Passengers will board trains bound for the Metro Tunnel and its five new underground stations for the first time next month, as the $15 billion project inches closer to opening.
Trains on the Sunbury and Cranbourne/Pakenham lines will be part of a June 21 trial, but passengers will need to wait to travel through the tunnel itself.
Trains operating between Sunbury and Cranbourne/Pakenham through the Metro Tunnel will take passengers for the first time, but not through the tunnel itself.
City-bound passengers on those lines will transfer to other services at either Footscray or Caulfield. Empty trains will continue through the nine-kilometre underground tunnel between Kensington and South Yarra, passing new stops at Arden, Parkville, State Library, Town Hall and Anzac stations.
Work is still being done at the Metro Tunnel’s two new CBD stations – State Library and Town Hall – but the Allan government has insisted the project will come online by the end of 2025.
Minister for Transport Infrastructure Gabrielle Williams said two of the major Big Build projects that had caused years of transport disruptions were nearing completion.
“A huge amount of work is underway this winter, with the finish line in sight for Metro Tunnel and West Gate Tunnel – city-shaping projects that will ease congestion and cut travel times,” Williams said.
Big Build projects will cause disruptions elsewhere on the transport network over winter, including one of Melbourne’s busiest train lines being shut for a week.
Buses will replace trains on the Cranbourne/Pakenham line, and V/Line’s Traralgon and Bairnsdale trains from Friday, August 29, to Friday, September 5, due to work at Clayton Station to prepare for tunnelling to start on the $34.5 billion Suburban Rail Loop next year.
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