Behind the scenes of the fire that threatened Sydney’s Super Tunnel

As a burning building brought a city to a standstill, just metres way the battle was on to save the centrepiece of a $20 billion rail project.

It was the fire that not only brought a city to a standstill, but threatened to destroy the centrepiece of a $20 billion rail project before it even opened.

Now, never-before-seen footage of the battle to save one of Sydney’s new Metro stations will be aired for the first time.

While fire fighters battled to contain the blaze that ripped through an empty building on Randle St, Surry Hills, just metres away engineers and infrastructure experts were waging their own battle to save the Sydney Metro tunnel at Central Station.

As the structural integrity of the burning building waned, and pieces of brick and mortar began cascading onto the ground below, Sydney Metro project manager Hugh Lawson couldn’t believe his eyes.

“We’d had the handover, it was looking brilliant,” Mr Lawson said.

“(Then) you can see the brickwork falling onto the new station entrance that we’ve

built.”

A building on the corner of Chalmers Street and Elizabeth Street in Surry Hills went up in flames with dozens of fire trucks called to subdue the flames. Picture: Nathan Schmidt

Sydney Metro Project Manager Hugh Lawson. Picture: Supplied

“It’s pretty strange, it’s almost like watching a movie or something on TV,” Mr Lawson said.

“This is a building we’ve worked on for years, it’s a new part of the station, we’re really proud about it, we’re ready to open it,” he said.

“And we’re watching it from a distance, right next to this fire, being damaged in front of our eyes”.

Mr Lawson features in Sydney’s Super Tunnel, a documentary which airs on SBS on Thursday night, and takes viewers on the eight-year journey behind the scenes of the construction of the Sydney Metro - 60kms of a driverless metro line from Sydney’s northwest, under Sydney Harbour, through the city and beyond.

Water from fire hoses flooded the Central Station construction site, and extensive damage was dealt to elevators, escalators, lighting and other electrical systems throughout the station.

The structural integrity of the station roof was also compromised by falling pieces of the burning building, with rectification work would needing to be completed in several key areas.

“I think we’re all lucky that Fire and Rescue were able to contain the blaze,” Mr Lawson said.

“For the team involved, to be right on the point of completion it was heartbreaking. To see the works ready to go and then have that taken away”.

Gallons of water cascade down a staircase in Central Station, damaging key parts of the Sydney Metro construction site. Picture: John Grainger

Excavators remove the rubble left behind by the fire on Randle Street. Picture: Monique Harmer

The battle to save Central Station is just one aspect featured in the documentary.

“With unprecedented exclusive access, we’ve spent eight years following many of the 50,000 people who built this amazing new metro deep under the centre of Sydney,” executive producer and co-creator of Sydney’s Super Tunnel Matthew Reilly said.

“We’ve captured amazing stories of the most extraordinary achievements, like dodging the foundations of Sydney Tower by a couple of metres, mega tunnel boring machines crashing through the walls of sandstone or how you get a driverless train ready to run - things people don’t get to see because they’re always hidden behind construction hoardings,” he said.

Mark Camwell and Matthew Reilly are the creators and executive producers of Sydney's Super Tunnel docu-series. Picture: Supplied

Former NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian and former Transport Minister Andrew Constance walk inside the tracks 40 meters below Sydney Harbour in the stretch of Metro Tunnel in June 2021, which is now located between Barangaroo and Victoria Cross stations. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Dylan Coker

“It was extraordinary to film from the start all the hard work that went into building it - all the challenges and heartache faced. Since it opened, Sydney Metro has captured the city’s imagination.”

Co-creator and co-executive producer Mark Camwell said the series highlights not only the engineering feat that was needed, but some of the “most incredible stories and told them in a deeply personal way”.

“Very quickly we realised there were people from all over the world here, whether it was project director Hugh Lawson - fresh from building massive rail infrastructure in the UK - or Vincent Ganet, the French tunneller who came to dig under Sydney Harbour,” Mr Camwell said.

“Jamie Cheuk was the first-time tunnel boring machine engineer who grew up in Western Sydney and helped build the railway that will serve her home town for generations to come.”

Construction is underway on the southwest line of the Sydney Metro, which will see trains that terminate in Sydenham continue onto Bankstown.

Season 2 of Sydney’s Super Tunnel premieres 8.30pm on Thursday April 3,

2025 on SBS-TV across Australia and streams free on SBS On Demand,

where the first season is also available.