Aucklanders came out in huge numbers on Sunday, 13 September to the opening of the City Rail Link (CRL), the largest ever transport infrastructure project undertaken in New Zealand. The new 3.45km cross-city underground, along with two new stations – Te Waihorotiu and Karanga-a-Hape – and two transformed stations – Maungawhau and Waitematā – are expected to deliver huge changes to the rail network, operated by Auckland One Rail.
These benefits include a predicted 50% increase in peak rail capacity, more frequent services with trains running every 4–5 minutes during peak periods and significant reductions in travel times.
Services began early with the first passenger service from Ōtāhuhu, leaving at 4.57am, carrying Auckland One Rail CEO Martin Kearney, members of the executive team, local and central government politicians, rail enthusiasts and around 400 very excited passengers.
Martin says, “After years of preparation, training and testing, it’s really special to finally see our customers travelling through and enjoying the CRL. Auckland has now joined other major cities with a highly anticipated world class system.”
During opening day on Sunday, over 70,000 people had travelled on the network – three times the number than the previous Sunday.
To manage day one, we ran 84 trains, scheduled 145 drivers and 120 train managers, and had 100 customer service staff and ambassadors assisting customers throughout the network, aided by an additional 100 security staff.
Despite a small electrical fire at Waitematā Station early in the morning, the atmosphere was positive, with customer service teams managing busy stations safely, helping customers find their way around the new network and all done with big smiles.
Our first weekday, Monday, 14 September was also a great success, with over 92,000 boardings, 50% more than the previous Monday.
There has been significant media interest in the new network, including media stand-ups, live streaming on trains across the network, social media and interviews throughout the stations.
Martin says the opening of the CRL marks a historic milestone for Auckland and a proud moment for everyone involved in delivering and operating the new network.
“While there will continue to be opportunities to refine and optimise services as customers adapt to the new network, the successful launch has laid a strong foundation for a new era of train services in Auckland and will ultimately connect more people to more places, more often.
“The exceptional patronage, positive customer response and seamless teamwork across the business demonstrates Auckland One Rail’s readiness for this transformational change.”
