THE 9km twin-bore Metro Tunnel running beneath the centre of Melbourne opened on November 30. The tunnel connects commuter lines to the north and south of the capital of the Australian state of Victoria and a total of 70,000 passengers travelled through the new tunnel on the opening day.
Under a soft launch in place until the end of January, services are running at 20-minute headways during the day, with all public transport in Victoria free at weekends until February 1 when a major restructuring of commuter services will take place under the Big Switch programme. This will see trains operating through the Metro Tunnel at 3-4 minute headways in the peaks, adding over 1000 services every week to the Metro Train timetable.
The new tunnel runs from Footscray in the north to South Yarra in the south at a depth of up to 40m, although at one point passing only 1.5m beneath an existing rail tunnel. The twin bores are connected by 26 cross-passages for use in an emergency.
Five new underground stations have been built, all equipped with platform screen doors for 10-car trains, although only six-car trains are operated at present.
The Metro Tunnel project has been delivered slightly ahead of schedule, while according to local media reports the final cost is an estimated $A 15.5bn ($US 10.2bn), up from the original budget of $A 10.9bn and attributed mainly to due to the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic and subsequent cost inflation.
The cost overrun has been shared between the Victoria state government and the Cross Yarra Partnership of Lendlease Melbourne Metro, John Holland, Bouygues Construction, John Laing and Capella Capital which built the new tunnel, although the precise amounts have yet to be disclosed. The opening date was brought forward from 2026 as part of the financial settlement.
For detailed data on urban rail projects in Australia, subscribe to IRJ Pro.
