Auckland’s trains won’t be running for almost 100 days between Christmas and January, 2026 amid improvements to the rail network ahead of the City Rail Link project’s completion.

Transport Minister Simeon Brown and acting Auckland Mayor Desley Simpson today revealed Aucklanders would face up to 96 days without an operational train service across those 13 months with closures centred around major holidays, weekends and evenings.

That’s on top of up to 53 days of partial network closure across that time period, during which trains would run on a single line at a reduced frequency.

All up, it would mean Auckland commuters could have either a partially or completely closed rail service for up to 40% of the 369 days between Boxing Day this year and January 26, 2026.

Brown and Simpson both acknowledged the disruption KiwiRail’s Rail Network Rebuild would cause but they argued it was necessary to have it completed before the City Rail Link (CRL) project was functional.

“These closures will be disruptive but will enable Aucklanders to realise the substantial benefits of City Rail Link the day it opens, with faster and more frequent services, and means the Rail Network Rebuild will be completed prior to the City Rail Link opening, not afterwards which would be the alternative,” Brown said.

Transport Minister Simeon Brown and Acting Auckland Mayor Desley Simpson reveal significant closures of Auckland's rail network next year. 

“This will remove temporary speed restrictions from the network to deliver increased reliability and enable more frequent and faster trains when the CRL opens.” 

Describing the rebuild as “one last push”, Brown said his expectations of KiwiRail and Auckland Transport were for disruptions to be minimised and for work to be undertaken “24/7 around the clock to make the most of every single hour the network is closed”. 

Simpson said the disruption was an “unavoidable necessity” if CRL was to be effective when it opened in 2026. 

She added her expectation that Aucklanders were given “ample notice of any changes to services” as well as explanations of the improvements being made and what alternative public transport options were available. 

When will the trains be closed? 

The longest closures occur across the two summer holiday periods, according to a closure calendar released by Brown. 

The network will be closed from December 27, 2024 through to January 27, 2025. As a contingency, the six days following January 27 could see the network partially closed. 

About two weeks of full closure would occur over the Easter break. The network would be closed during public holiday weekends that spanned May and June as well. 

Trains would be partially closed for five weekends within the period from July to September. Four further weeks had been identified for partial closure. Trains would be closed on Labour Day weekend. 

The second long full closure would begin on Boxing Day, 2025 and conclude on January 26, 2026. 

In March, the City Rail Link moved beyond the civil stage and hundreds of kilometres of cables are being laid to run the stations and trains. Photo / Corey Fleming 

What upgrades are being made? 

The Rail Network Rebuild had been underway since January, 2023 and had already made improvements to the Southern Line from Penrose to Newmarket, the Eastern Line from a rail junction just south of Sylvia Park Station and the Western Line from Newmarket to New Lynn. 

It was currently in its fourth phase, focusing on lines between Papakura and Pukekohe. KiwiRail had estimated the phase would be completed in early February. 

Information released by Brown today showed the work would include: “replacing aging track foundations, including in the busiest part of the network in South Auckland; making the network more resilient to weather by improving drainage and culverts; replacing worn rail and sleepers, improvements to bridges and a tunnel, and upgrades to critical track infrastructure, signals and power supplies.” 

Brown specified replacement work and drainage improvements would take place on the Western Line between New Lynn and Swanson, the Southern Line between Newmarket and Britomart and between Otahuhu and Papakura. 

Aging sleepers on bridges around Newmarket, Parnell, and near Tamaki Drive would be replaced. Work would continue on the Parnell Tunnel, while old track infrastructure would be replaced to allow trains to switch between tracks at Kingsland, Tamaki and Quay Park. 

“I think Aucklanders are feeling a sense of frustration with the constant delays however, this work must happen,” Brown said. 

“Auckland is in a state of transformation,” Brown said, citing the improvements CRL would provide to the city. “This is one last push as we get ready for that.” 

He said it wasn’t yet confirmed when the CRL would finish but the project was now entering one of its “most complex phases”. 

Early last month, KiwiRail said it would cut delays from five-and-a-half minutes to a maximum 45-second delay on the western line, 30 seconds on the southern line and 1 minute 20 seconds on the eastern line. 

With the 3.4km CRL project between Britomart and Mt Eden nearing completion, KiwiRail is working to complete a $550m Auckland Rail Rebuild – replacement of railway foundations, tracks, and sleepers over the existing network – before the CRL opens. 

When the CRL finally opens, it will offer faster journeys across the city. For example, Aucklanders will whizz from the central city to Mt Eden, via Karangahape Rd, in about six minutes. 

A further spin-off will be the 10-hectare site at Mt Eden where trains will emerge from the tunnels to a new station, Maungawhau. 

The land has been levelled and sold in parcels for apartments and commercial development, along the masterplan lines at Wynyard Quarter. 

Adam Pearse is a political reporter in the NZ Herald Press Gallery team, based at Parliament. He has worked for NZME since 2018, covering sport and health for the Northern Advocate in Whangārei before moving to the NZ Herald in Auckland, covering Covid-19 and crime.