New Zealand’s City Rail Link Ltd (CRL Ltd) has confirmed it has submitted a formal funding request to its Sponsors – the Crown and Auckland Council – reflecting revised costs and time required to complete the project as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic, lockdowns and associated impacts.
The cost of the project is now estimated to be $5.493bn a $1.074bn increase on the previous estimate of $4.419bn, which was approved by the Sponsors in May 2019.
As part of the request, CRL Ltd has also provided the Sponsors with a revised completion date, with construction of the stations and supporting rail infrastructure now expected to be completed by the Link Alliance by November 2025.
Following the end of the construction programme, CRL Ltd will hand over the completed infrastructure to KiwiRail and Auckland Transport, who will then carry out the additional work required to open the CRL to its first passengers.
Chief executive Dr Sean Sweeney says the extra funding and additional time for completion is primarily due to Covid impacts – time lost on-site and the knock-on effect on the supply chain, resourcing, materials, and labour costs.
“People need to remember that in Auckland we endured two level four lockdowns, a further 280 days of restricted working conditions (Covid traffic light system) and we lost 3.2 million hours through illness among staff, with 800-plus workers infected.”
“The request for extra funding has not and will not delay continuing work on the project, which is progressing well,” he says. “Together with our contractors Link Alliance, we have got through Covid and surmounted its impacts and are now well advanced in our work to build New Zealand’s first underground metro rail network.”
The funding request will now be considered through established governance processes and CRL Ltd will be informed of the outcome in due course.
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