Auckland business owners devastated by 96-day rail shutdown

Auckland's train network will have to close for 96 days as part of a final push to get the long-awaited City Rail Link (CRL) finished and ready for 2026.

The first major shutdown will go from 27 December 2024 until 28 January 2025.

Transport Minister Simeon Brown said even though the shutdown will impact passengers the closure is to get the rail link open by early 2026.

However, some small businesses are devastated and said they have not been consulted and have bought stock for what was expected to be a busy summer season.

For eight years Shobanna Rachodji has faced disruption caused by the rail link project right outside their florist shop, Roma Blooms, on Albert Street.

The news the rail system will be shut down for 96 days at various points from now until 2026 was another blow.

The first closure - which falls just after Christmas this year and will last for a whole month - was especially tough as they had pinned their hopes on busy summer trading this year.

"We make up the city, we help tourism, we help the people we were hoping for so many more people to come in during this time."

Rachodji said businesses should have been given early notice and consulted about the rail closures.

"We needed to have a talk with them before we bought stock for those months.

"What do we do with our stock? We've preordered."

In 2021 a $12 million targeted hardship fund was launched to provide some rent relief for businesses, but Rachodji said that did not go far enough.

"It is looking after the landlords that's all it is it has got nothing to do with how our time has been wasted throughout the project, so no compensation for time wasted."

Chief executive of Auckland's city centre business association Heart of the City, Viv Beck, echoed this concern.

She acknowledged the work was essential but said the rail link project has been significantly delayed and taken a major toll on businesses for almost a decade.

"Watching that press conference, I really came away thinking that the government and Auckland Council as sponsors of this project are doing a major disservice to the businesses affected for nearly a decade.

"It's been a fight every step of the way to get support for them."

Beck said the latest update she has had on the targeted hardship fund was that just $7m of the $12m promised over two years in the targeted hardship fund had been spent.

"So there is money to address some of the long-standing grievances there has been no will to do that and I really believe the government and Auckland Council must step up on this issue."

Beck said while the fund has helped with survival, it was not adequate compensation, and businesses should have been consulted on the closures.

Brown acknowledged businesses will bear the brunt of the closures but said the work was urgent.

"We're requiring around-the-clock work to be done so that it can be as efficient as possible, but look, I don't discount the fact that we have an impact.

"But the reality is if we don't get this work done now when the city rail link is opened, we're going to have ongoing disruption and I don't think that's going to be very good for businesses and commuters in Auckland going forward."

With New Year's Eve, and big concerts like DJ Fisher and Plain Sailing playing in Auckland's Victoria Park, SailGP and the ASB Classic all set down for January, questions are being raised about how attendees will get around the city.

Auckland Transport director of public transport Stacey van Der Putten said there will be extra buses to accommodate passengers during the rail closures.

"We will have a comprehensive bus replacement strategy that will include the likes of prioritised services.

"Special events are obviously going to be challenging for us, so we're working with our stakeholders to try and mitigate that as much as possible."

Van Der Putten said they have prioritised some of the closures during school holidays to make use of school buses.

Brown assured Aucklanders that the closure was "the one last push to make sure we get this done and get it completed."

But for small businesses like Rachodji's, after nearly a decade of disruption already, his words offer little comfort.

As the closures would be during school holiday times, acting Auckland mayor Desley Simpson told Checkpoint school buses would be available to be used as an alternative transport option.

"While the rail line will be closed access to the city is not - there will be extra buses."

Businesses had only found out when the announcement was made on Friday, Simpson said, but this was as much notice as could be given.

"They were still looking at this at 11pm last night. You will still get people using buses on the same routes, we've taken learnings from international examples and if we didn't do it at the lowest rail user times it would take a lot longer."

Compensation was available to businesses when requested, she said.

There will be less freight rail during that time too, Simpson said, which she admitted would mean more trucks on the roads.

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