There are fresh concerns about the opening date of the City Rail Link.
There are fresh concerns about the opening date of the City Rail Link.
Auckland’s $5.5 billion City Rail Link faces completion pressure, with French executives visiting on December 12.
Various reports indicate the project is 90% complete but entering a high-risk phase.
CRL Ltd chief executive Patrick Brockie confirmed the practical completion date remains November, 2025.
A new document has raised concerns about the completion date of Auckland’s $5.5 billion City Rail Link (CRL) ahead of French construction executives flying to New Zealand over fears of time and cost blowouts.
An Auckland Council report says the country’s largest infrastructure project is on track time- and cost-wise, “however, completion within the timeframe is coming under increasing pressure”.
“The project is entering a high-risk phase, with system integration and testing. There remains no suggestion that the project budget is at risk, with over 90% of construction now complete.”
The comments are in a quarterly overview of the council and council-controlled organisations (CCOs) prepared by finance officers and included in an attachment to last week’s governing body meeting.
Last week, the Herald revealed alarm bells have gone off with the body set up to run the project expressing a lack of confidence in the main contractor’s forecasts, and taking concerns to the highest political levels.
The project is at the challenging phase of installing and testing the various systems. Photo / Corey Fleming
A report to the council’s audit and risk committee said that on September 25, CRL Ltd wrote to the sponsors “with an outline of their concerns and lack of confidence in the Link Alliance’s reporting and forecasting”.
In the letter, CRL Ltd said it would issue a notice to the Link Alliance “indicating their lack of confidence with the provision of risk (both time and cost) and seeking a meeting to discuss concerns”.
The report said VINCI Grands Projets, the French contractor leading the Link Alliance building the CRL, is sending senior executives from France on December 12 to meet City Rail Link Ltd, the company set up by the council and the Government to oversee the project.
After the public release of the report and a Weekend Herald story on its contents, the report was moved to the confidential section of yesterday’s audit and risk committee meeting.
Council chief executive Phil Wilson called the report’s release a “cock-up” that should never have been made public.
“It was a human error situation where somebody didn’t tick the confidential box on the report template,” Wilson said.
City Rail Link chief executive Patrick Brockie. Photo / Michael Craig
The council and the Government (sponsors) are joint partners in the 3.4km underground rail project that began construction in 2016.
The project has caused endless headaches for the central city - road closures, seemingly never-ending civil works and diversions to foot traffic that have hurt – and closed – some businesses.
The CRL’s original cost was between $2b and $3b and was expected to be completed in 2023-24.
Barry Potter, the council’s director of infrastructure and resilience, said the council document about the timeframe coming under pressure is part of regular updates from CRL Ltd to councillors.
Responding to the latest document, CRL Ltd chief executive Patrick Brockie acknowledged that pressure is coming on the project as it enters the challenging phase of installing and testing the various systems, and it regularly reports on project risks to the sponsors.
He said the practical completion date of November 26, 2025 has always been P50, which means there is a 50% chance of meeting that date. Once this occurs, the project will be handed to Auckland Transport before it opens to passengers in 2026.
“This is standard for the funding and programming of infrastructure projects in New Zealand,” said Brockie, saying the practical completion date remains at the end of November.
“In the meantime, progress towards the project’s finish line remains intense and it is still scheduled for opening to passengers in 2026,” he said.
Brockie stressed the visit by VINCI executives this month is one of the regular visits between executives of the Link Alliance and CRL Ltd.
Transport Minister Simeon Brown and Auckland Mayor said CRL Ltd had advised them that the project remains on track for opening to the public in 2026. There was no mention of the practical completion of the project.
Wayne Brown recently told RNZ the CRL “requires intense pressure” to be finished on time, saying it was supposed to have finished before he became mayor in 2022 and had risen sharply in cost.
Auckland Transport (AT) director of public transport and active modes Stacey van der Putten said just when the CRL opens in 2026 is unknown at this stage.
“We’ll know more about opening dates as the testing and commissioning phase progresses, and we’ll continue to keep the public informed about our progress,” van der Putten said.
AT director of public transport and active modes Stacey van der Putten.
Work to be ready for the opening started well in advance of practical completion, she said, including driver training, developing and implementing new timetables and updating systems.
“These final phases of a complex new railway project are known from international experience to be the most challenging, with a number of potential scenarios to plan for,” van der Putten said.
“After CRL Ltd complete their work, AT and KiwiRail will need to complete rail upgrade work, carry out final safety assurances, finish training and carry out practice and readiness exercises before confirming we can ensure a safe, reliable service that is a great experience for Aucklanders in 2026.”
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