The City Rail Link (CRL) has attracted strong international interest in the contract for the project's tunnels and stations.
Ten companies from Europe, China, Australia and New Zealand have participated in the pre-qualification phase of the contract and eight have been approved to move to the next phase which is the expression of interest.
The two that were not approved are specialist service providers best placed to provide sub-consultancy services to the eventual contractor.
Project director Chris Meale says it is great to see such a wide range of positive interest in delivering the project for Auckland.
"We had hundreds of people attend an industry briefing late last year and it is rewarding to see that investment paying off for us in the quality and breadth of experience that the bidders are bringing to the process.
"We are competing with other major infrastructure projects worldwide and it is important to attract enough interest for a competitive process that will ensure Auckland gets value for money."
Expressions of interest for the tunnel and station work will be released shortly, then evaluated, and in around October two will be shortlisted for the tender phase.
"The tender process, for a project as complex as CRL, will take several months. Tenders will then be evaluated before the contractor is selected next year," says Mr Meale.
