Council drops underground city rail link station plan

Over 20 properties will be saved after the Auckland Council changed plans to build an underground rail station, but 260 are still set to go.

The NZ Herald reports the council's no longer seeking a route designation over land west of Ian McKinnon Drive in Eden Terrace, where it had wanted to build an interchange station for the $2.86 billion underground rail project.

It's saved over 20 properties including a block of 24 new apartments, the Tawari Mews.

Resident Brent Foster, who moved in to the apartment with his partner in April, says people in the block are relieved they won't have to spend the year fighting the proposal.

Properties still affected include the Downtown Shopping Centre and the five storey TV3 building below New North Road.

A block of character buildings in Victoria Street is also under threat to make way for one of three proposed underground stations.

Photo: NZ Herald