Airport to Botany Rapid Transit

The Airport to Botany Rapid Transit project will improve travel choices and journey times for Aucklanders making travel on public transport to social, residential and commercial centres in the area easier and more reliable. It will improve accessibility in the southern and eastern areas of Auckland, including to major employment centres at Auckland Airport and Manukau. It will also provide an important link in the wider Auckland rapid transit network, creating connections to the rail network at Puhinui and Manukau stations and the Eastern Busway at the proposed future Botany Station.  

Project benefits 

The Airport to Botany Rapid Transit project will improve access between the southern and eastern areas of Auckland by: 

• improving travel choices and journey times for people in south and east Auckland, with a reliable 35-40 minute journey time between Auckland Airport and Botany 
• proving a 18km congestion-free rapid transit with high capacity services 
• improving access to major employment centres, including Auckland Airport and Manukau 
• provide an important connection in the rapid transit network, connecting to the rail network at Puhinui station and Manukau, the Eastern Busway at a new Botany interchange(external link) 
• supporting growth opportunities along the route - as well as for the wider south and east Auckland area 
• improving walking and cycling connections between Auckland Airport, Puhinui Station interchange, Manukau and Botany, with 12km of new facilities.

What’s happening now? 

With the route for the Airport to Botany project having been confirmed as part of the recently approved Southwest Gateway Programme(external link) (Airport to Botany Rapid Transit(external link) and 20Connect(external link)) Business Case, the project is now progressing to route protection. This means confirming and ensuring the land needed to build and operate this future project is protected ahead of construction.  

Route protection(external link) is a planning process to identify and protect land for a future public work, such as a transport project. Route protection is not intended to finalise the exact detail of the future transport project – this is refined during future stages.  

Route protection provides a high level of corridor protection and longevity. It also gives property owners, businesses and the community certainty on where transport routes will be located, which helps people make informed decisions about their land and its development. The benefits of route protection include:  

• Allowing for major infrastructure to be implemented at the right time  
• Provide opportunities to work with developers to obtain more affordable transport solutions  
• Provides opportunities for infrastructure integration   
• Enable land to be ready for public work so opportunities are not lost  
• Reduce future cost risks  

The Airport to Botany project is expected to be fully constructed at least 15 years from now, depending on the project being funded for delivery. 

Next steps 

During 2022, Te Tupu Ngātahi Supporting Growth will prepare Notices of Requirement (NoRs) under the Resource Management Act 1991 (RMA) to protect the land needed by Auckland Transport and Waka Kotahi for the project.  

We will carry out the necessary planning work to confirm the footprint needed for the Airport to Botany route and this will involve a range of technical and environmental assessments by noise, ecological and landscape specialists. The intention is for Auckland Transport and Waka Kotahi to lodge NoRs with Auckland Council by December 2022.