Work on Sydney Metro West’s new Hunter St Station is progressing well, with an estimated 30 per cent of excavation works completed so far.
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.
Excavation of the station cavern, where the future station will be built 30m 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 120t 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.
More than 149,000t 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 3.5km twin rail tunnels from The Bays, below Darling Harbour, to Hunter Street where they will be removed.
Sydney Metro West is set to 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.