Twenty-two thousand volts of mains power are now surging into City Rail Link’s Te Waihorotiu Station, marking a significant development towards the completion of New Zealand’s largest transport infrastructure project in November 2025.
City Rail Link Ltd Systems Director Wayne Cooney said energising Te Waihorotiu, in the Aotea precinct, was an important and big step for the project.
“Until now we have relied on temporary power sources for lighting and tools. Introducing a permanent power source gives us the electricity resilience and independence needed to plan ahead for another critical milestone – testing trains and the station’s facilities later next year,” he said.
“What begins from here is complex staging and progressive energisation of our new stations, tunnel systems and permanent equipment – it’s an early Christmas bonus for us.”
The permanent power source will fuel every single aspect of Te Waihorotiu during the remainder of construction and will power all of the needs of the station once it is operating, including speakers, lights, lifts and escalators.
“Twenty-two thousand volts is a lot of juice to handle. It’s not as simple as flicking on a switch at home. While there is a big focus on engineering, safety is our first priority. Being our first major energization event, we are uplifting on-site regulations and processes to reduce risk and keep people safe,” he said.
Link Alliance’s one team approach has been key to achieving this milestone. It has led the testing and commissioning of energisation as construction and fit-out continues, and working closely with stakeholders like electricity distributor Vector.
The power-on sequence continues next year when mains electricity is connected to CRL’s Karanga-a-Hape and Maungawhau stations.
The City Rail Link involves construction of a 3.45km twin-tunnel underground rail link up to 42m below the Auckland city centre.
It will transform the downtown Waitematā Station (Britomart) into a two-way through-station that better connects the city’s rail network and more than doubles rail capacity across Tāmaki Makaurau. Two new stations, Te Waihorotiu Station and Karanga-a-Hape Station, are being constructed as part of the new modern urban railway link.
