THE STATIONS New
Karangahape Station
City Rail Link is bringing rail to Karangahape Road in 2024, transporting thousands of people to and from this vibrant uptown community every day. Up to 1,400 people an hour are expected to get off a train at the new Karangahape Station during peak travel times.
As it was a travel route used by pre-European Māori, Karangahape Road is an older thoroughfare than Queen Street, which was developed by Europeans in the 1840s. The Karangahape ridge and valley to the south was a rural area outside the town of Auckland until well into the 1860s. Under consideration is calling the station Karanga-a-hape.
The new 15m-deep, 300m-long mid-town station under Albert Street is expected to be New Zealand’s busiest train station. It’s also futureproofed for any future decision to create a North Shore rail line.
As with all the new CRL stations, Aotea will be a uniquely New Zealand station, with architectural design features that leave you in no doubt of which country you are in. These are being developed in partnership with mana whenua. The Wellesley Street entrance will feature hundreds of rods suspended from the ceiling, creating a dappled lighting effect that mimics water and creates a ripple effect as you pass underneath. The rods represent the stems of flax plants when they are made into piupiu (cultural skirts). Within the station, seven skylights will represent the seven stars of the Matariki constellation. It brings beams of light from the heavens into the darkness of the underground concourse and platform areas. The internal station walls are not only efficient structural N elements but have been modelled on Māori woven patterns. The acoustic panels lining the station walls will reflect a similar pattern.
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As with the Mercury Lane entrance of Karangahape Station, there is the potential for a building above Aotea Station’s Wellesley Street entrance. Land resource consent has been secured for a 41,000sqm office tower in this location. In fact, there could be two commercial towers; one directly above the station box and another to the south. EET
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Aotea Station - its interim name - will have entrances on Victoria Street and Wellesley Street. Its mid-town location - near the Aotea Centre, Auckland Town Hall, Civic Theatre, SKYCITY, Auckland Art Gallery, Auckland Central Library, cinemas, tertiary institutions and shopping precincts - will make it a popular stop for many.
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The name ‘Karangahape’ stems from ‘Te Karanga a Hape’, the welcoming call of Hape who, according to legend, arrived on a stingray prior to the arrival of the Tainui waka and welcomed his relatives to the area.
The new Karangahape Station is also expected to unlock additional high-density residential development and generate urban renewal within this colourful innercity fringe catchment. The station site represents about 2,600sqm of land, so once we finish, there is potential for development on the land we needed during construction. There will also be a new laneway to the west of the station entrance that connects Mercury Lane with East Street, providing improved connectivity for those walking to the station and over to Cross Street.
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As commuters travel through the station to the platforms below, the experience is intended to be just as exciting as the entrance. The current reference design proposes the use of modular lining panels that offer dramatic relief in their form and acoustic absorption by their pattern. The overall experience is one of rising from and descending into the earth, with the incorporation of subtle colour
What’s in a name?
In 2018, Auckland Council and the Government agreed to future-proof the City Rail Link and expand station sizes to cater for rocketing growth in rail patronage across Auckland. This allows for a second station entrance to be built at Beresford Square and for the square itself to be redeveloped as an attractive public space.
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The modern new station is being designed in partnership with Mana Whenua. The Mercury Lane entrance will feature a stunning architecturally-designed ceiling that invokes the branching arms of the vast spreading canopies of kauri trees, radiating out from massive trunks. It will also include a series of large climbing patterns that are revealed as commuters pass through the space.
differences that reflect the geological layers of the earth as people descend to platform level. Light and sound may also be used to enhance the experience of the entrance space.
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The new Karangahape Station will have two entrances – one on Mercury Lane (next to the Mercury Theatre) and the other in the centre of Beresford Square. It will be the deepest of CRL’s stations at 32 metres underground and will have 150-metre platforms to cater for longer ninecarriage trains.
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Find out more
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Mt Eden Station
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CRL’s new architecturally-designed Mt Eden Station will feature floor-to-ceiling basalt stone cladding to represent the Mt Eden volcanic cone, crater and pa terraces, with similar designs in paved areas. The station reference design also considers a basalt stone feature wall reminiscent of lava flow, drawing water from a re-opened natural spring nearby.
The land at Mt Eden comprises a mixture of road reserve and property purchased by City Rail Link Limited for the main construction yard, station and rail trenches. Once construction of the new station and its surrounding environment is completed, the balance of the land will provide the potential for more than 100,000sqm of residential and commercial investment within a new master-planned community. This transit-oriented development is expected to provide a catalyst for regeneration of the wider Mt Eden/Eden Terrace area.
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layout changes, such as an extension of Flower and Nikau Streets, will also improve connectivity within the local area. Pedestrians and cyclists will also be able to access the station from a new overbridge between Fenton Street and Ngahura Street.
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From Mt Eden Station, the new CRL line will run under the Newton ridge and central motorway junction before it reaches the new CRL stations at Karangahape Road and Albert Street and the redeveloped Britomart Station (which will be a two-way through station once CRL opens in 2024).
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When the CRL opens in 2024, Britomart Station will no longer be a ‘dead-end’ station but a two-way through station – the two CRL lines arriving and departing from platforms one and five.
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The main access to the redeveloped station will be via an extended Ruru Street, which will provide a new connection to Mt Eden Road. Other planned road
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The existing Mt Eden train station will be enlarged and redeveloped to incorporate a modern new station building with elevated views of Maungawhau and a platform for the new CRL line. The station will also remain a stop for the existing Western Line services, making it a busy rail junction.
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Adding the CRL lines enables Auckland’s rail network to more than double in capacity to carry up to 54,000 passengers an hour. The stunning heritage features of Britomart Station’s CPO building have been meticulously preserved as part of the station’s redevelopment. Its beautiful interior columns and ceilings remain an important design feature and the dual-faced Magneta clock, added to the front of the building in 1938 and removed in May 2017 for fixing and refurbishment, will be reinstated when Britomart re-opens. There are also some important changes outside the station. The side streets of Galway and Tyler will be turned into pedestrianfriendly shared spaces and the existing temporary entrance at the rear of the station will be removed and an attractive public space created in its place. The redevelopment of Britomart Station and construction of the CRL tunnels under the CPO building and Lower Queen Street is being delivered by Downer-Soletanche Bachy Joint Venture.
The redeveloped
BRITOMART STATION It all starts here
Redeveloped Lower Queen Street Downtown Ferry Terminal
Historic Chief Post Office building
Britomart Station’s Atrium on Takutai entrances
Britomart Station entrance
Shed 10, Queens Wharf Takutai Square Britomart Precinct Commercial Bay development
Britomart Station entrances
Approx 13m from existing ground level at Commercial Bay to the bottom of the base slab.
CITY RAIL LINK TUNNELS
At its deepest point, the CRL tunnels will reach 42m underground.
The CRL tunnels extend for 3.45km undergound.
Connects to the existing rail network
Existing platforms
Provision for nine-car electric trains
CityRailLink.co.nz
Continues underground to Mt Eden Station via the new Aotea and Karangahape stations.
CityRailLink
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