Source: Radio New Zealand
The 203m long platform at Auckland’s City Rail Link Karangahape Station. Supplied: CRL
Infrastructure minister Chris Bishop has committed to a review of Auckland’s multibillion-dollar City Rail Link project, saying he’s unhappy with the price tag.
It comes after the New Zealand Herald reported the project’s former boss, Dr Sean Sweeney, said it could have been done at half the cost – about $2 billion cheaper if design changes were made earlier.
Sweeney left the chief executive role in 2024 after six years.
Work began on the $5.5b CRL in 2017. It was initially expected to cost between $2.8b and $3.4b.
It’s the country’s largest infrastructure project, expected to nearly double Auckland’s rail capacity when it opens later this year.
Bishop said he, “like everyone”, was unhappy with the project’s cost.
Infrastructure minister Chris Bishop. RNZ / Samuel Rillstone
“I have a lot of respect for Mr Sweeney so I take what he says seriously,” he said.
“The focus at the moment is on completing the project and getting it open. However, I am determined to do a post-completion full review of the project, which is something not often done in New Zealand.”
The review would be carried out by the Infrastructure Commission and consider the project’s history, business cases and costs, Bishop said.
“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.”
CRL chief executive Patrick Brockie said he welcomed a review, and was already planning an independent “lessons learned review” given the project’s size and complexity.
“Independent reviews of any major infrastructure project are an important part of a process to identify opportunities to improve future projects in New Zealand,” he said.
CRL was focused on finishing the project in the coming months, which Aucklanders could rely on “for decades to come”, Brockie said.
“It’s also important to note that the overall cost of the CRL reflects a wide range of factors beyond architecture alone, including the complexity of building a major underground rail project in the city centre, market and supply-chain conditions, and the impacts of Covid-19 and associated disruptions over the life of the programme.”
In 2019 a design change increased the CRL’s capacity to allow nine-car trains rather than six, which added additional cost due to extended platforms, an extra station increase and providing for future platform screen doors, Brockie said.
“But future-proofing for nine-car trains will mean that the CRL will be able to continue to deliver capacity as the population continues grows over the decades.”
The infrastructure pipeline was a common challenge facing the industry and had been well canvassed across the political spectrum, he said.
Last year, Auckland mayor Wayne Brown said the city’s proposed 7.9 percent rates increase was largely due to the CRL.
City Rail Link has been approached for comment.
Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero, a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand