Progress on City Rail Link welcomed

The Mayor has welcomed news that work on the City Rail Link (CRL) is progressing.

Auckland Council's Strategy & Finance committee has brought forward money from the 2012-2013 CRL budget, which will now be spent in the current financial year in order to continue progress protecting the eventual route.

"The City Rail Link is a key project that will allow more trains to travel through Britomart, increasing the number and frequency of trips across the whole rail network," says Len Brown.

"Aucklanders have waited long enough for better public transport. This council is determined to get on with it."

"With the CRL, a journey from New Lynn to the Aotea Station will take less than half the time and from Manukau to Karangahape Road, the journey will be a third faster than now.

Auckland Council and the government have agreed on the strategic case for protecting the route of the rail link and this year's spending will have no impact on the overall cost of the project.

$6.3 million will be spent on work including geotechnical surveys, utility and building assessments, contaminated site reports and rail operations modelling.

$1.7m will go towards meeting the Government's requirement that additional work be undertaken on CBD growth projections and access issues.

"We cannot leave fixing Auckland's public transport system to our kids," says the Mayor.