Testing delays could push Metro Tunnel opening into late 2025

The Metro Tunnel Project is prepared for up to 12 months of delays during a risky phase of testing and trial operations, which could push the opening of Melbourne’s new underground train line to late 2025.

The state government has previously said the $12.6 billion cross-city rail line between Kensington and South Yarra would open some time in 2025 – a year earlier than first scheduled.

Town Hall Station (pictured in February 2023) is one of five new underground stations built as part of the Metro Tunnel Project. Credit: Justin McManus

But expectations were raised last week that the tunnel and its five new inner-city stations would open to passengers even earlier, after the boss of one of its builders said it was on track to finish work in September 2024.

“The trains are being tested at full speed and we’re certainly looking forward to day-one operations in September next year,” Joe Barr, chief executive of John Holland, reportedly told a business lunch on Tuesday. “We’ve been working on this thing... for 10 years and next year will be the year when it is revealed.”

Documents released to The Age through a freedom of information request two days after Barr’s comments confirm that as of July, the project’s target for “day 1 train operations” was September 17, 2024.

But the document also shows a timeline contingency plan for passenger operations, which means it might not open until the fourth quarter of 2025.

The contingency reflects the potential for unexpected problems with new technology now being tested, including High-Capacity Signalling, which will guide trains through the tunnel, and automatic platform screen doors at stations.

A Victorian Auditor-General’s Office report released in June last year first revealed that the project was working towards a September 2024 opening date, and had a May 30, 2023 target to be ready to operate test trains.

The first test train did not enter the tunnel until June 26, two months after that target. Testing will take 16 months and will be followed by trials involving drivers and station staff.

Rail Futures Institute president John Hearsch said the project was entering its riskiest phase, with the greatest potential for things to go wrong during the testing of new systems and integration into the existing rail network.

“The trains and the signalling and the way they interact are much more complex than the old signalling systems, and then you’ve got things like the platform screen doors which have to work exactly with the trains,” he said.

Hearsch said London’s Crossrail project, which was delayed several years and experienced signalling communication faults, showed how things could go wrong at this stage of the project.

A spokesperson for Rail Projects Victoria, the state government agency overseeing the project, would not address the September 2024 opening target, but noted the Metro Tunnel was entering a “complex phase of testing”.

“It’s critical we take the time to get it right to ensure the Metro Tunnel is safe and reliable before we start passenger services,” they said. “Crews are working around the clock to finish the project as soon as possible and the Metro Tunnel remains on track to open in 2025.”

The Metro Tunnel, a flagship achievement of former premier Daniel Andrews, commenced major construction in 2017 and will eventually connect the Sunbury and Cranbourne/Pakenham lines, and is projected to carry 12,000 commuters every morning.

Trains will switch over to the High Capacity Signalling when they enter the nine-kilometre tunnel under the CBD and operate automatically without input from drivers, allowing them to run closer together and more frequently.

Platform screen doors designed to open automatically when trains arrive are also being installed at the five new underground stations located at Arden in North Melbourne, Parkville, State Library and Town Hall in the CBD, and Anzac on St Kilda Road at the Domain.

John Holland is part of a consortium that also includes Metro Trains, which has been contracted to conduct the signalling and rail systems work. The company referred questions about Barr’s comments to Rail Projects Victoria.

The Morning Edition newsletter is our guide to the day’s most important and interesting stories, analysis and insights. Sign up here.