- Auckland Council chief executive Phil Wilson called the public release of a report on the City Rail Link a “cock-up”.
- The report revealed a lack of confidence in French contractor VINCI Grand Projects’ forecasts for the $5.5 billion project.
- Transport Minister Simeon Brown and Mayor Wayne Brown remain committed to holding all parties accountable to deliver the project on time and budget.
The public release of a report that revealed a lack of confidence in a French construction firm’s forecasts on the $5.5 billion City Rail Link was a complete mistake, says Auckland Council chief executive Phil Wilson.
“It was a cock-up. It wasn’t intended for the public agenda,” Wilson said.
The Herald reported last week that French construction executives are flying to New Zealand over fears of time and cost blowouts for New Zealand’s biggest infrastructure project.
The report revealed alarm bells have gone off with the body set up to run the project expressing a lack of confidence in the main contractor’s forecasts, and taking concerns to the highest political levels.
Wilson said that while the “horse had bolted” with the Herald publishing contents of the report, the appropriate thing to do was to move the report to the confidential section of the council’s audit and risk committee on Tuesday.
The seven-page report is now in the confidential section under the Local Government Official Information and Meetings Act on the grounds of ongoing commercial negotiations.
“It was a human error situation where somebody didn’t tick the confidential box on the report template,” Wilson said.
The report said VINCI Grand Projects, the French contractor leading the Link Alliance building the CRL, is sending senior executives from France on December 12 to meet with City Rail Link Ltd, the company set up by Auckland Council and the Government to oversee the project.
The council and the Government (sponsors) are joint partners in the 3.4km underground rail project that began construction in 2016.
It has caused massive disruption to central city businesses, faced cost and time blowouts, and is due to be operating in 2026.
The CRL was originally costed between $2b and $3b and was expected to be completed in 2023-24.
The most damaging comments in the report said that on September 25, CRL Ltd wrote to the sponsors “with an outline of their concerns and lack of confidence in the Link Alliance’s reporting and forecasting”.
In the letter, CRL Ltd said they would issue a notice to the Link Alliance “indicating their lack of confidence with the provision of risk (both time and cost) and seeking a meeting to discuss concerns”.
The City Rail Link has caused years of financial and emotional disruption for central city businesses. Photo / Alex Burton
Asked if the matter had caused any friction with VINCI, Wilson was not aware of any reaction as of Friday.
The plan is for CRL Ltd to meet with the VINCI executives to undertake a joint review led by a former chief executive of Fulton Hogan and the project director for the Puhoi to Warkworth highway, Robert Jones, for completion in December.
An independent assurance manager who regularly advises the sponsors about time, costs, and quality on the CRL project is also delivering a deep dive into operational readiness by December, and assurance managers are delivering a review of the testing and commissioning phase.
“These two pieces of work will help CRL Ltd and sponsors to gain a more accurate understanding of the programme and costs,” the report said.
In a joint statement on Friday, Transport Minister Simeon Brown and Auckland Mayor Wayne Brown said they know how important the CRL is for Auckland and remain committed to holding all parties accountable to deliver it on budget and on time.
“CRL Ltd has advised us that since the letter was sent, there has been greater alignment between the Link Alliance and CRL on the programme and its cost. (They) have advised us that the project remains on track for opening to the public in 2026,” they said.
Furthermore, the two leaders said they had been advised the joint review would agree to the remainder of the programme and costs.
Wilson said he received a call from Simeon Brown on Friday wondering what the story was with the report being in the public arena.
“He wasn’t exercised about it to be clear but he was wondering how it had happened … and had a question if things were on track or not,” Wilson said.
Transport Minister Simeon Brown (left), and Auckland Mayor Wayne Brown (right) issued a joint statement on the report. Photo / Alex Burton
Asked about the matter today, Simeon Brown said the release of the report is a matter for Auckland Council.
On Friday, CRL Ltd chief executive Patrick Brockie and the council’s resilience and infrastructure director Barry Potter played down the language in the report about a “lack of confidence” in the Link Alliance and risks to time and cost.
Brockie said the language about a lack of confidence was not uncommon when the Link Alliance tried to complete work early to generate more income, and what the sponsors think is realistic.
Said Potter: “We are very clear in our current reporting that we have no concerns with the delivery of the overall CRL programme. There is no suggestion that the project budget or overall timeframe are at risk – people will be stepping off trains in 2026, and this hasn’t changed.”
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