City Rail Link is Aotearoa New Zealand’s largest transport infrastructure project and one of the most significant urban catalysts in the country’s history.
New Zealand’s largest transport infrastructure project
City Rail Link includes a 3.4-kilometre underground rail connection that links Auckland’s city centre through twin tunnels and three new stations, including Te Waihorotiu in midtown and Karanga-a-Hape beneath Karangahape Road.
By upgrading Waitematā Station on the waterfront from a rail terminus to a through-station and creating a more connected network, City Rail Link has fundamentally changed the way Aucklanders move around the city. It enables a faster, more reliable and higher-capacity public transport system.
We’ve been a key member of Link Alliance, a group of six organisations, and the client, City Rail Link Ltd, delivering key milestones for this once-in-a-generation project. We’ve provided support across areas of design, advisory, transport planning, sustainability, social impact and digital engineering to help deliver this project.
An unprecedented collaborative effort
Delivering a major underground railway beneath the heart of New Zealand’s largest city required an unprecedented level of technical excellence and collaboration. The project has involved:
- Tunnelling up to 42 metres below the city centre
- Constructing complex underground stations
- Upgrading operational rail assets
- Maintaining the safe operation of surrounding transport networks and city infrastructure
At the same time, the team has managed client and partner interfaces, navigated complex approval requirements, honoured Auckland’s cultural heritage and achieved ambitious sustainability objectives.
Multidisciplinary expertise
Throughout the seven years we’ve been involved in City Rail Link, we’ve brought together a broad range of multidisciplinary specialties to support its successful delivery while minimising disruptions to businesses, residents and commuters through complex programme staging and scheduling.
Across three contracts as part of our design role in Link Alliance, our teams have provided:
- Detailed design across all disciplines, including structural, civil and rail-related infrastructure
- Advisory services
- Transport planning and traffic engineering
- Consenting
- Sustainability and construction-phase support
- Transport assessments
- Traffic management and staging strategies
We’ve worked collaboratively with project partners to optimise outcomes across planning, design and construction.
Guided by a ‘best-for-project’ philosophy, our integrated teams have worked closely with Alliance participants to enable early issue resolution, informed decision-making and the successful delivery of complex engineering solutions.
New benchmarks for digital, sustainable and collaborative infrastructure delivery
City Rail Link has established new benchmarks for digital, sustainable and collaborative infrastructure delivery in New Zealand. Our digital engineering team developed an advanced common data environment, connecting more than 200 designers and engineers across multiple organisations, enabling real-time collaboration and coordination of more than 50 integrated models.
By combining BIM, computational design, parametric modelling and generative design methodologies, the team has dramatically improved efficiency, reducing tunnel modelling activities from weeks to hours.
Sustainability has been embedded in the operations since the project started. Working alongside Link Alliance partners and mana whenua, we’ve integrated the principles of kaitiakitanga and Te Aranga into the design and delivery process, so that environmental, social, cultural and economic outcomes have been considered alongside engineering performance.
Innovations such as BIM-enabled carbon tracking, low-emissions construction initiatives and programmes supporting Māori, Pasifika and youth employment have contributed to the project’s industry-leading sustainability performance.
The alliance delivery model itself has been a key differentiator, creating an environment in which shared objectives, transparency and collective problem-solving have enabled better outcomes for the project and the wider community.
Auckland transformed through City Rail Link
The opening of City Rail Link marks a transformative step in Auckland’s evolution as a world-class city. The project has doubled the capacity of the region’s rail network, improved connectivity across the city and enabled more sustainable transport choices for future generations.
Beyond its transport benefits, City Rail Link has delivered lasting environmental, social and cultural value, creating new opportunities for communities while setting a benchmark for sustainable infrastructure delivery in New Zealand.
The project has achieved an Infrastructure Sustainability Design Rating of 93, earning the highest possible “Leading” rating and international recognition for its innovative approach to sustainability, digital engineering and cultural integration.
Through our contribution across engineering, advisory, digital and sustainability, we’ve helped deliver a project that will shape Auckland’s future for decades to come.
(photos credited to Mark Barber)