A brand new Sydney CBD metro station and metro line hub has passed an important milestone with an estimated 30 per cent of excavation work complete on Sydney Metro West’s Hunter St Station.
When Sydney Metro West opens, passengers will be able to use an underground walkway to connect to metro services on the Metro North West Line and City & Southwest line at Martin Place.
Further connections to the Sydney light rail and train network are also minutes away on George Street and at Wynyard Station.
Premier Chris Minns said he was delighted to see Hunter Street Metro Station hit this major milestone.
“Sydney Metro is Australia’s biggest public transport project, and this station will play a key role in transporting people around this new metro network,” he said.
“This project won’t just provide fast, reliable transport to the people of Sydney, it will also provide a major new housing boost so future generations have well-located homes across our city.”
Excavation of the station cavern, where the future station will be built 30 metres underground, is powering ahead with all three roadheaders working at the site.
Roadheaders are specially designed electric-powered tunnelling machines that have a rotating head fitted with metal picks to break and excavate rock.
Each roadheader weighs up to 120 tonnes and will be used to excavate the Hunter Street Station cavern and turnback tunnels. The turnback tunnels to the east of the new station will allow trains to turn around before travelling back towards Westmead.
Minister for Transport Jo Haylen said she was excited that the milestone had been reached.
“We’re building Sydney’s second under harbour railway crossing, which is the final tunnelling piece in this mega project and can’t wait to see two more tunnel boring machines launch into action this year,” she said.
“By connecting these two CBDs from Parramatta to Hunter Street, passengers in between will have access to fast and reliable metro services – in some cases new rail services for the very first time – to Sydney’s integrated, world-class precincts.”
More than 149,000 tonnes of dirt have been excavated by the roadheaders so far, and the largest area of the cavern that has been excavated is 235m2.
As the roadheaders complete excavation on the station cavern and associated tunnels, two tunnel boring machines will be launched at The Bays in mid-2024, to carve out the 3.5-kilometre twin rail tunnels from The Bays, below Darling Harbour, to Hunter Street where they will be removed.
Sydney Metro West will double rail capacity between Greater Parramatta and the Sydney CBD, linking new communities to rail services and supporting housing supply, transforming Sydney for generations to come.
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