Sydney’s new twin metro railway tunnels are now 70 per cent complete as tunnelling reaches the heart of the city deep under Martin Place, with work under the CBD about to head to Barangaroo.
Premier Gladys Berejiklian and Transport Minister Andrew Constance joined workers 28 metres under Sydney to welcome Tunnel Boring Machine (TBM) Nancy to the new Martin Place Station.
“This historic milestone means 22 kilometres of the Sydney Metro tunnels are now finished in just 11 months – that’s 70 per cent of the new tunnels on Australia’s biggest public transport project,” Ms Berejiklian said.
“While people are getting on with life in the city above, deep underneath the CBD giant machines like TBM Nancy are getting on with the job, building tunnels for our future metro rail.”
Since launching in October 2018, TBM Nancy has tunnelled 6.8 kilometres via the new metro stations at Waterloo, Central and Pitt Street.
Mr Constance said TBM Nancy will spend a few weeks undergoing maintenance before being re-launched to complete the last 1.3 kilometre section between Martin Place and Barangaroo.
“This tunnelling is pivotal to a well-connected public transport system here at Martin Place, where customers will be able to transfer between the new metro and the Eastern Suburbs & Illawarra line,” Mr Constance said.
“Deep under city streets and buildings, this historic new metro line will not only increase the capacity of our rail network but make it easier to get around.”
It has taken about 21 months to build the caverns for the new Martin Place Station ahead of TBM Nancy’s arrival, removing about 198,000 tonnes of rock – enough to fill about 30 Olympic swimming pools.
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