By ashleykaren
New Zealand’s CRL Ltd (City Rail Link Ltd) has approved it has submitted a formal budget proposal to its Sponsors who are the Crown and Auckland Council, reflecting modified costs and time demanded to finish the project as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic, lockdowns and related impacts.
Now, the cost of the project is calculated to be $5.493bn, a $1.074bn accumulation on the earlier measurement of $4.419bn, approved by the Sponsors in May 2019.
As part of the proposal, CRL Ltd has also delivered the Sponsors with a revised completion date, with the stations’ construction and supporting rail infrastructure now anticipated to be finished by the Link Alliance by November 2025.
After the end of the construction schedule, CRL Ltd will deliver the completed infrastructure to Auckland Transport and KiwiRail, who will then implement the extra work needed to open the CRL to its first passengers.
Dr. Sean Sweeney, Chief executive, conveys that the additional funding and extra time for completion are mainly because of Covid impacts – time lost on-site and the knock-on effect on the supply chain, resourcing, materials, and labor costs.
He stated: “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.”
Sweeney also added: “The request for extra funding has not and will not delay continuing work on the project, which is progressing well,”
“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.”
Now, the funding proposal is said to be evaluated through established governance processes, and CRL Ltd. will be notified of the result in due course.
