Absolutely chuffed: our report from CRL opening day

What a day! Sunday saw the first running of passenger trains through the City Rail Link tunnels and stations. Some of us were up before the birds to catch the very first train, while others took a more leisurely approach.

Below, we each share our thoughts and impressions from Day One – and we look forward to hearing yours. Did you ride the trains yesterday? How was it? What did you see and hear?

But first, a roundup of some of the great coverage of Sunday (and see our previous post for coverage of Friday’s official ribbon-cutting).

How things went, and how it was reported

Things got off to a flying and very early start, only to hit a bit of a snag with a small electrical fire at Waitematā Station, which was unconnected to the CRL itself, and quickly extinguished. This led to precautionary evacuations (including at Karanga-a-hape and Maungawhau) and delays to services while Fire and Emergency staff worked on turning off the alarm.

After that, things got back on track fairly quickly, and by the end of the afternoon, Auckland Transport was saying:

At 5pm today, approximately 61,000 people were recorded getting on the train network so far by door counters, which is well over three times more than was recorded by the same time last Sunday.

This morning, Auckland Transport provisionally confirmed what we suspected: that yesterday’s ridership was likely a record for any Sunday (also, busier than any day since the advent of COVID):

Early estimates suggest yesterday was the busiest ever Sunday on Auckland’s rail network. about 70,000 people were recorded stepping through the doors of  Auckland’s trains throughout the day – at least three times more than the previous Sunday.

This data suggests there were a lot of Aucklanders getting on and off trains to experience the City Rail Link and new stations, rather than travelling from A to B. It was great to see so many people on the network.

Karanga-a-Hape was the busiest new train station, followed by Te Waihorotiu and Maungawhau. Waitematā Station was also busy throughout the day and was a popular point for people to start and finish their train adventures.

Looking at the wider coverage, 1News broadcast its 6pm bulletin live from Te Waihorotiu last night. Impressive work by Melissa Stokes, literally a stand-up performance. Be sure to watch it here before it disappears. (This episode should really be publicly archived – ahoy, NZ OnScreen! It’s not often that your main news channel spends almost an entire half hour reporting on public transport, and in such a positive way.)

Not to be outdone, this morning John Campbell broadcast live for RNZ from the same station. In this interview with Len Brown (featuring vox pops with passengers), Len notes the ultimate aim is to carry 54,000 people and hour at peak times on our rail network – the equivalent of “about twenty lanes of traffic”. Talk about productive!

We also liked Jonathan Killick’s story in The Post, which includes this snippet:

Transport lobbyist Connor Sharp of advocacy group Greater Auckland was beaming from ear to ear when spotted by The Post at the new Te Waihorotiu station.

“This is like Christmas for transport,” he said.

His colleague Patrick Reynolds said: “It’s wall to wall nerds”.

We got a shout-out in RNZ’s reporting too:

Director of urban transport lobby Greater Auckland Patrick Reynolds said the CRL was good value for money – and far cheaper than motorways.

Speaking on board that packed first CRL train, he said nobody would regret the network being built.

“Instead of a train full of very tired nerds, this will just be everyday, it will be completely ordinary. Getting a train is just a thing you do,” he said.

Simon Wilson’s newsletter hit the nail on the head, as always, arguing that this shifts the Overton window politically, and both major parties now need to race to catch up:

“We see people living like this all round the world,” [Prime Minister Christopher Luxon] said [at the Friday ceremony]. When Sir Dove-Myer Robinson said such things in the 1970s, few people were listening. Even 20 years ago it used to be only urbanists on the fringe who said it. Now it’s normal. This is what cities do.

And yesterday’s editorial in the NZ Herald sang a welcome positive tune:

When we consider the logistical construction nightmare of the CRL, which involved digging foundations under skyscrapers, contending with a live network in a densely populated city – not to mention contending with a global pandemic – the fact that we can celebrate its opening is no small thing. We are here.

To err on the side of optimism is essential for growth; otherwise, nothing would ever happen.

Also, this well-timed piece from RNZ’s Sunday show Culture 101 features two of the artists behind the artworks at the stations (audio here).

By the way: this was the Greater Auckland post a decade ago, yesterday (thanks to alert reader Sam for reminding us!). As Matt wrote on 13 September 2016:

This week is shaping up to be an important one for the future of transport in Auckland with updates expected on both the government’s funding of the City Rail Link and the final Auckland Transport Alignment Project report due to be publicly released.

Happy tenth birthday to that observation! Now, on with the personal reflections on yesterday’s experiences…

Matt

When you’re approaching Ōtāhuhu at 4:30 in the morning and see scores of people walking the streets approaching the station, you know it’s going to be a special day – and boy was it.

Inside the station there were hundreds of people queued up and ready to catch the very first train along with various politicians and senior staff from various agencies. Photo by ML

The trains were busy but not crowded, and there were so many smiles and wide eyes, both inside the trains and on the platforms as trains arrived and departed the new stations, or as people got off trains to explore the stations – and of course so many phones and cameras out capturing it all.

So it’s no surprise to hear Auckland Transport confirm that over 60,000 people used trains yesterday. Three times the previous Sunday, and on par with a typical weekday at the moment.

There were also quite a few hints of the greater potential the CRL provides. The timetable means there are often a few trains close together through the tunnels. Having one train depart and the next one turning up just a minute or so later really does give a metro vibe. As services increase in future, this will become more common and can only add to the value of the project.

Some of the collectable items available from the stations. Photo by ML

There are always hiccups when projects like this open, and yesterday was no exception with the small fire at Waitematå. While it was certainly frustrating, there were at least a couple of benefits from it:

• It was better it happened early in the morning, and on a weekend, before most people gave the CRL a try. It would have been a lot more disruptive had it happened later in the day or on a weekday.

• It was probably useful that a lot of senior managers got to feel the real passenger experience. While they likely knew quite quickly what was going on from their own channels, it was still quite some time before customers had any comms as to what was happening. Witnessing that period of disruption and disorientation up close will surely be useful for continuous improvement.

Hopefully that’s the only disruption of note, and the rail network is smooth sailing from now on.

Patrick

Fabulous day, loved it all, beautiful community vibes everywhere. Lotta love on all the platforms, trains, and surrounding areas. A few random thoughts:

• In a way, the fire was quite instructive; it gave Auckland Transport’s emergency protocols a good live test, and they seemed to come through well, even getting the system back and running reasonable quickly. Though what are the chances? A cable that had operated perfectly well for 23 years choose CRL Day One to go on the fritz – almost like Waitematā Station was having a little tanty because it’s about to be challenged for busiest station…

• While it’s clear that users from along the western line will see the biggest travel time savings from the new direct route and new city centre stations, it was interesting to hear Councillor Andy Baker say that the combination of the new CRL stations and route plus new Southern Line stations, means that his commute into City Hall is now half an hour shorter each way – saving an hour every day! Instead of driving to Papakura, train to Britomart and a walk up Queen St, he now has a shorter trip to Drury Station and a one-seat ride to Te Waihorotiu. Higher productivity for our elected member!

• Even so, it’s the (newly named) East-West line that has the biggest shift, thanks to the new through-routing. Those new apartment dwellers in Henderson can go straight to IKEA for example or Meadowbank people can go direct to events at Eden Park, and all via the three city-centre stops. This is not just changing the shape of the network, it’s potentially life-changing!

• I feel now the Puhinui airport shuttle can really work, with both main lines heading directly there. I will have a reliable 45min trip, for example, with just one change at Puhinui, which is pretty seamless. And Puhinui is essentially the airport – I have been on shuttles between termini at other airports that take as long as that shuttle.

• It also strikes me that as both main lines enter the city centre at Karanga-a-hape, that is now our gateway station, whereas perhaps once Newmarket was, or really there was only Britomart. Very keen to witness the impact on the K, my new home station.

Greater Auckland had a wee gathering to celebrate, with special guest Matua Len, godfather of it all. He generously gave a stirring impromptu speech too, which was wonderful:

Len Brown addressing crowd at No7 on CRL opening day. Photo by a friend.

Advocate and Minister approving of ART branding for our strategic public transport network. Photo by PR.

Connor

The morning of transport Christmas, I was up at just after 3am, to catch a special Auckland Transport bus to Ōtāhuhu so I could be on the very first train to go through the tunnel!

Ōtāhuhu Station before the first CRL train – never usually this busy at this hour! Photo by CS.

The vibes were immaculate, despite the early hour, and there were smiles from ear to ear wherever you looked. There was something so endearing about hearing the chants of ‘Tunnel! Tunnel! Tunnel!’ as we approached the opening to Karanga-a-Hape Station. A smooth ride in! We then hopped off at Waitematā to zoom back to Te Waihorotiu.

Hopping off at Te Waihorotiu to mingle and chat, we had a longer wait than anticipated as that one little cable decided today was the day to make its mark. But it was awesome to see the professionalism of the Auckland Transport staff dealing with the impacts. And the recovery was impressive from all involved, which speaks well for the resilience of our new train network!

I want to give a massive shout-out to the staff from Auckland Transport and their partner agencies, who always had smiles on during the day, and have put in an incredible amount of work to make the opening as amazing as it was!

During the wait, we saw the dawn break outside Te Waihorotiu, overlooked by the Wāhine sculpture and the big eel down Victoria Street. That was pretty special.

A new dawn for public transport in Tāmaki. Photo by Connor Sharp.

CRL Day One selfie. (T-shirts available via the Merch link on this website!)

From there, it was a quick detour back home, before heading to our wee breakfast celebration with some of the many named and unnamed heroes of CRL.

As someone who’s sort of the new kid on the block, its been incredibly inspiring and motivating to meet and learn about all the awesome people who’ve come together to make something like the CRL happen.

Notably, the big man himself, Len Brown, who stopped by and gave a rousing speech. But also all of those who worked behind the scenes, and all of those who support advocates like us to do our thing.

A special thank you to those who spotted us and stopped by to say hi – it was great meeting you! Likewise those who came all the way from Wellington, and even the West Island.

Next was a bit of a tour to collect all of the beautiful new commemorative HOP cards (available at the new stations while stocks last). We started as a big group, but through all the excitement there was a lot of losing and re finding each other along the way – the great thing being, even when people didn’t hop on or off in time, another train was always only a few minutes away!

After collecting all three cards and the cute origami cardboard stations, I dropped into another celebration on Karangahape Road. It was especially amazing to see Mercury Lane really shine, as a place a lot of people could move through and linger – our work to rescue Project K already paying off massively. (Bring on Cross St!)

From there, the rest of my afternoon and evening was taken up with a CRL-adjacent pub crawl with a whole bunch of friends old and new, heading to places at all of the central stations! It was such an excellent evening, and I didn’t get back home until almost midnight.

The day was so good, I didn’t really take many photos – I was too busy soaking in all of the joy and happiness at this amazing bit of infrastructure we now have. It really did feel like Christmas for transport, from the anticipation the evening before, to the wonder and amazement throughout the day!

Somehow I also got snapped in a few pictures from the media as well, from The Post’s Jonathan Killick…

…to appearing on the front page of the NZ Herald!

The opening of the CRL was amazing. I hope everyone else who gave it a go yesterday enjoyed themselves as much as I did – and that others get a chance to enjoy it soon!

Jolisa

There’s a story about a physics prof at Harvard who, when asked to teach a 9am seminar, is said to have replied “Oh, I can’t possibly stay up that late.” That’s me: as a night-owl, I was never ever going to be on the very first train!

Instead, my plan was to “trip-chain” to town (by bike + train), and catch up with the earlybirds for breakfast in Beresford Square with a very special former Mayor.

So, I missed the early drama and delays. When I saw the initial headlines (fire! evacuations!), and then read the fine print (small fire, sorted), it felt a bit like that moment on Christmas morning when one parent is sent off to the dairy to fetch batteries (not included) and superglue (suddenly needed).

Except that in this case, the wise parents had laid in spare batteries and superglue well in advance – only to be foiled by the old toaster tripping the smoke alarm, leaving the whanau standing out on the lawn in their pajamas for a while.

Anyway. Having timed our run, we bowled up to Baldwin Station and rolled right onto the first E-W train that showed up. Luckily, it wasn’t too full, so our bikes could ride the train too. (Plan B had been to park them at the station.)

At Morningside, a TVNZ team hopped on! Jason Walls conducted a very smooth live-cross to Jack Tame for Q&A,and my companion and I played it cool in the background (“Hi Mum!”) as we all chugged through Kingsland and Maungawhau.

“Hi Mum!” Impressive stability skills from TVNZ’s Jason Walls on a live-cross to Jack Tame.

From the time stamps on my photos I can tell you that exactly ten minutes after getting on the train at Baldwin Ave, we rolled off the train at Karanga-a-hape. What an incredibly quick trip to town! No more tedious three-point turn at Newmarket; just sailing along in a sweet straight line…

… and up and out! At Karanga-a-hape station, the capacious lifts carried us and our bikes plus a family with several kids (and a baby in a stroller) up to street level, where we all popped out onto Pitt St amongst the people.

And that moment, for me, captured the practical magic of the City Rail Link project.

I’d sort of expected a thrilling shimmer of excitement and unreality to hover over the whole experience. But instead, it felt completely real and everyday, entirely delightful and entirely ordinary. Like Narnia, but normal: open the wardrobe doors, and step out into your city.

I’m far from the only one to make the point about this magical mundanity: just this morning, the Mayor and Ryan Bridge were falling over themselves to say how absolutely normal it is to ride a train, through a tunnel, in a city, and they’re right.

TL; DR: We caught the train to town and it was great!

Other observations from the day:

• Len Brown’s modesty and generosity: he constantly turned the conversation back to everyone else who helped achieve this. And yet, when we ventured down into Karanga-a-hape station, so many people spotted him and thanked him by name: “Thank you for the train, Len Brown!” ‘Hey, Len, thanks so much for this!” The ultimate “Thank you, driver” for the man who steered the project into existence.

Like an Oscars selfie, but for trains. Patrick, Matt, Len, Jolisa, Connor.

• Biking down Queen St to check out the vibes at the other stations, we saw the city at its liveliest on a sunny Sunday. Friends “meeting at the eel” (whose nose is developing a lovely shine from all the patting!). People congregating in the public spaces – an integral part of the whole City Rail Link endeavour, which was never just about stations and tunnels and trains. Families on wheels, everywhere you looked.

The precinct is called Britomart and the station is called Waitematā, for anyone still catching up. Photo by JG

“It’s on in Auckland”. Photo by JG

Te Komititanga means the gathering place, but you don’t have to tell people that, it just happens. Photo by JG

Hospitality aplenty in the Karanga-a-hape precinct. Photo by JG

• Hearing all sorts of other stories from those I bumped into. Someone at Te Waihorotiu, hopping on the earliest train, evidently heading home from a big night out – bye-bye walk of shame, good morning cool train ride! A pair of young people on their way home, each clutching a brand new Blahåj stuffed shark – they’d made a spontaneous (and now one-seat!) trip to IKEA, just because they could.

It was all so satisfying. Transcending a decade of doubt, dust and yes, disruption – all of a sudden a long derided and deferred dream was absolutely real, and completely normal. It was as if Auckland had woken up and realised: oh yeah, we do actually live here, in this place, in this moment: look what’s possible when we put our minds to it!

On my way home, I stopped off at Aotea Square and gave Robbie the glad news that his vision had become reality. He seemed quietly chuffed.

“Hey guess what – you did it!”

BONUS: some social media moments….

Richard Hills captured Len Brown’s speech at our small gathering. Watch it till the end, which sums up the motivation for going so hard: the thousands of Aucklanders he met, who were frustrated at sitting in a gridlocked city, and just wanted a choice: “Len, you’re the mayor of the Supercity – do the super thing!”

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Chants of ‘Tunnel, Tunnel, Tunnel’ have rung throughout the train as the service departs Grafton and begins entering the CRL Tunnels.

— NZ Transit Buzz (@nztransitbuzz.bsky.social) 2026-09-12T17:22:53.484Z

I’m loving all the train newbies coming on since the station first-looks. Whole families taking up wheeled access seats. Tribes of gapers wandering the length of whole trains. Overheard one guy approaching a staffer at K Rd station: “‘scuse me, I’m looking for the [pause] city rail link?”

— James 🧠 🫀 👋🏼 🌿 (@jameslittlewood.bsky.social) 2026-09-13T01:56:35.029Z

First CRL train about to leave Otahuhu. And this was the Hop card I got when we launched the first electric train 12 years ago!

— Russel Norman (@russelnorman.bsky.social) 2026-09-12T16:57:49.364Z

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