By Ashley Karen
Tested trains will soon begin operating beneath Melbourne’s CBD, with the laying of tracks in the Metro Tunnel now complete.
The final lengths of Australian-made steel rail on the tracks have been laid in March 2023, the culmination of nine months of work along the twin 9km tunnels and stations.
The operation started in mid-2022 when teams began installing 4,000 high-performance concrete panels to make an even base for the rail and ensure it was correctly aligned.
The panels were released in 300 distinct shapes to match the curvature and elevation of the tunnels as they wind from Kensington to South Yarra, up to about 40m underground.
The 236 lengths of steel rail are exceptionally strong but flexible enough to curve along the tunnels where required.
With the track in place, the team is now getting ready for the first test trains to operate through the tunnel in the second half of this year, kicking off a period of accurate testing to guarantee the Metro Tunnel is safe and ready for passengers in 2025 – a year ahead of timetable.
Jacinta Allan, the acting Premier, and Minister for Transport and Infrastructure, claimed: “This is an incredibly significant milestone for the Metro Tunnel project, one of the biggest rail infrastructure projects in Victoria’s history and for the future of our train network.”
She continued: “The Metro Tunnel is supporting thousands of jobs and will support thousands more when it’s up and running – delivering turn-up-and-go trains to the city, the suburbs, and, eventually, the world via Melbourne Airport Rail.”
The testing will guarantee that the Metro Tunnel’s complicated systems are working together, with the new bigger, better trains, alongside the more expansive network’s existing signaling system – an extremely complex procedure.
Simultaneously, work will carry on with fitting out the five new stations with security systems, CCTV, lifts, escalators, passenger information displays, and emergency phones.
When finished, the Metro Tunnel Project will develop capacity for over half a million additional passengers each week during peak times and save passengers in the suburbs up to 50 minutes a day on a return trip.
In addition, when SRL Airport opens in 2029, Metro Tunnel services will operate straightforwardly from the heart of the CBD to the airport in nearly half an hour.
