There'll be no trains running in Auckland, from today

The city's rail network is now fully shut - for KiwiRail to carry out critical upgrades in preparation for the City Rail Link to open in 2026.

It'll partially re-open on January 28, and all services will be fully operational again on February 3.

KiwiRail Chief Infrastructure Officer Andre Lovatt says they know it's frustrating, but this work needs to be done.

He says these are upgrades that'll turn our existing freight network, into one that's geared to much more frequent and reliable passenger train services.