Date: 24 June 2026
Rail infrastructure upgrades and a network-wide dress rehearsal will enable the City Rail Link to progress faster. The work will be carried out while Auckland’s rail network is closed over Matariki weekend, including the day prior, Thursday 9 July.
The closures, from Thursday 9 July to Sunday 12 July 2026, will see KiwiRail and Auckland Transport progress rail infrastructure upgrades to support City Rail Link’s opening and progress on safer level crossings. They include works on three new station bridges to replace level crossings, track renewals and progress on three new Drury Stations.
The closures also include one day of trialling Day 1 CRL operations and the future Monday to Friday timetable – the standard weekday service our rail network will be operating on when the City Rail Link opens. The trial incorporates all the systems and programmes that will need to work together for the City Rail Link to work smoothly, integrating new systems with old and all the complexities associated with that.
Auckland Transport Chief Executive Stacey van der Putten says this rail closure marks one of the last major steps before we can progress planning for opening the City Rail Link.
“We’re getting close to opening the City Rail Link, and great progress is being made on the three station bridges to replace level crossings,” Ms van der Putten says.
“These improvements will be transformative in the way Aucklanders move around our city and improve safety and connectivity. The Matariki weekend rail closure is one of the last big pushes before we open your new network.
“We know that a rail closure on a standard working weekday is disruptive for our customers, and we’d like to extend a huge thank you to them for their ongoing patience as we do the final checks and upgrades before opening City Rail Link.
“To keep Aucklanders moving, we’ve put on express buses for the Southern and Western Line, and we’ll be monitoring bus reliability and capacity throughout the weekend to make sure there are plenty of transport options available”.
When the City Rail Link opens, Auckland’s train network will change significantly. A new timetable will introduce three new train lines, East West, South City and Onehunga West, along with three new city stations, creating more frequent, better connections across the region.
Bus services to replace trains
To keep people moving a full programme of rail replacement buses will be available during all rail closures, as well as local regularly scheduled bus services which run at least every 15 minutes 7am till 7pm.
People on the Southern and Western Lines will also have the option of express rail bus services on Thursday 9 July.
We encourage people to use the AT Journey Planner ahead of travel to check out the rail bus timetable.
What is happening during the CRL timetable dress rehearsal?
The 9 July dress rehearsal will give our train drivers, managers, and controllers – the people who operate the network the opportunity to become more practiced with the future network.
April’s test gave us confidence we can run the planned timetables reliably. It confirmed the plan to open with a temporary timetable and then build to full frequency within six months is the right one to ensure reliable services – common practice on major rail projects worldwide.
We will now take the learnings and decisions made from April’s timetable testing and apply them for the 9 July dress rehearsal. We’ll be making sure that timetable data is feeding into customer information displays correctly, and Journey Planning tools are integrated into network operations. This includes over 200+ screens across train stations, and the AT mobile app.
Safety during the CRL dress rehearsal
A reminder that even though passenger trains will be unavailable, trains will still be travelling across the train network and through road and pedestrian rail level crossings.
For your safety, always stop to check both ways for trains before crossing the tracks. Stay alert to stay safe.
For more information visit: www.at.govt.nz/matariki2026
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