Latest / Best of Business / Patrick Brockie: City Rail Link CEO on the first test train travelling through the Auckland tunnels

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Patrick Brockie: City Rail Link CEO on the first test train travelling through the Auckland tunnels · Best of Business

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  Speaker 1: You're listening to a podcast from News talks'd be follow
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  Speaker 2: All Right, a huge step towards trains actually running through
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  Speaker 2: the City rail Link. Last night a test train actually
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  Speaker 2: went through the tunnel for the first time. It took
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  Speaker 2: them two and a half hours to complete the journey.
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  Speaker 2: The journey's three point five kilometers. They took it slow.
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  Speaker 2: They did it slow so that the technicians could problem
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  Speaker 2: shoot all the way. So City rail Link Chief Executive
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  Speaker 2: as Patrick Brockey, and Patrick was there and he's here
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  Speaker 2: and now Hello Patrick.
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  Speaker 3: Hi Andrew, nice to be talking to you.
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  Speaker 2: And congratulations. That must have been a buzz.
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  Speaker 3: Oh jeryal milestone actually, and there was a small party
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  Speaker 3: of staff and well wishers down there too, saying the
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  Speaker 3: train off from white Matar station. So no very exciting
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  Speaker 3: and proud mornament for all of those that have been
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  Speaker 3: involved over many years, from our contractors through to our
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  Speaker 3: partner's ki Rawalk Transport or co one Veil. Big milestone
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  Speaker 3: for us, So thank you.
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  Speaker 2: Okay, So the very first you did it five times,
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  Speaker 2: but the very first time you did it you did
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  Speaker 2: three point four to five kilometers and two and a
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  Speaker 2: half hours. You did it slow?
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  Speaker 3: Why, it's just being safe five kilometers an hour initially
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  Speaker 3: and building up from there. But we just need to
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  Speaker 3: check the tunnel clearance and make sure the train runs
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  Speaker 3: through smoothly without any interruptions. We were pretty confident about that,
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  Speaker 3: of course, with all the work we've done, but you're
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  Speaker 3: never sure until the day and then power supply. Just
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  Speaker 3: ensuring it's continuous through the tunnels. We're also looking at
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  Speaker 3: all the signaling that down there, that's that's spready out
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  Speaker 3: managed by Kivy Rail, but making sure the signaling is
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  Speaker 3: all in order. And it went very well. The test
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  Speaker 3: were all positive, so we're off to a good start.
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  Speaker 2: Did you get faster, I mean you did another four
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  Speaker 2: trips and did you get faster? In which case, what
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  Speaker 2: is the current speed record for the city routing tunnel.
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  Speaker 3: Or we did get faster materially faster and I think
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  Speaker 3: over the next few days we would hope to get
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  Speaker 3: up to about a maximum of forty commas an hour, and.
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  Speaker 2: That's how fast it will run when it's in regular service.
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  Speaker 3: No, it can go faster. I can go up to
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  Speaker 3: seventy kilometers an hour, but I think forty at the moment,
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  Speaker 3: as we find out any sort of bugs in the system,
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  Speaker 3: and there are a couple, you know, we have some
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  Speaker 3: we're still work to do on the tracks, some minor works,
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  Speaker 3: but they still have to be done and it's just
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  Speaker 3: safer to run it at moderate speeds for now.
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  Speaker 2: So what needs to happen from here? You've said you're
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  Speaker 2: going to keep on testing, and I know that the
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  Speaker 2: tracks obviously work, but the big problem is going to
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  Speaker 2: be the systems that actually monitor and control the trains.
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  Speaker 2: That can take quite a long time. So what is
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  Speaker 2: going to happen next from here and how long will
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  Speaker 2: it take?
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  Speaker 3: Well, you definitely hit the name on the head of
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  Speaker 3: the system's part. That's one of the most complex part
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  Speaker 3: of the project with the testing and commissioning phase, with
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  Speaker 3: the running of the trains, there's over eight thousand tests
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  Speaker 3: Andrew we have to run over the course of the year,
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  Speaker 3: so we've really just only just started that. As you know,
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  Speaker 3: we've also got to complete the station fit out. So
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  Speaker 3: theres an examples the ceilings, the tiling works. Some of
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  Speaker 3: the ticket gates are actually in a couple of the stations,
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  Speaker 3: which is great tunnel ventilation system These are massive tunnel events.
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  Speaker 3: Given an example, they came by up to eight tons,
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  Speaker 3: but they are just we're going running full testing now
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  Speaker 3: and those that will continue for some time. And then,
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  Speaker 3: as you pointed out, the other systems involved the installation
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  Speaker 3: and commissioning of those systems and they cover examples fire
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  Speaker 3: heating as fire emergency prevention, heating, lighting, CCTV. We've also
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  Speaker 3: got works outside of the stations, some urban realm or
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  Speaker 3: footpath and paving works. So there's quite a lot left
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  Speaker 3: to do. We have just under nine hundred staff still
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  Speaker 3: working on at the stations, and so it would give
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  Speaker 3: you a sense of the scale of work that we
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  Speaker 3: or has to complete this year.
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  Speaker 2: So you're hoping to open in twenty twenty six, do
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  Speaker 2: you believe you're on track?
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  Speaker 3: Yes, we do.
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  Speaker 2: Would you like to give.
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  Speaker 3: Us a date?
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  Speaker 1: All right?
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  Speaker 3: Twenty twenty six is twenty six? Not be vague, Andrew,
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  Speaker 3: but I think well, I think twenty twenty six is
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  Speaker 3: about as specific as we can be right now, just
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  Speaker 3: because and it's not again not being evasive, but the
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  Speaker 3: last year is complex and we've got a lot to
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  Speaker 3: do still, and it can be the unknowns, but look,
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  Speaker 3: we're working as hard as we can to open as
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  Speaker 3: early as possible.
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  Speaker 2: We're so keen to see it, I have to say,
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  Speaker 2: and I have read about the elizabeth lyone in London
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  Speaker 2: and just how long it took to get that just
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  Speaker 2: good and safe and working properly. Is the signaling you
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  Speaker 2: don't want trains going down the wrong tracks. Just when
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  Speaker 2: you were talking about all the infrastructure down there, there
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  Speaker 2: must be an enormous drain of electricity.
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  Speaker 3: No, there is this power splice, pretty important for a
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  Speaker 3: railway for sure, And of course we're running the station
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  Speaker 3: systems and so so. No, that's that's that's definitely the case.
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  Speaker 3: But we were that's well catered for and in place,
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  Speaker 3: so we shouldn't. We don't expect to have problems in
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  Speaker 3: that area.
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  Speaker 2: When do you get to take the mayor for a
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  Speaker 2: bit of a tour on a train.
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  Speaker 3: That's a good question, not one we've covered yet, but
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  Speaker 3: when it's safe to do so, Andrew, I think, look,
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  Speaker 3: we'd like the general public about to see the project
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  Speaker 3: as soon as possible, and the only substitute at the
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  Speaker 3: moment is we've got some really good comms on our website,
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  Speaker 3: drone footage, we've got monthly newsletters with updates on the
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  Speaker 3: station works and courage your listeners to look at that
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  Speaker 3: because I think it's very that's very helpful and getting
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  Speaker 3: some visualization of how the stations are coming along. Hopefully
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  Speaker 3: we can we can do more than that at some
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  Speaker 3: point during the year when it's safe to do so.
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  Speaker 3: But in terms of the mayor and the minister writing
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  Speaker 3: the first train or for riding a train, that's not
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  Speaker 3: on the plans right at the moment, but I'm sure
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  Speaker 3: that will be.
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  Speaker 2: It will be, Patrick, Patrick, it's good politics. Yeah, if
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  Speaker 2: you know what I mean, and you talk about the public,
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  Speaker 2: I mean, I've walked through every tunnel that's been built
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  Speaker 2: in this in this city, and I've walked over every bridge,
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  Speaker 2: including over Spaghetti Junction when it was built back in
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  Speaker 2: the seventies. So will is there any possibility that we
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  Speaker 2: could come for a bit of a wander through the
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  Speaker 2: tunnels for the public at some stage of the future.
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  Speaker 3: I think the stations is more likely entered than the
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  Speaker 3: tunnels themselves because we have energized, so there's you know,
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  Speaker 3: there's power running through the tunnels. But you know, when
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  Speaker 3: the time is right, if we can do something with
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  Speaker 3: our stations, and giving the public a glimpse of how
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  Speaker 3: they're going to look, and they will lock stunning.
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  Speaker 2: We'd love to do that, can't wait. Patrick, congratulate your
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  Speaker 2: team and I thank you for your time tonight and
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  Speaker 2: all the very best.
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  Speaker 3: Okay, thank you, Andrew, good talk to you.
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  Speaker 2: There's Patrick Brocky who's in charge of the CRL. Remember
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  Speaker 2: it was supposed to be finished in twenty twenty five.
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  Speaker 2: It was supposed to be opened in twenty twenty six.
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  Speaker 2: Now he's talking about finishing it in twenty twenty six.
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  Speaker 2: So will it be opened in twenty twenty seven?
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  Speaker 1: Oh?
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  Speaker 2: It takes a long time to watch a pot of
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  Speaker 2: kettle boiled, doesn't it.
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