible to deliver the largest ever change to Auckland’s public transport network.
“We can’t wait to show more people just how transformational City Rail Link will be for Auckland’s wider rail network. It allows for a rethink of our train lines giving customers more choice in how they travel and ways get to where they’re going faster,” says Auckland Transport Chief Executive Dean Kimpton.
“There’s still a long ‘to-do list’ before we can open in 2026 and together with our partners, we are working hard to be ready for day one. We’re hiring front line staff, procuring new trains, updating
bus routes, improving streets, paths and bus stops around our new stations and removing level crossings from our rail network,” says Dean Kimpton.
KiwiRail Chief Executive Peter Reidy says KiwiRail continues to deliver significant upgrades to the metro network to support the increased services City Rail Link will bring.
“In Auckland we are carrying out work which would normally take a decade but is being delivered in three to four years.
“While working closely with our partners to ensure rigorous testing and commissioning of the City Rail Link, KiwiRail is also modernising our older rail assets so they can support significantly more trains and passengers.
“We have delivered large new infrastructure projects to support this – Pukekohe to Papakura electrification, Third Main Line and Wiri to Quay Park, Western Power Feed – and continue at pace with the final stages of our Rail Network Rebuild and constructing three new stations in southern Auckland.”
CRL is New Zealand’s first underground railway.
ENDS
For more information please contact:
info@cityraillink.govt.nz
+6421567862

KiwiRail and City Rail Link
City Rail Link (CRL) Test Train Experience – 8 August 2025
KiwiRail’s contribution to CRL – some highlights
• KiwiRail’s upgrade and improvement projects span every single line across the Auckland metro network. They include:
o Rail Network Rebuild (RNR) renewals and upgrades addressing the highest priority parts of the network. RNR started in 2021 and is in its final stages.
• Three new stations in South Auckland: Drury Railway Station, Paerātā Railway Station, each with large park and rides, will be operational from 2026. Ngākōroa Railway Station will follow in 2028.
• The electrification of Papakura to Pukekohe 19kms of extended overhead electric lines and track upgrade plus an upgraded station at Pukekohe. Completed in 2024.
• A third main line separating freight from passenger rail at the busiest part of the network – between Westfield and Wiri. This completed project, Wiri to Quay Park, includes a station upgrade at Middlemore and track reconfiguration around Quay Park, which allows freight better access to Ports of Auckland and new junctions at Westfield and Wiri.
• Track changes at Waitematā , Otahuhu, Henderson, Strand and Newmarket to prepare for CRL.
o Completed Auckland Rail Operations Centre – bringing rail operators KiwiRail, Auckland Transport and Auckland One Rail together in one location to improve train services across the city.
• An additional network power feed on the Western Line, which will improve network resilience, is in its testing and commissioning phase and is currently supplying power to the grid. Another power feed to increase network capacity is to be commissioned on the Southern Line.
Future maintenance
How will KiwiRail manage maintenance on the network when the CRL is operational?
When CRL opens, KiwiRail will manage and maintain the metro tunnels and rail infrastructure including signals and train radio systems and manage rail traffic in Auckland. We will also continue to operate freight and inter-regional passenger trains within the region and around the country.
KiwiRail is transitioning to a proactive maintenance schedule that will increase our productivity and use of valuable time on the rail network, limiting full closures.

Our Metro Maintenance Plan identifies what assets (for example, track, signals, foundations) within the rail network require repair, replacement, or upgrade. We’re moving to a preventative maintenance approach which will schedule the proactive maintenance and renewal of assets to support a more resilient, reliable, sustainable rail network with reduced disruption. This works on a cyclical basis rotating around the network.
How will we proactively manage maintenance?
The work we are doing on the network before CRL opens creates a maintainable network. In addition to fixing underlying asset problems, we have created additional cross-overs, enhanced bi-directional signaling, done further sectioning of overhead lines and created on-tracking points for our maintenance vehicles. We are dividing the network into 36 zones, each of which will be self-contained enough to allow maintenance work to occur while trains continue to operate around the work zone. This has not been possible before.
We are also introducing more frequent automated track inspection technology and strengthening performance requirements.
What other tools will you utilize?
We are leveraging technology, automation and mechanisation to increase the speed at which we can work. This will increase our productivity and use of valuable time, so we reduce disruption and allow more space on the network to run trains at greater frequency. This is international best practice and how other modern international metros are successfully operating to meet future customer demands.
Will you need to shut the rail network for maintenance after CRL opens?
There will be shorter shutdowns and longer forecasts with three-to-four-year cyclical maintenance plans. As mentioned, we will have the ability to segment the network so trains can continue to run. We will still need time to complete necessary maintenance but complete shutdowns of the network beyond 2026 will no longer be a regular requirement.
What does that look like?
Let’s take weekday maintenance. We will be more proactive, and less reactive. We will still operate Sunday to Thursday. We will still require long weekends and the Summer to deliver intensive often more invasive work, but it will be targeted and forward forecasted. Segments of the network will close for short periods and single line running may be needed in some areas, but the rest of the network will stay open for trains.
For further information, please contact: mediaenquiries@kiwirail.co.nz