The release of tender documents for the City Rail Link tunnels and stations will be delayed by up to three months following the withdrawal of a preferred bidder from the process.

CRL chief executive Chris Meale says while the withdrawal is disappointing it won’t prevent progress on the CRL tender and discussions have already started with another prospective bidder.

“We are fortunate that the initial line-up of eight bidders for the project was exceptional and it was a hard choice to determine the top two.”

Mr Meale said one of them made its own commercial decision to withdraw this week. “While we are naturally disappointed, we are moving on.”

It is too early to tell if the three-month delay will roll on into the current project completion date of early 2024.

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