After a decade of work by thousands of Victorians, the Metro Tunnel is open.
Premier Jacinta Allan and Minister for Transport Infrastructure Gabrielle Williams today joined Victorians to celebrate the official opening, travelling on the first-ever timetabled service through the Metro Tunnel.
The Metro Tunnel is the biggest transformation of the city’s public transport system in 40 years, and it has doubled the size of Melbourne’s underground rail network.
It was fully-funded and delivered by our Victorian Labor Government – and it’s Victorians who benefit.
They’re now better connected to jobs, study, healthcare and shopping, and they can get to work and get back home sooner – on more trains, more often.
The first train through the Metro Tunnel from Sunbury entered the tunnel at 10:04am, marking the beginning of a new era for Melbourne.
The first services departed Sunbury at 9:28am and East Pakenham at 9:03am respectively – converging beneath the city and arriving almost simultaneously at Town Hall Station – before continuing their journeys along the 97-kilometre-long line.
High-capacity signalling made it possible. It was rolled out across the Cranbourne, Pakenham and Sunbury lines – and every single level crossing is removed – unlocking fast, frequent, turn-up-and-go services.
To celebrate, travel across the network is free today and every weekend until Sunday, 1 February.
Also from today, the Summer Start timetable begins, with more than 240 extra services to run each week along the Cranbourne, Pakenham and Sunbury corridors, stopping at all five new underground stations – Arden, Parkville, State Library, Town Hall and Anzac.
In addition to existing services through the City Loop, services will run through the Metro Tunnel every 20 minutes from 10:00am to 3:00pm on weekdays, and from 10:00am to 7:00pm on weekends between Westall and West Footscray, with some weekend services extending to East Pakenham and Sunbury.
From 1 February, the Big Switch will fully integrate the Metro Tunnel into the network. The Sunbury, Cranbourne and Pakenham lines will run exclusively through the tunnels, supported by a new timetable and more than 1,000 extra weekly services.
The Big Switch is also the day when Frankston line services return to the City Loop and a new timetable will be in place everywhere – including buses, trams, regional and metropolitan trains.
Since the Metro Tunnel was first announced, more than 7,000 workers have carved out 1.8 million cubic metres of rock and soil, built twin tunnels, laid 40 kilometres of Australian-made track, poured 754,000 cubic metres of concrete and installed 157,000 tonnes of steel.
Never forget, the Liberals called the Metro Tunnel a “hoax”. The Victorian Liberals said it would divide the city, while the Federal Liberals refused to fund it. Never in their wildest dreams did they think it would actually get built.
Now it’s open.
