Billboard gaffe accidentally reveals City Rail Link opening date as 13 September
A billboard error accidentally revealed the 13 September opening date for Auckland's City Rail Link before the official government announcement. The $5.5 billion project, which has been in development for a decade, aims to significantly improve transportation efficiency in the city.
Why it matters
Major infrastructure projects have long-term economic and social impacts on urban development and public transit.
City Rail Link - a project that has been discussed in one way or another for 100 years - is finally opening.
The CRL is New Zealand's largest transportation infrastructure project, and construction has been going on for the past 10 years.
Transport Minister Chris Bishop and Auckland mayor Wayne Brown made the formal announcement of its opening date of 13 September at one of the new stations - Karanga-a-Hape Station - on Thursday morning.
But that wasn't before billboards announcing the opening date of the $5.5 billion project were put up in error around the CBD in the early morning hours.
An AT spokesperson told RNZ they were put up in error and only supposed to be displayed after the official announcement.
"It was a mistake by the billboard provider," they said.
Get smarter about the news
Sign up free for a feed built around what you actually care about, Dive Deeper research on any story, and the full text of every article.
Create free accountAlready have an account? Sign in