Board appointed to City Rail Link Limited

Auckland Mayor Phil Goff and Deputy Mayor Bill Cashmore, in conjunction with Government, today announced appointments to the board of the newly established City Rail Link Limited company (CRLL).

The company, jointly owned by the Crown and Auckland Council, is responsible for the delivery of the City Rail Link - New Zealand’s largest infrastructure project.

Sir Brian Roche was appointed as the Chair of the Board at the establishment of the company alongside Board members Russell Black, Brian Harrison, Karen Jordan and Anne Urlwin.

Mayor Phil Goff said, “These appointments ensure that CRLL has the strong leadership and experience necessary to deliver the largest infrastructure project in New Zealand since the construction of the Harbour Bridge.

“The City Rail Link is crucial to securing a more dependable and efficient transport network in Auckland, and doubling capacity to handle up to 30,000 passengers an hour.

“With expenditure of $3.4 billion, half paid for by Aucklanders, it was critical to appoint a highly qualified and experienced Board to CRLL. The new board meets that standard.”

Deputy Mayor Bill Cashmore said, “This is a Board with a wealth of knowledge in delivering major infrastructure projects including experience on the London Underground’s Jubilee Line extension and Stockholm’s Arlanda express rail link.”

Biographies:

Russell Black is a consultant with a background in Civil Engineering. He has significant experience as a senior manager in large transport infrastructure companies and has worked on a number of major infrastructure projects including the London Underground’s Jubilee Line Extension. He was Project Director for the Mass Transit Railway Corporation (MTR) in Hong Kong and consulted to Metro Trains, Melbourne and Sydney Metro. He was previously a member of EQC, and he has been a director of Northpower Ltd since 2011.

Brian Harrison is a lawyer with expertise in infrastructure funding and delivery. He has worked on project finance for the Arlanda express rail link project in Stockholm, Sweden; for the private finance portion of the funding for the construction of the Jubilee Line, London; and as an advisor to the Strategic Rail Authority (UK) on the capitalisation and debt structuring of rail infrastructure assets.

Karen Jordan relocated to New Zealand from the UK 2015 following success as Director of Contract Management for the Ministry of Defence where she improved capability across a multi-billion pound procurement and investment programme. She has also worked for British Gas and National Grid Plc.

Anne Urlwin has over 20 years of experience as a professional director, chartered accountant and business consultant in an extensive range of sectors. She is currently Chair of Naylor Love Enterprises, a director of Chorus, Steel & Tube Holdings, Southern Response Earthquake Services, OnePath Life and Summerset Group Holdings. She has significant central and local government experience and has served on both Crown boards and local government CCOs.

ENDS

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