Auckland’s City Rail Link (CRL) stations recently hosted a series of live emergency training exercises to assess the readiness of emergency services in responding to critical incidents. The exercises involved New Zealand Police, Fire and Emergency New Zealand (FENZ), and St John as part of ongoing safety preparations for the CRL project.
“The purpose of the exercises was to test our police processes and response to attending an incident at CRL and working with our partners to ensure we are all in sync with effective coordination of our plans and communication,” said Inspector Jason Homan, Police CRL Project Lead.
The City Rail Link has been under construction since 2016 and is expected to be completed by 2026. This $5.4 billion project, New Zealand’s largest infrastructure undertaking, involves twin tunnels and new stations connecting Auckland’s rail network. Once operational, it will significantly reduce travel times and increase capacity in the CBD.
Three emergency scenarios were simulated: a fire on the platform, a derailment in the tunnel, and an armed intruder hostage situation. These exercises, carried out over several days, provided crucial insights into how multiple agencies will coordinate in real-life emergencies.
“This has also served to satisfy CRL, Link Alliance, and Kiwi One Rail that effective plans are in place, and they can now move on to the next phase of testing trains,” added Homan.
The CRL is expected to open in 2026, and this series of drills is part of ensuring the system’s preparedness for potential emergencies ahead of the live train testing phase.
