Years of hard work finally paid off last week as the country’s biggest and most important transport project, the City Rail Link reached a major milestone with the first test train making its way slowly though the tunnels for the first time. This is a fantastic achievement and it is very exciting to finally get to this stage, even though there is still a lot more work to go before we can finally catch a train through the tunnels.
We did cover this briefly in our weekly roundup but felt it deserved a bit more detail.
First up, the press release from CRL.
A giant, slow step in a journey that will transform travel in New Zealand’s largest city was completed successfully last night when a test train made its first trip through the full length of Auckland’s City Rail Link (CRL) tunnels.
The 3.45-kilometre-long inaugural journey ran south from Waitematā Station (Britomart) under central Auckland past the new underground stations at Te Waihorotiu and Karanga-a-Hape to Maungawhau Station on the Western/North Auckland Line.
The three-carriage train left Waitematā station on time at 9pm and took two-and-a-half hours to complete its first journey. The speed was deliberately slow – around five kilometres an hour – allowing technicians to complete their first round of underground checks and balances relating to tunnel clearance, power supply and signalling. The train successfully completed five trips during the night.
…..
Getting the green signal to proceed came after exhaustive planning and safety checks that peaked last week when the tunnels’ overhead lines were energised ready to provide the electricity to power trains.
City Rail Link Ltd’s Chief Executive, Patrick Brockie, described the journey as a “colossal milestone” that the project had been working towards since spades first went in the ground at Britomart in 2016.
“City Rail Link Ltd was established to deliver NZ’s biggest infrastructure project – one that will be an absolute gamechanger for Auckland. Last night’s test run is a major step in our transition from a construction site into a railway and we now start a comprehensive testing schedule ahead of people riding the train next year,” says Mr Brockie.
…..
KiwiRail says the first end-to-end journey launched a key testing phase to confirm trains can seamlessly transition between CRL and the wider network.
“This is a huge milestone for the CRL project and all our partners. We’ve all worked tirelessly to get to this point and seeing a train make its first journey through the full length of the tunnels is true cause for celebration. Last night’s first end-to-end journey launches the key ‘dynamic’ train testing phase of the CRL project to confirm that trains and the CRL infrastructure can seamlessly integrate with the wider KiwiRail network,” says Bevan Assink, KiwiRail’s Programme Director City Rail Link.
“These tests will accelerate in the coming weeks. This includes brake testing on what is one of the steepest sections of railway in New Zealand, recovery procedures and the start of hands-on training for drivers. The start of CRL dynamic testing in the tunnels closely follows another key milestone – the successful completion of KiwiRail’s latest stage of its network upgrade programme, where significant progress was made with major network rebuild works over the summer holidays,” says Mr Assink.
…..
Mr Brockie acknowledged the work of his CRL Ltd team, the project’s main Link Alliance contractors, KiwiRail, Auckland Transport and Auckland One Rail.
“Everyone involved in being ready for the first train has the right to be proud – a great achievement that demonstrated the very best in innovation and co-operation to deliver an outstanding outcome for Auckland and its more accessible future,” he says.
NZTransitBuzz also has a video of the first train heading into the tunnel.
The first test at five kilometres an hour, even though it’s designed to be faster, how are they sure that’s not the speed AT will run the trains at anyway after they’ve finished padding the timetable out? Joking aside, there’s a lot of talk in there about the testing still be done and helpfully, CRL also provided a bit more detail on some of those tests.
Initial testing (first three days)
- Test train runs at low speed to confirm it fits within the tunnel
- Polystyrene strips temporarily fitted to increase test train’s width, simulating full speed travel to ensure tunnel clearances are adequate
- Speed gradually increases from 5 km/h in controlled steps.
- Critical brake testing underway – City Rail Link is one of the steepest sections of railway in New Zealand
- Recovery procedures tested for a train that has broken down – moved either by pushing or pulling
Week two testing and beyond
- Validation starts of CRL’s advanced European Train Control System (ETCS)
- ETCS continuously monitors speeds, braking distances and safe stopping locations; it ensures trains do not exceed speed limits – crucial for CRL’s steep gradients; allows trains to run closer together safely, enabling higher-frequency services; supports full automation in the future while still allowing human drivers.
- When ETCS is approved, train speeds increase to over 40 km/h to check tunnel clearance at full line speed
- Multiple trains can now be tested in the system at full speed (up to 70kmph).
- Hands-on driver training in the tunnel underway
- Noise and vibration monitoring will be conducted with multiple trains operating.
More than dynamic testing
- CRL is completing 8300 separate tests to be Auckland-ready in 2026
- Besides trains in the tunnel, test include mechanics, electrics, security, fire, communications and hydraulic systems for the tunnel and stations
- City Rail Link Ltd and its main contractor, Link Alliance, are working with Auckland Transport and KiwiRail making sure everything is ready for passengers from the get-go
- Ensuring CRL is safe for passengers is the number one priority
Interestingly, the first test being on the 12 February puts it almost exactly five years to the day that a sod-turning event was held at Maungawhau for the start of the main construction works on the site.
On 13 February 2020, spades in the ground at the sod-turning ceremony cleared the way for work to start on driving 66 concrete piles between 38 metres and eight metres long into the ground to support the curved-shaped retaining wall 127 metres long and 25 metres high.
The portal took 10 months to build. When completed, it became the launching pad for the TBM.
The very first works for the project were ceremonially started on 2 June 2016 raising the question of whether public services through the tunnel will start before the 10th anniversary then.
Processing...
I am curious – is it possible the trains will be audible from above ground, especially around the shallower sections of tunnel?
Audible? I am pretty sure not. Far too much mass even in the shallower sections to dampen it, and the But maybe, just maybe, you could feel a very slight vibration? In the car park basements under Downtown shopping centre, for example where the train goes through a bend…
Whoops “…and the track should be pretty high standard and also, unlikely to expand / contract like outdoor tracks as much, so the gaps at the joins should be smaller which create a lot of the thunking / clicking noise of trains.
We spent some nights in a steel narrowboat moored in the Paddington Canal Arm, directly over the cut and cover Metropolitan Line, just before it surfaced inside Paddington Station. There was a barely discernible tremble, as trains passed below.
Before they had installed the outer set of doors, at the adjacent station entrance, boats moored at this spot suffered from “mind the gap” announcements!
Not sure whether audible but I have heard that there is an apartment swimming pool directly above and aligned with one of the London u/g lines which has noticeable surface waves (ripples) each time a train passes beneath – apparently some of the faster swimmers have fun trying to beat the wave to the far end.
The University of Strathclyde has a pool above one of the Glasgow subterranean heavy rail lines and you can feel the vibrations of trains passing nearby. A strange sensation for a pre uni swim with trains underneath you.
*Excited screams*
Exciting progress. I wonder much they change with the testing because I would guess with all the careful design and quality control , implementation so far they can probably run things full speed to a timetable now and there would be no problems.
Is that a setup for a Tui ad?
Yes, you would would think it would be a serious issue if they hadn’t got the clearances right and the trains were touching the side!
Seems to be more air displacement and other things at certain speeds, if it failed the tests the line speed will have to be slower.
A major milestone – though, as London’s Elizabeth line discovered embarrassingly late in the day, construction is the easy bit compared with integration of all the systems needed to run a modern railway (albeit smaller and less complex in Auckland’s case).
Talking of that line, parts under central London are constructed to minimise the vibrations that any underground railway generates (audible or not) so as not to affect Soho’s recording studios above.
It’s a fair point but also Elizabeth line trains also have to pass through up to four different signaling system areas including needing to have seamless hand-off between them. That is vastly more complex than Auckland were the entire metro network is on the same system.
Not to say there won’t be risk of issues but it shouldn’t be anywhere near the same scale as Elizabeth line faced.
12 months feels like an insane amount of testing time for 3.4km of mid range speed track.
Oh well that means zero stupid track closures in 2026?
It’s been mentioned plenty of times that it’s due to the inexperience NZ has with underground train stations (especially of this complexity)
Ik the testing AT has would be down to experimenting with different service patterns and getting the timings between stations consistent enough for schedules
The entire project is pointless until it starts moving people. Could they not have done anything in last two yesrs? Is there not digital solutions?
Oh well, there will no stupid issues on this but of track for decades after this absurd testing.
I’ll be incredibly surprised if it was 0 track closures. KR has got too used to them, and no one is pushing back against them properly. KR needs to figure out how to electrically isolate smaller sections of line, and to concentrate resources to do individual areas quickly and well, vs their current plan of ‘lets close down 30km or so for a few days, and work on it at our own pace’.
It was a joke, there will be loads.
It is going to be very funny to see the entire network get taken out by a car out west. We could have addressed the other rail corssing during this shit show, but we did not for some reason.
yep a shit show all those construction managers are in the video smiling when all theyve done is think safety and meetings for ten years instead of getting on with things. A whole year to check how fast a train can go and brake, sums up how much of the last ten years was a waste of our money
They must have a plan B for when they have to close the tunnel. One that everybody’s knows about. For example Southern line trains terminate at Newmarket Eastern line trains go to the Strand Western line Mount Eden. Maybe with rail a shuttle running between these three stations and buses running between Mount Eden and the Strand via Queen Street.. This is only an example I don’t have knowledge of how things are setup. Someone who is more familiar with could come up with something better but you get the gist. .
They could pretty much run it as they do now I would think. Britomart the terminus. In any case Western could terminate at Newmarket at least.
Your idea makes sense for when they work on the junction near Maungawhau or when they work on the approach tunnels for Waitemata/Britomart.
But for works between Waitemata/Britomart and Karanga-a-hape, the tunnels are separate so they could theoretically just do what Sydney does with the City Circle most weekends and just run trains one way through one tunnel while the other is being worked on. This would be a bit of a PITA for Eastern and Western passengers though as they’d have to go the long way round either coming in or out but for Southern passengers it would work just fine.
Here is one for the trainspotters. The crl tunnel officially became part of the kiwirail nz rail network last week.
It is now part of the NIMT.
So the NIMT used to run from wellington to Britomart at 642km long. Whereas now the NIMT runs from wellington to mt eden (after going through the tunnel) and is now 645km long.
Great to see the progress on CRL.
The Elizabeth Line (Crossrail) in London was massively over time and budget, so Auckland has a much better result, albeit costing more and taking longer. However all such projects have their problems, look at Transmission Gully.
It is a valid point, however trains on the Elizabeth line must also travel through up to four distinct signaling system areas, and they must be able to hand off between them without any interruptions.