Karanga-a-Hape railway station

Karanga-a-Hape
Auckland Transport Urban rail
Beresford Square entrance of Karanga a Hape railway station, under construction in early 2025
General information
Location	Karangahape Road, Auckland New Zealand
Coordinates	36°51′32″S174°45′33″E / 36.8589513°S 174.7592431°E / -36.8589513; 174.7592431
Owned by	Auckland Transport
Operated by	Auckland One Rail
Line(s)	City Rail Link
Platforms	Island platform (P1 & P2)
Tracks	2
Construction
Structure type	Underground
Parking	No (planned)
Bicycle facilities	Yes (planned)
Accessible	Yes (Lifts)
Other information
Station code	KRD [1]
Fare zone	City
Website	City Rail Link
History
Opening	2026 (planned)
Electrified	25 kV AC
Key dates
2019	Mercury Lane demolished
2021	First tunnel completed
2022	Second tunnel completed
2026	Planned opening
Route map Legend Western Line to Kingsland Maungawhau Karanga-a-Hape Te Waihorotiu Britomart Grafton Eastern Line to Ōrākei Parnell North Auckland Line to Whangārei Newmarket Southern & Onehunga Lines to Remuera This diagram: view talk edit
Location

Karanga-a-Hape railway station is an underground railway station under construction in Auckland, New Zealand. It is scheduled to open in 2026 as part of the City Rail Link project. ^[2] It will serve the Karangahape Road area with entrances on Beresford Square and Mercury Lane. ^{[3] [4] [5]} When it opens, Karanga-a-hape will be the deepest train station in New Zealand, ^[6] reaching 33 metres down ^[7] and featuring 203 metre long platforms. ^[8] Auckland Council estimates up to 1,400 people an hour will use the station at peak times.

History

Proposals for a link between downtown Auckland and central suburb train routes have been around since the 1920s, but the first proposal involving a station on Karangahape Road came in 2003. ^[9] Auckland Council proposed an underground line running between Britomart and Maungawhau-Mount Eden station, including two new stations at Aotea Square and Karangahape Road.

Demolition work for the Mercury Lane site began on 4 November 2019, taking out the prominent Mercury Plaza foodcourt and some surrounding buildings. Tunneling from Mount Eden station to Karanga-a-hape station began on 26 April 2022, with the Dame Whina Cooper Herrenknecht TBM breaking through on 15 July 2022. ^[10]

In March 2023, the station was officially renamed from Karangahape station to Karanga-a-Hape station, after the four City Rail Link stations were gifted te reo Maori names by the project's Mana Whenua Forum. ^[11]

In November 2023, Auckland Transport announced it would be pedestrianising the upper portion of Mercury Lane in order to improve accessibility. ^[12]

See also

• List of Auckland railway stations
• Public transport in Auckland

References

1. "Karana-a-Hape tunnel photo". Facebook. KiwiRail. Retrieved 29 July 2024.
2. Orsman, Bernard (23 May 2023). "City Rail Link won't open until 2026 at the earliest". NZ Herald. Retrieved 5 June 2024.
3. Karangahape Archived 23 December 2019 at the Wayback Machine City Rail Link
4. Rail is coming uptown to Karangahape Road Archived 7 February 2020 at the Wayback Machine City Rail Link
5. "City Rail Link deadline not guaranteed - project boss". Radio New Zealand . 4 December 2023. Archived from the original on 4 December 2023. Retrieved 4 December 2023.
6. "Mining starts on country's deepest railway station". City Rail Link. 30 September 2020. Archived from the original on 7 December 2023. Retrieved 6 December 2023.
7. Lowrie, Matt (26 October 2022). "A visit to Karanga-a-hape". Greater Auckland. Archived from the original on 7 December 2023. Retrieved 6 December 2023.
8. "Karanga-a-hape Station". City Rail Link. Retrieved 20 March 2025.
9. "Underground rail link feasible, says study". NZ Herald. 8 December 2023. Archived from the original on 8 December 2023. Retrieved 8 December 2023.
10. Journal, Tunnelling (15 July 2022). "CRL's second Tunnel breakthrough at Karanga a Hape Station". The Tunnelling Journal. Archived from the original on 7 December 2023. Retrieved 6 December 2023.
11. Harris, Sophie (16 March 2023). "Britomart officially renamed along with three other Tāmaki Makaurau railway stations". Stuff. Archived from the original on 7 December 2023. Retrieved 6 December 2023.
12. Transport, Auckland. "Karanga-a-Hape Station neighbourhood and bus improvements project". Auckland Transport. Retrieved 6 December 2023.^{[ permanent dead link ‍]}