Former Auckland mayor Len Brown 'singing and dancing' ahead of first CRL ride

After years of disruption, Auckland's City Rail Link (CRL) is finally opening on Sunday morning.Former Auckland Mayor Len Brown was one of the infrastructure project's progenitors, with his lobbying for central government support one of the dominoes that had to fall before Auckland could cut the ribbon on its shiniest new toy.A day ahead of the historic first ride, Brown told RNZ's Saturday Morning he would be there "singing and dancing" to celebrate the opening of the country's biggest-ever infrastructure project, 10 years in the making.He said it could not have been done without the formation of the super city, to stop Auckland's various former councils "arguing themselves into stasis"."The one thing that I think we did right with the CRL and in Auckland and the super city was I was adamant that when you make a decision about this stuff, stick to the plan - don't relitigate it, don't doubt yourself. 'This is what we're doing. Here's what we're going to have to pay. Here's the way we're funding it. This is the outcome we're looking for'."Believe your analysis and the data that you are basing your decisions on, and then go for it."The idea for a rail tunnel through central Auckland was first raised in the 1910s. New Zealand had a well-used tram system, but in the 1950s and '60s instead opted to invest in roads and motorways."In the wisdom of the decision-makers at that time, they decided trams were passe, we're going to become like a city like Los Angeles. We're going to build our city around motorways," Brown explained. "And so that's literally what happened. Trams gone, motorways all over the place."Another plan in the 1970s was derailed by the Muldoon government, which also favoured more roads."With the benefit of the luxury of being able to look backwards from that point to this, what became really obvious to city leaders and urban planners and transport planners was that the more roads you built in a fast-growing city, the more congested the place got. And that was what happened to Auckland."Len Brown at the formal ground breaking for the City Rail Link Project with Auckland Transport chair Lester Levy, left, Prime Minister John Key and the Transport Minister Simon Bridges.Supplied / Auckland CouncilWhen Brown campaigned for mayor in 2010, he said the public repeatedly told him they were sick of gridlock and wanted the CRL built - they were sick of the city being a "laughing stock".Planning for the CRL started in the late 2000s, accelerated in 2013 when the government signalled its support, and the blueprints became a physical reality in 2016 when Auckland Council - then led by Brown - convinced the government to go halves in paying for it."I wanna say to your listeners, to New Zealanders generally, thank you for funding half the cost of this. this massive piece of kit."Brown said he had "reasonable confidence that the government was going to come on board at an appropriate time and support the project", but acknowledged it was a "pretty courageous decision"."But I felt we had to show good faith by putting skin in the game, that we recognised that it was going to be a struggle at that time for the country at large. And that we really believe this, we were totally committed to it. And as Aucklanders, you stick us together united, we can do anything. And so, that was the mantra."The initial projected cost of $3.4 billion rose over time to $5.5b. Part of that was a design change pushed by then-Mayor Phil Goff to future-proof the network by building for nine-car trains, which the city doesn't have yet but might need in the future.Other cost rises were blamed on inflation, Covid-19 lockdowns and staffing issues.But Brown said cost rises like those experienced by the CRL shouldn't put communities off pursuing other large projects.A train arrives in one of Auckland's new stations on Friday, at the official opening ceremony.RNZ/Calvin Samuel"The one thing I will say is that my hope and expectation is really, from a small country, that we really do everything we possibly can to put in place an agreed and clear pipeline of work for what's important to build our city and the country in terms of its infrastructure and by and large stick to the plan."Brown expected the CRL to unleash Auckland's true potential."I think what's most important is that the city's economy, its social life, its culture has been pretty severely constrained by its inability to get around. And, that's the reason why so many people have sort of said, 'gridlocked Auckland'."And I think if you have options and choices and you have less congestion on your roads, more people using public transport… if we can get public transport use in trains, buses, ferries, micro transport use up to 30 percent, 35 percent rather than the present sort of 15 percent to 20 percent that it is, that will just lighten the load on the roads. It will make the roads more available to commercial traffic."A fully integrated system is one that basically opens the lifeblood of the city and takes the stress off people, and makes the transport around the community a much more enjoyable option."I mean, I've taken the train lots over the last 10 years. And it's, look, it's relaxing. Sometimes it's a bit crowded. It's meditative. You can do your homework, you can do your work, you can read books, you know, do whatever. It's a much, much more relaxing way of getting to and from work."People just get so stressed out in gridlock. You know, it's a terrible thing. And they're not arriving at work or wherever they're going in a good state at all."The first train on the CRL will depart from Ōtāhuhu at 4.57am on Sunday.