The Auckland Light Rail network is expected to comprise two major lines within the next decade.
The first line will link the CBD to Auckland Airport. This comprises approximately 24 kilometres of dual light rail line, with rolling stock and operation of the line also to be procured. The New Zealand Goverment has endorsed a route option that sees the line:
- Underground from the City Centre (Wynyard Quarter) to Mt Roskill (Wesley), and
- Overground from Mt Roskill to the Auckland Airport business precinct.
In the underground City Centre component, the line will connect with the City Rail Link at Te Waihorotiu Station (Aotea), then travels via the University precinct to Dominion Junction, where it will then continue to Mt Roskill (Wesley).
In the overground Airport component, the light rail will travel overland alongside SH20 to Onehunga, then cross the Manukau Harbour, travelling to Māngere and onto the airport.
A second line, the North West Line is proposed to run between the City Centre and Waimauku. The line is flagged for construction following completion of the City Centre to Airport line. The North West line is proposed to follow State Highway 16, however route options are still subject to further investigation.
Key Dates
| Sep 2017 | Project Announcement |
| Sep 2022 | Contract Award |
| Feb 2023 | Construction Commencement |
Procurement
| Procuring Agency: | Auckland Light Rail Group |
| Successful Tenderer: | An Alliance of Aurecon and Arup |
| Related contracts: |
PROJECT HISTORY
| Jan 2016 | The Auckland Transport Alignment Project (ATAP) Recommended Strategic Approach noted the need to preserve a mass transit corridor between the city and airport within the first decade and construct it in the second decade. |
| Aug 2017 | An update to the ATAP Strategic Approach was released, which identified the need to accelerate investment into a mass transit solution in the next decade, starting with a circa NZ$700 million route between the City Centre and Mt Roskill (advanced bus or light rail). The total cost of the solution was estimated at up to $1.2 billion. The ATAP update also noted NZ$500 million has been allocated over the next 10 years towards route protection and early stages of construction. |
| Sep 2017 | The newly elected NZ Government committed to constructing a light rail network known as the "Congestion Free Network Two", which was proposed by Greater Auckland (formerly TransportBlog). |
| Dec 2017 | The NZ Government indicated it would consider utilising a Public Private Partnership (PPP) to deliver the light rail project. |
| Apr 2018 | The updated Auckland Transport Alignment Project (ATAP) report proposed that $1.8 billion would be allocated to developing the CBD to Airport (Māngere) and North-Western light rail lines, noting there is opportunity to explore third party funding and financing arrangements to develop the project. |
| May 2018 | The Government received an unsolicited proposal to design, build and operate the project from NZ Infra, a consortium including the NZ Superannuation Fund and CDPQ Infra - an infrastructure subsidiary of the Canadian pension fund. Waka Kotahi New Zealand Transport Agency (NZTA) was asked to report back to the Government with their advice in March 2019. NZ Infra's proposal is ostensibly a PPP whereby the project would be co-designed with Government and its partners, with the majority of financing and risk transferred to NZ Infra. NZTA is exploring a range of procurement, financing and delivery models, which includes alliances and PPPs. |
| Jul 2018 | NZTA held an Industry briefing which included information on the overall project, anticipated timelines, major milestones and market engagement process. The briefing was followed by market engagement meetings in Auckland and Sydney, leading to a market engagement summary report scheduled to be provided to the industry in September. |
| Aug 2018 | Registrations of Interest for planning and engineering services for the City to Airport line were open from 13 to 23 August 2018. |
| Jan 2019 | NZTA announced Carl Devlin would lead the Auckland Light Rail project. |
| Aug 2019 | The NZ Government announced that NZ Infra and NZTA had been asked to continue developing their proposals over the next four to six months for delivery of the City Centre to Airport line. A decision on the preferred procurment approach proposed by NZ Infra and NZTA will be made by the NZ Government in early 2020. Construction is therefore not expected to start until at least 2021. |
| Jun 2020 | The NZ Government decided not to appoint a preferred proponent for the Auckland Light Rail and ended the procurement process for the project. Government parties were unable to reach agreement on a preferred proposal. The project was referred to the Ministry of Transport for additional work. The government announced that a final decision on the future of the Auckland Light Rail would be made after the general election in September 2020. |
| Mar 2021 | The 2021-31 Auckland Transport Alignment Project investment package restated a NZ$1.8 billion (A$1.7 billion) funding commitment for Auckland Light Rail, with a priority given for the City to Māngere (Airport) corridor. |
| Mar 2021 | The NZ Government announced an Establishment Unit housed within Waka Kotahi NZ Transport Agency to develop a business case for the project. The business case is to inform the New Zealand Government on key decisions on the project by late 2021, including mode, route, costs, and funding and financing options. The Establishment Unit is also tasked with determining whether City Rail Link or a new joint venture with Auckland Council will be best placed to deliver the project. Led by an independent Chair, the Establishment Unit will comprise the local government, key agencies and community and Māori representatives. |
| Apr 2021 | The New Zealand Government have appointed an independent chair to the Auckland Light Rail Establishment Unit. |
| Sep 2021 | Following a technical assessment, light rail has been confirmed as the preferred transport mode over trackless trams for the transport corridor between Auckland and Māngere. |
| Oct 2021 | The New Zealand Government released the project's indicative business case which outline tunnelled light rail as the preferred option for the transport corrdior between the City Centre and Māngere. The business case outlines the Tunnelled light rail as an 18 stop network, with an approximate cost of NZ$10.4 billion. |
| Jan 2022 | The New Zealand Government selected the Auckland Light Rail route, endorsing a partially-tunnelled 24km light rail from Auckland CBD to the Auckland International Airport. The tunnelled light rail segment will run underground from Wynyard Quarter to Mt Roskill, and the surface light rail segment from Mt Roskill to Auckland Airport. |
| May 2022 | The 2022 NZ Budget allocated NZ$199 million to progress the Auckland Light Rail project, including NZ$73 million in FY2022-23. Separately, Waka Kotahi and the Auckland Light Rail Group jointly issued Registrations of Interest (ROI) for the provision of Urban, Engineering and Planning Alliance Professional Services for the Auckland Light Rail and Additional Waitematā Harbour Connections projects. ROIs closed on 2 June 2022. |
| Jun 2022 | The New Zealand Transport Agency Waka Kotahi issued a Request for Tender (RfT) for the provision of Operations and Maintenance Advisory services through the pre-construction planning phase of the Project. Responses to RfTs close on 28 July 2022. |
| Sep 2022 | Waka Kotahi NZ Transport Agency, Auckland Transport and Auckland Council announced an Alliance of Aurecon and Arup as the preferred bidders to undertake planning and design development for the project. Separately, Atkins NZ (SNC-Lavalin) will work with Aurecon and Arup to develop the operation and maintenance structure of the light rail. |
| Oct 2022 | A Request for Tenders (RFT) phase opened for the Geotechnical Investigations for the project, closing on the 8th of November. |
| Nov 2022 | Auckland Light Rail Ltd was established as a Crown Entity Company to guide the planning and development of the Auckland Light Rail project. |
| Feb 2023 | Below ground investigations begin. |
| Oct 2023 | As part of the National Party's pre-election commitments in its 100 Day Action Plan policy, the party committed to cancelling the Auckland Light Rail project. |
Sector
Rail
Procurement approach
Alliance |
Location
New Zealand |
Resources
Media releases
2020/06/24 Auckland Light Rail procurement process ends until after election2019/08/22 Two preferred delivery partners chosen
2021/10/29 Recommendations for Auckland Light Rail team released
2022/01/28 30-year plan released
2022/09/28 Auckland Light Rail names preferred bidder (Beehive)
2022/09/28 Auckland Light Rail names alliance partners (Waka Kotahi)
2019/08/22 Government requests refined proposals for Auckland Light Rail
2019/08/22 NZ Infra JV to further develop proposals of two preferred delivery partners(NZSF)
2018/05/09 Cabinet agrees to launch procurement process
2018/05/09 NZ Infra submits unsolicited proposal to asset viability of project (NZSF)
2021/03/12 NZ Gov announces Auckland Transport Alignment Project
2021/03/31 Government tasks Establishment Unit to undertake community consultation
2021/04/23 Chair appointed for Auckland Light Rail Establishment Unit
2022/09/28 Alliance partners announced (Arup and Aurecon)
2023/02/23 Below ground investigations begin
2019/08/22 Two preferred delivery partners selected
2022/09/29 Arup-Aurecon Alliance named preferred bidder (Arup)
