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News / Australia
Victoria’s landmark project nears completion, promising “seamless connectivity and enhanced travel experience”
Josh Bull, the Parliamentary Secretary for Transport (centre) with a group of multicultural media in the Met Tunnel. Photo: Supplied
Neos Kosmos, among other media outlets, was invited on a tour of the Melbourne Metro Tunnel, a crown jewel of Victoria’s Big Build. The final track work to connect the Metro Tunnel to the Sunbury Line has now been completed, and according to Josh Bull, the Parliamentary Secretary for Transport, testing of trains in the tunnel has begun, and they have reached speeds of up to 80 km/h.
Bull called it “a really exciting project” and asked the media to think of Melbourne before the City Loop, saying, “we can’t imagine what it would be like without the City Loop.”
“This is a direct connection between Sunbury and the Cranbourne Pakenham line, a 97 km direct connection with five additional stations.”
The Parliamentary Secretary for Transport noted that people “often see this as a city-based project”; however, he emphasised that this is about “running more trains more often.”
“We know that we have grown as a state by about 1 million per decade, and we need to invest in projects like this to accommodate our increased population.”
“When I grew up in Sunbury, the daylight service used to run about one train every hour, and once Metro opens, we will have a phenomenal service that is made possible by this project and many other investments,” Bull said.
The Metro Tunnel, Bull added, is about increasing train accessibility to all suburbs and reducing travel times by routing the busy Cranbourne, Pakenham, and Sunbury lines through a new tunnel.
“By untangling the City Loop, more trains can run more often across Melbourne,” Bull told Neos Kosmos. He mentioned that the Metro is set to be “finished in 2025” and that it is “within budget.” The tour also took the media below what was once City Square, an area that will be redeveloped with retail and landscaping features.
After passing several basements, and with escalators soon to be installed, visitors will descend to the concourse level where the public will catch their trains.
Using the word “ambitious” would be an understatement when describing the vast and cavernous new system beneath Melbourne’s CBD, which boasts one of the largest train platforms globally. This engineering feat was complex, requiring simultaneous execution of tasks such as electricity, tunnelling, and plumbing, all while ensuring minimal disruption to the livelihood of retailers on Swanston Street.
The Pakenham Line, serving as the center of the city’s design and construction, introduces five new underground stations, each of world-class quality.
Now stretching over 97 km from Melbourne’s northwest to southeast, the Metro Tunnel’s new twin 9 km rail tunnels under the city were connected to the Cranbourne/Pakenham Line in January. Notably, the $1.8 billion Sunbury Line Upgrade was completed six months ahead of schedule.
The Metro Tunnel will enable Sunbury passengers to journey directly to Cranbourne or Pakenham without needing to change trains, providing access to five new underground stations upon the project’s public unveiling.
Platform screen doors, commonly used in leading underground rail networks including London, Hong Kong, and Paris, will be introduced for the first time in Melbourne. These doors automatically align with the train’s doors, improving passenger safety and boarding efficiency, aiding station environment management, and enhancing tunnel ventilation. The Metro Tunnel’s five underground stations collectively incorporate over 2 km of platform screens, each featuring 60 platform screen doors constructed from toughened glass. Clear entry markings will guide passengers to their waiting areas.
Melbourne’s new fleet of larger and superior High-Capacity Metro Trains (HCMTs) is scheduled to carry passengers through the Metro Tunnel in 2025 on the Cranbourne/Pakenham to Sunbury Line. The first HCMT began operating on the Pakenham Line in December 2020, and the new trains were progressively introduced on the Cranbourne and Pakenham lines.
To support these new trains, the Cranbourne, Pakenham, and Sunbury lines have undergone upgrades, encompassing enhancements like the power upgrades and platform extensions delivered as part of the Sunbury Line Upgrade. Passengers will benefit from improved features on the HCMTs, representing the first new metro train design in nearly 20 years, manufactured in Victoria.
Basic Facts (supplied by the Victorian Government)
– The Metro Tunnel will create a new end-to-end rail line from Sunbury in the west to Cranbourne/Pakenham in the south east, with bigger and more modern trains, next-generation signalling technology and five new stations.
– The Metro Tunnel is the first step towards a metro-style rail network for Melbourne, with the turn-up-and-go rail services.
– It will give passengers direct train access to new destinations including St Kilda Road (Anzac Station), Melbourne’s major health and education precinct (Parkville Station) and North Melbourne (Arden Station).
– Passengers will save up to 50 minutes a day on a return train trip.
The project includes:
— Twin 9km rail tunnels from Kensington in the west of the city to South Yarra in the south east, connecting the Sunbury Line to the Cranbourne and Pakenham lines
— Five new underground stations at Arden, Parkville, State Library, Town Hall and Anzac
— Passenger connections to Flinders Street and Melbourne Central stations for easy interchange with the City Loop
— Melbourne’s first tram/train interchange at Anzac Station on St Kilda Road
— High Capacity Signalling to enable more frequent services
— Safety features including platform screen doors.
– The platform screen doors will be linked to the High Capacity Signalling system, opening and closing automatically when trains arrive at and depart stations.
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