gave his verdict last week<\/a>, saying while it \u201ccost too much [and] took too long\u201d, it \u201cwill be appreciated for generations\u201d.<\/p>\nLittle of that history was on show Saturday.<\/p>\n
Live music was played and kids\u2019 rides were located outside, while staff gave tours and answered questions.<\/p>\n
An Auckland model train club had taken a corner to display its own stations and network of carefully crafted, small trains. <\/p>\n
Members of the public were able to walk inside two trains that had been paused on the new platforms with their doors open. <\/p>\n
![\"Karin]()
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<\/p>\n
They were poised on the edge of one of the new tunnels leading into the city.<\/p>\n
For Griffiths and Horspool, the chance to come in early before the station started operating with real passengers was invaluable \u2013 giving them a chance to learn its layout at their own pace.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf 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\u2019re holding people up for their trains,\u201d Horspool said.<\/p>\n
Griffiths pointed out it wasn\u2019t just braille signs on the walls.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have step-free entry into the train… I really appreciate features like that,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
![\"Guide]()
Guide dog Izzy leads Chantelle Griffiths and Matthew Horspool around the station. Photo \/ Finn Little<\/p>\n
Horspool, who is visiting New Zealand before a permanent move from Britain, said even if he hadn\u2019t had the chance to look around first, he still would have been able to navigate the station.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019d 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.\u201d<\/p>\n
When asked if he and Griffiths will be regulars when the CRL opens, he said: \u201cOh, 100%. Definitely\u201d.<\/p>\n
They weren\u2019t the only ones to say so.<\/p>\n
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 \u201ca mini London\u201d.<\/p>\n
![\"The]()
The Maungawhau station entry foyer and artwork, which will greet members of the public when the CRL officially opens on September 13.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut actually now: I\u2019m really looking at it, it\u2019s actually brilliant.\u201d<\/p>\n
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. <\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s actually a real map now, not just a graphic thing.\u201d<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a great option to get anywhere in town now without having to park,\u201d Sang said.<\/p>\n
What you need to know<\/p>\n
![\""It's]()
“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 Waitemat\u0101 to the two new underground stations, and the Onehunga West line will extend to Henderson in off-peak hours.Maungawhau Station\u2019s main entrance is on Ruru St, reached from Mt Eden Rd or New North Rd.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Visitors rode new escalators under a long skylight and past a sculpted basalt wall with water flowing down…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":562613,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[195065,1975,22398,3952,276716,2199,8142,230623,1888,1333,22770,58,13457,10048,117,111,43,139,69,207,13655,1865,3382],"class_list":["post-562612","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-zealand","tag-54b","tag-at","tag-aucklanders","tag-aucklands","tag-chantelle","tag-city","tag-eden","tag-fingertips","tag-first","tag-get","tag-griffiths","tag-link","tag-look","tag-mt","tag-new","tag-new-zealand","tag-news","tag-newzealand","tag-nz","tag-rail","tag-station","tag-today","tag-using"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/562612","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=562612"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/562612\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/562613"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=562612"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=562612"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=562612"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}