Metro Tunnel test trains reach maximum operating speed of 80km/h
Metro Tunnel trains have passed a major speed trial signalling a big milestone for the $14bn project, which is scheduled to open in just two years.
Metro Tunnel trains have reached their maximum operating speed of 80km/h during testing on the cross-city rail project.
The test trains successfully reached the speed they will run between the five Metro stations, compared to the 60km/h mark for trains on the City Loop.
The speed trial represents a major milestone for the $14bn project, scheduled to open by 2025.
In other developments for the underground rail connection between South Kensington and South Yarra:
• Escalators and lifts are being installed at all five station sites.
• The glass entrance canopy for Parkville Station has been completed.
• Footpaths and entries are being built outside Arden Station on Laurens St, North Melbourne.
Major work has also begun at Calder Park Drive, Hillside, to remove a level crossing and build a road bridge over the Sunbury Line by 2025.
The changes will prepare the network for more trains on the Cranbourne, Pakenham and Sunbury lines – as many as 25 an hour.
The high-capacity signalling is being installed on an existing network, and the state government is promising that it will allow trains to travel closer together and more often.
Transport and Infrastructure Minister Jacinta Allan said four Sunbury Line level-crossings had gone, with another four to be removed in the northwest growth corridors.
“We can provide more trains more often for these booming communities when the Metro Tunnel opens,’’ Ms Allan said.
Work on the Metro Tunnel project began in 2017 with tunnel boring starting two years later.
The budget was initially to be $10.9bn but costs have since blown out by $3bn.
