Join the team shaping Auckland with Light Rail
12 May 2022
It’s your chance to join the team set to change the way Aucklanders move around their city on a new light rail line from the City Centre to Māngere.
Invites have gone out to engineers, urban planners, designers and industry teams to prepare a bid for the detailed planning and design work.
“This is a mega project that has never been seen before in New Zealand. So we have put the call out to a range of local and international firms to bring us their real skills and experience for how light rail will work best here,” says Auckland Light Rail Group Project Director Tommy Parker.
The $14.6B project will see light rail in a tunnel from Wynyard Quarter to Mt Roskill, which comes to the surface and runs alongside the SH20 motorway to the airport.
Light rail will form the spine of a new rapid transit network for the whole city, that can be expanded in time to connect with other lines to the North Shore and North West.
'“A tunnel through the central city built by this project can cater for the huge increase in commuters from the North Shore and North West coming to the city in the future. It is the first leg of a system which will give flexibility for a new tunnel or bridge across the Waitematā Harbour,” says Tommy Parker.
The tender process is being co-ordinated with the Additional Waitematā Harbour Connections project, to give industry professionals the ability to better plan their resources for the pipeline of infrastructure work that is coming across the country. The two projects will be bringing on separate teams.
The new specialist team is expected to be on board in October and will be tasked with developing a Corridor Business Case and designing the route to progress the project by mid 2024. Engagement with communities will help to shape decisions such as creating stations and stops, which can transform local areas into urban hubs.
“We know that Aucklanders are ready for a modern city, with easy access to frequent public transport, more homes for everyone and less reliance on cars to get around. This is the catalyst for changing the shape of the city through new housing, businesses and community spaces,” says Tommy Parker.
The 24km route features up to 18 stations and stops from the City Centre to Māngere and the airport, running every five minutes so people can turn up and go. It would bring up to 97,000 new jobs and 66,000 homes - opening up new housing in Mt Roskill, Onehunga and Māngere.
For more information about the Registration of Interest and timeframes, visit the tender website at: www.gets.govt.nz or our website.
