The Auckland Council has revealed plans to expand the scope of the City Rail Link, a 3.45km long twin-tunnel underground rail link.

The move includes an expansion of station sizes as the expected increase in passenger numbers would find the original plan inadequate to support operations on the line.

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The announcement comes as CRL, the joint-venture company managing the project, started excavation works to dig a 14m deep trench to hold the twin rail tunnels beneath the Britomart Station and Lower Queen Street in downtown Auckland.

“New estimates predict that CRL stations need to cope with the capacity of 54,000 passengers an hour at peak rather than the original estimates of 36,000.”

The excavation of the trench follows a two-year preparation work to protect Britomart Station’s historic Chief Post Office building, as well as stabilise the ground to carry out trenching and tunnel constructions.

Auckland Mayor Phil Goff said: “New estimates predict that CRL stations need to cope with the capacity of 54,000 passengers an hour at peak rather than the original estimates of 36,000.

“On this basis, City Rail Link believes that stations should be built to cater for nine-carriage trains rather than six, with longer platforms and, in the case of the Karangahape Road Station, it will require a second entrance on Beresford Square.”

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The largest infrastructure project ever undertaken in New Zealand, CRL is estimated to cost nearly NZ$3.4bn ($2.31bn).

The double-track underground rail line will connect Britomart Station with the existing Western Line at a redeveloped Mt Eden Station, travelling through the city’s central business district and new stations at Albert Street and Karangahape Road.

Scheduled to be completed in 2024, the project is jointly funded by the Auckland Council and the government.