$5.4b City Rail Link: Aucklanders get first look at new Mt Eden station

Visitors rode new escalators under a long skylight and past a sculpted basalt wall with water flowing down its face.

Auckland Transport said the wall has 53 glass triangles – one for each of Tāmaki Makaurau’s volcanic cones.

Karanga-a-Hape station will have its open day on August 15 and inner city Te Waihorotiu on August 22.

“We’re just interested in what we’re getting for our taxpayers’ money,” a member of the public told the Herald, before giving a tick of approval, adding: “Pretty impressed”.

Chantelle Griffiths and Matthew Horspool wanted to experience the new Maungawhau CRL station in Mt Eden so they could familiarise themselves with it before its official opening next month. Photo / Finn Little

Young dad Ian praised it too, saying: “They should have done this years ago”.

Karin Sang said the new network would make visiting the city and Karangahape Rd a realistic option for her.

“I don’t even go to K Rd normally because it’s just impossible for parking. Now it’s just a hop, skip and a jump away,” she said.

Saturday’s event was the Auckland public’s first physical glimpse of the CRL – twin 3.4km tunnels under the city centre with trains running every five minutes inside the CBD loop – 16 years after it was promised.

The tunnels also connect lines from the suburbs, so the East and West lines become one East West Line and trains flow rather than terminating at Britomart.

The project has been dogged by delays and cost blowouts, with authorities now set to run multiple reviews in the hunt for lessons about how to do future projects better.

Ian wishes the CRL project had been done decades ago and plans to use it with his wife and child. Photo / Finn Little

Auckland Mayor Wayne Brown gave his verdict last week, saying while it “cost too much [and] took too long”, it “will be appreciated for generations”.

Little of that history was on show Saturday.

Live music was played and kids’ rides were located outside, while staff gave tours and answered questions.

An Auckland model train club had taken a corner to display its own stations and network of carefully crafted, small trains.

Members of the public were able to walk inside two trains that had been paused on the new platforms with their doors open.

Karin Sang says the CRL’s opening has also reopened the city centre to her as an easy and convenient place to visit for theatre shows. Photo / Finn Little

They were poised on the edge of one of the new tunnels leading into the city.

For Griffiths and Horspool, the chance to come in early before the station started operating with real passengers was invaluable – giving them a chance to learn its layout at their own pace.

“If we need to stop the lift for 30 seconds while we feel where the buttons are and read the braille… we can do that and not feel like we’re holding people up for their trains,” Horspool said.

Griffiths pointed out it wasn’t just braille signs on the walls.

There were also markers on the station floor that will help lead them to escalators and elevators and all the way to the accessible carriage doors.

“We have step-free entry into the train… I really appreciate features like that,” she said.

Guide dog Izzy leads Chantelle Griffiths and Matthew Horspool around the station. Photo / Finn Little

Horspool, who is visiting New Zealand before a permanent move from Britain, said even if he hadn’t had the chance to look around first, he still would have been able to navigate the station.

“I’d probably get lost a few times. But the station is accessible enough that eventually I would find my way to where I need to be.”

When asked if he and Griffiths will be regulars when the CRL opens, he said: “Oh, 100%. Definitely”.

They weren’t the only ones to say so.

Sang said that before touring the station and getting a better appreciation of the CRL project, she had looked at its network maps and thought they were like “a mini London”.

The Maungawhau station entry foyer and artwork, which will greet members of the public when the CRL officially opens on September 13.

“But actually now: I’m really looking at it, it’s actually brilliant.”

Since moving to Meadowbank she had started taking the train into the city and said the new connections meant she would be able to ride straight through to the Civic Theatre and up to Karangahape Rd without changing trains.

“It’s actually a real map now, not just a graphic thing.”

Pleased with what they were seeing, Sang and her tax-dollar-counting friend moved on to a different calculation: the parking they would no longer pay.

“It’s a great option to get anywhere in town now without having to park,” Sang said.

What you need to know

“It’s a real grown-up, international station now.” Some members of the public came to see what their tax dollars had bought and say they left happy. Photo / Finn LittleThe City Rail Link opens to passengers on Sunday, September 13.Two more First Look open days remain: Karanga-a-Hape on August 15 and Te Waihorotiu on August 22. Entry is free but ticketed.Once running, trains will run every five minutes through the city centre at peak, and about every 10 minutes elsewhere on the network.The Eastern and Western lines will join to become the East West Line, running between Manukau and Swanson via the central city. The new South City line will run beyond Waitematā to the two new underground stations, and the Onehunga West line will extend to Henderson in off-peak hours.Maungawhau Station’s main entrance is on Ruru St, reached from Mt Eden Rd or New North Rd.