Milestone reached in $14bn Metro Tunnel project

Take a peak at what the journey between Anzac Station and Parkville looks like as the massive project chalks up a significant milestone.

Premier Jacinta Allan has hailed a “significant milestone” as she took her first test ride on the $14bn Metro Tunnel project.

“Work is happening around the clock to test every aspect of the trains of tunnels, the technology that’s needed to run a modern train system that the Metro tunnel will deliver,” the Premier said on Sunday.

Testing will stretch into the middle of 2024 before the project enters a “dress rehearsal” phase – running practice timetabled services with drivers and station staff.

The government was tight-lipped on rumours the Metro Tunnel will open to the public as early as September 2024, maintaining that the project will open in 2025.

A glimpse of inside the tunnel.

“This is a really complicated project, very complex … there’s a lot of components with a lot of moving parts which we absolutely need to get right,” Minister for Transport Infrastructure Danny Pearson said.

“We’ll be working tirelessly every day between now and when we open to make sure that we get it right, which means (sticking to) that time frame of 2025.”

The rumours of an early finish to the project were sparked by comments from tunnel builder John Holland’s CEO Joe Barr at a lunch event hosted by the Herald Sun and Victorian Chamber of Commerce and Industry in October.

Even if the tunnel does not open until 2025 it will still be a full year ahead of schedule, Premier Allan said.

The train travelled from Anzac Station to Parkville.

Premier Jacinta Allan gets a preview of the metro tunnel project.

The Herald Sun was given the opportunity to take a ride from Anzac Station on St Kilda Road to Parkville on one of the Victorian-built trains currently being tested.

Sunday’s journey was an exciting glimpse into the future, with everything running smoothly as the train made a test voyage beneath Melbourne’s CBD.

Despite the government’s happiness with the successful test, there was still clearly plenty of work to be done.

The stations the train passed through looked more like building sites than finished articles and were certainly a long way from being commuter ready.

When the project is completed commuters will save up to 50 minutes of travel time a day, the Premier said.