By ashleykaren
For the first time in Victoria, underground stations will have platform screen doors installed as part of the State Government’s Metro Tunnel Project.
The doors have been installed at the future Parkville station, and installation is already well in progress at Arden and Anzac stations and is expected to start soon at State Library and Town Hall stations.
The toughened glass sliding doors will open and close in pair with the fleet of Melbourne’s new High-Capacity Metro Trains – making a barrier between the track and platforms to enhance passengers’ safety by preventing people and objects from falling into the path of oncoming trains, and stopping trespassers entering the tunnels.
The doors are an indicator of world-class metro rails systems, such as those in London, Singapore, Hong Kong and Paris. The new technology has been examined in a series of strict tests over several years, in both virtual development and at a test platform at the Pakenham East train depot.
Jacinta Allan, the Victorian Acting Premier and Minister for Transport and Infrastructure, pointed out: “Platform screen doors will keep passengers safe and services moving. They’re a hallmark of metro systems around the world – and soon they’ll be a part of Victoria’s rail network.”
Sixty doors will be equipped at each station, with 300 to be installed across the five new underground stations which are going to be constructed by the project – sufficiently to stretch from Flinders Street Station to the MCG.
Work on the rest of the Metro Tunnel is carrying on rapidly – with crews presently working to complete 24 days of around-the-clock work to divide the Frankston Line from the Cranbourne/Pakenham Line at Caulfield Station.
Once the Metro Tunnel opens in 2025 – a year ahead of schedule, the track advancements will enable trains to operate every two-to-three minutes.
Moreover, the Metro Tunnel’s stations are taking shape quickly, with the fit-out of lifts, escalators, security systems, CCTV, passenger information displays and emergency phones underway, plus the tracks being laid along the nine-kilometer twin tunnels.
Ms. Allan declared: “Work is continuing on the Metro Tunnel at pace – the project is taking shape now, with test trains set to run later this year before the project opens to passengers to transform transport in Melbourne in 2025.”
Once operational, the Metro Tunnel will make capacity for more than half a million extra passengers per week to move during peak times across Melbourne’s train network.
