New Zealand's Transport Agency (NZTA) has announced that it is conducting market engagement sessions for a light rail PPP project in Auckland, proposed by New Zealand Super Fund in consortium with CDPQ Infra, a wholly owned subsidiary of Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec (CDPQ) in April this year.

The agency is holding an industry briefing for the project, which involves the development of two light rail lines, in Auckland on 31 July. Selected interested parties will invited to subsequent meetings with NZTA in Auckland and Sydney.

The industry briefing is open to local and international firms within the light rail and wider infrastructure sectors, including professional services providers, civil works and infrastructure contractors, rolling stock, systems, operations and maintenance providers, and infrastructure investors and financiers.

The tendering of the project was approved by New Zealand's Cabinet in May, but no timeline has yet been published for the procurement and award of the design-build-finance-operate contract as proposed by the NZ Super-CDPQ consortium.