Businesses in Auckland’s busy central business district will have to close for 96 days during the completion of City Rail Link construction, scheduled for 2026.
Photo: RNZ / Luka Forman

Auckland’s rail network will have to close for 96 days as part of a final push to get the long-awaited City Rail Link (CRL) completed and ready by 2026.

The first major closure will occur from December 27, 2024 to January 28, 2025.

Transport Minister Simeon Brown said that although the closure will affect passengers, the closure is to open rail link in early 2026.

However, some small businesses are devastated and said they have not been consulted and have bought stock for what was expected to be a busy summer season.

For eight years, Shobanna Rachodji has faced disruption caused by the rail link project right outside her flower shop, Roma Blooms, on Albert Street.

The news that the rail system will be shut down for 96 days at various points between now and 2026 was another blow.

The first closure, which this year comes just after Christmas and will last an entire month, was especially tough, as this year they had pinned their hopes on the busy summer trade.

“We make the city, we help tourism, we help the people, we expected a lot more people to come during this time.”

Rachodji said companies should have been notified in advance and consulted about the rail closures.

“We needed to talk to them before buying shares for those months.

“What do we do with our stock? We have placed an order in advance.”

In 2021, a $12 million hardship fund was launched to provide some rent relief to businesses, but Rachodji said that was not enough.

“It’s about looking after the owners, that’s all, it has nothing to do with how our time has been wasted throughout the project, so there is no compensation for lost time.”

Auckland city center business association Heart of the City chief executive Viv Beck echoed this concern.

Viv Beck, CEO of Auckland CBD’s Heart of the City business association.
Photo: Supplied / HOTC

He acknowledged the work was essential but said the rail link project has been significantly delayed and taken a significant toll on businesses for nearly a decade.

“Watching that press conference, I really came away thinking that the government and Auckland Council, as sponsors of this project, are doing a disservice to the businesses affected for almost a decade.

“It’s been a struggle every step of the way to get support for them.”

Beck said the last update he had on the hardship fund was that only $7 million of the $12 million promised over two years in the hardship fund had been spent.

“So there is money to address some of the long-standing complaints, there hasn’t been the will to do that and I really think the government and Auckland Council need to step up on this.”

Beck said that while the fund helped survival, it was not adequate compensation and the businesses should have been consulted about the closures.

Brown acknowledged that businesses will be hardest hit by the closures, but said the work was urgent.

Transport Minister Simeon Brown has confirmed that Auckland’s rail system will close for 96 days until the end of January 2026.
Photo: Marika Khabazi/RNZ

“We are demanding that it be worked 24 hours a day to be as efficient as possible, but look, I don’t rule out the fact that we have an impact.

“But the reality is that if we don’t do this work now that the city rail link opens, we’re going to have continued disruption and I don’t think that’s going to be very good for businesses and commuters in Auckland going forward.”

With New Year’s Eve and big gigs like DJ Fisher and Plain Sailing in Auckland’s Victoria Park, SailGP and the ASB Classic scheduled for January, questions are being raised about how attendees will get around the city.

Auckland Public Transport Director Stacey van Der Putten said there will be extra buses to accommodate passengers during the rail closures.

“We will have a comprehensive bus replacement strategy that will include prioritized services.

“Special events will obviously be a challenge for us, so we are working with our stakeholders to try to mitigate that as much as possible.”

Van Der Putten said they have prioritized some of the closures during school holidays to make use of school buses.

Brown assured Aucklanders that the closure was “the last push to make sure we get this done and get this done”.

But for small businesses like Rachodji’s, after nearly a decade of disruption, his words offer little comfort.

As the closures would occur during the school holidays, Acting Auckland Mayor Desley Simpson said. Control School buses would be available to be used as an alternative transportation option.

“Although the railway line will be closed, access to the city will not be, there will be additional buses.”

Companies only found out when the announcement was made Friday, Simpson said, but this was the most notice that could be given.

“They were still looking at this last night at 11pm. There will still be people using buses on the same routes, we have learned from international examples and if we didn’t do it at the lowest times for train users it would take a lot longer. “

Compensation was available to companies upon request, he said.

There will also be fewer freight railroads during that time, Simpson said, which he admitted would mean more trucks on the roads.

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