In New Zealand's largest city, Auckland, the once neglected railway infrastructure is being redeveloping at a frantic pace. In the week before Easter, the Deputy Prime Minister, Dr Michael Cullen, climbed into a crane to ceremonially lift a section of rail in the west-Auckland suburb of New Lynn to make way for a kilometre-long rail trench. The end result will be a separation of road and rail that will allow both the space they need to develop. It's all part of a $600 million project to revamp the city's ailing railway network . The project is being run by Government-owned rail infrastructure manager, ONTRACK. Across town on the same day, another ceremony was taking place, also involving ONTRACK. Members of the team working on the electrification of the Auckland network held their own 'sod-turning' ceremony - albeit a lower key affair. The Auckland Electrification Project was unveiled by the Government in its May 2007 Budget with the Crown providing funding directly to ONTRACK for below track elements.
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