7 August 2019
Ben Ross
[FYI request #9233 email]
REF: OIA-4513
Dear Ben
I am writing to you further to the NZ Transport Agency’s letter of 29 January 2019 to you in
response to your request under the Official Information Act 1982 regarding the City Centre to
Māngere (CC2M) light rail line (Ref: OIA-4513).
I would like to advise you of the present situation with the CC2M line, which is as follows.
An Indicative Business Case (IBC) for the line has been developed and shared with our
project partners, including the Ministry of Transport, for review and feedback. This IBC has
not been signed off by the NZ Transport Agency Board.
Alongside this, NZ Infra, being a joint venture of New Zealand Super Fund (NZSF) and CDPQ
Infra have presented an unsolicited alternative approach to fund, design, build and operate
light rail in Auckland, based on a public-public investment model. NZ Infra’s proposal offers a
potential alternative model for investing in public infrastructure and the Government is
investigating this. This review is ongoing.
In light of the above, our updated responses to your specific questions are outlined below.
1) Why will CC2M not start at the Queen Street end until after 2021?
We interpreted this question as referring to the start of construction, not the physical location
of the proposed route.
No formal decisions have been made on the construction methodology, including potential
staging/sequencing of delivery and timing. The activities and requirements of our local
government partners at Auckland Council will be taken into account when a construction
methodology is developed, and we will work with them to achieve the best outcome for
Auckland.
2) What methodology is NZTA using to determine where CC2M starts whether it be
the City Centre end or the Mangere/Airport end?
No formal decisions have been made on the construction methodology, including potential
staging/sequencing of delivery and timing. As the design goes through the business case
process, this will be investigated in more detail.
3) Has there been cost escalation in the project and if so by how much?
The cost estimation in the draft indicative business case has not changed but is also not final.
As the design goes through the business case process, likely cost estimates will become
clearer.
4) When can we expect our first sod turned (marking the start of CC2M) for CC2M?
No formal decisions have been made on the construction methodology, including potential
staging/sequencing of delivery and timing. As the business case process develops, these
issues will be investigated more thoroughly.
If you would like to discuss this response with the Transport Agency, please contact
Ministerial Services by email t
o [email address].
Yours sincerely
Carl Devlin
Head of Light Rail
