By rosebell
On 30 November, Melbourne’s Metro Tunnel opened to passengers and the inaugural Metro Tunnel services departed East Pakenham at 9.03am and Sunbury at 9.28am, arriving a minute apart at Town Hall Station in the heart of the city, before continuing their journeys.
Providing access to new destinations and allowing passengers to cross the city from Arden Station in north Melbourne, to Anzac Station on St Kilda Road in just 12 minutes,the twin 9km tunnels and five underground stations have doubled the size of Melbourne’s underground rail network.
Being announced in 2015, the responsibility of constructing the Metro Tunnel project was up to the Cross Yarra Partnership comprising Capella Capital, Lendlease, John Holland, Bouygues and John Laing. The quantity of dug rock and soil during construction was 1.8 million m3, whereas 754,000m3 of concrete and 157,000 tonnes of steel used, and l40km of track laid.
Travel on the network is free during weekends in December and January.
The scheduled date for opening Melbourne’s West Gate road tunnel is before the end of the year.
