Leadership change at Auckland’s city rail link

Successful leadership of New Zealand’s largest transport project has won a top international appointment for the chief executive of Auckland’s City Rail Link Ltd, Dr Sean Sweeney.

Sweeney has resigned today from the City Rail Link (CRL) project to lead the MetroLink project in Ireland’s capital, Dublin. MetroLink’s construction costs are about four times greater than CRL’s and it is six times longer.

“I have been more than honoured to lead CRL and, with our finish line approaching rapidly, it was no easy decision to leave a project that will always remain special to me,” Sweeney said. “It will not only do so much for Auckland and Aucklanders, but CRL demonstrates the very best in outstanding teamwork, innovation and design – every one of us who have worked on CRL can rightly feel proud and privileged to have done so.”

City Rail Link Ltd chair John Bridgman said Sweeney’s resignation was accepted with regret. “I congratulate Sean on his new appointment – it is a great opportunity on the world stage for a New Zealander with his outstanding engineering and leadership skills ...

“His resignation will not trigger any slowdown in the project’s momentum. One of Sean’s legacies is the strong leadership team he has established. Construction is more than 80 per cent complete… the project is in great shape and we remain on track to complete the project and hand it over to Auckland Transport and KiwiRail at the end of next year,” said Bridgman.

Sweeney studied engineering at Wellington Polytechnic and Auckland University and later gained a doctorate in construction economics from Melbourne University. He worked in the infrastructure industry overseas before returning to New Zealand in 2018 to lead City Rail Link Ltd, the Crown Entity established by the New Zealand Government and Auckland Council to deliver CRL.

On managing the project through some challenging event, Sweeney said: “There have certainly been a lot of big issues to deal with alongside the complexity and challenges of building New Zealand’s first underground railway in the middle of our largest city. I’m really proud of the way the team has managed through these.”

Sweeney will leave CRL in September.

Bridgman said the search for a new chief executive is under way. “The CRL board has already started identifying suitable candidates and, in the meantime, momentum on the project remains unchanged,” Bridgman said.

This is supplied content and not commissioned or paid for by NBR.