14 July 2026 .Auckland Transport and full-service agency Thompson Spencer have launched the next phase of their City Rail Link (CRL) campaign, progressing the conversation from understanding the network to imagining how Aucklanders will use it in everyday life.
By making getting around the city faster and simpler, the CRL opens up more opportunities for Aucklanders to spend time doing the things they actually want to do, connecting them to people, places, and possibilities. The evolved campaign deepens the platform’s core insight – that the CRL isn’t simply an infrastructure upgrade, it’s a time gift – by making the actual journeys and stops more explicit and more personal.
The campaign builds on existing creative with fresh takes on the original executions, and introduces a brand new one: Streaming to Screaming, which demonstrates how the CRL will make major events more accessible. A passionate Blues supporter swaps watching the game from his lounge for cheering from the stands at Eden Park, his spot in the stands capturing the specific joy of live sport – the noise, the crowd, the fellow fans, the roaring energy that can’t be replicated by even the best home TV setup.
Eden Park is one of New Zealand’s most iconic venues, home to sport, concerts and events throughout the year. The journey to Eden Park made a natural centrepiece for a campaign about the CRL opening up the city, and a meaningful one at that: improved access to major events is among the most tangible benefits the new network will deliver.
“The creative evolution of the campaign is about helping people picture themselves using the CRL,” says Matt Eastwood, Creative Director at Thompson Spencer. “Once people understand where the network goes, the natural next question becomes what does that mean for them.’ That’s what this campaign answers. These are the journeys people will be taking, and want to be taking.”
Rena Murphy, Marketing Manager at Auckland Transport, says the campaign is designed to make the benefits of the City Rail Link feel tangible and personal.
“The first phase helped people understand how the City Rail Link changes the network. This phase makes it vivid – naming the real places, the real journeys, and the real moments waiting on the other side of the trip. The campaign helps Aucklanders picture how the CRL will become a welcome part of everyday life, whether that means getting to and from work more easily, spending more time with friends, or heading to an event.”
The new phase of the campaign runs from 22 June across social media, video on demand (Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, and TVNZ+), radio, and out-of-home. Six radio executions cover different journeys and travel times, and out-of-home placements align with the routes featured in the campaign, reinforcing the connections the City Rail Link will create across the wider rail network.
Once operational, the City Rail Link will convert Waitemātā from a terminus into a through station, with new and upgraded stations significantly increasing network capacity and reducing travel times across Tāmaki Makaurau. The project will connect more Aucklanders to jobs, education, events, hospitality and one another through a faster, more accessible public transport network.
A more connected Auckland. Arriving soon.
