Sydney’s vast new Martin Place metro station gets finishing touches

The fit out of a massive new train station beneath Sydney’s Martin Place is in its final stages, as workers install signage and seats on two 170-metre-long platforms where passengers will catch driverless trains from early next year.

The 25 escalators at the underground metro train station that will take commuters to and from trains are also undergoing testing and commissioning, while 14 shafts will be ready to be fitted with lifts in October.

A render of escalators in a large atrium at the new Martin Place metro station.Credit: NSW government

The new Martin Place station is part of the $21.6 billion Metro City and Southwest rail line, the main section of which from Chatswood to Sydenham via the CBD is due to open as early as next April. It comprises six new underground stations, including at Pitt Street, near Town Hall, and at Barangaroo.

Transport Minister Jo Haylen said it was “full steam ahead” to complete work at the new station, which would offer passengers a new public transport hub as well as commercial, retail and dining options.

“Fifty thousand people have worked on this project from start to finish. Metro will be a transformative project for Sydney,” she said.

The platforms at Martin Place, located 25 metres below street level, are almost complete. Tiles and wall panels are in place, and the finishing touches are being put in place as workers install signage and seats on the two platforms.

The new metro precinct has a footprint of more than a city block and will include 3000 square metres of shops, restaurants, cafes and bars over three floors. Station shopfronts have been installed and tenants will be handed the keys to start their fit-out in early 2024.

Commuters will have a direct underground link from the single-deck metro trains to the existing platforms for the T4 Eastern Suburbs and Illawarra Line at Martin Place. A new pedestrian walkway will also connect Martin Place station to Hunter Street.

Above the station’s northern entrance, a 39-storey tower reached its top height in June, and a 28-storey office building above the southern entrance is due to do the same in September.

Under an unsolicited proposal approved by the previous government in 2019, Macquarie Group has contracted Lendlease to build the towers, as well as the station below and pedestrian connections.

Work on escalators at the Martin Place metro station is nearing completion. Credit: NSW government

Sections of Martin Place plaza, which have been used during construction of the station and towers, will begin reopening to the public early next year.

A separate pedestrian tunnel under the heritage-listed state savings bank building at 50 Martin Place, connecting the north and south ends of the new Metro City and Southwest station, means people will be able to walk through without passing ticket gates.

While the main section of the new line is due to open early next year, the conversion of existing rail tracks between Sydenham and Bankstown to metro train standards as part of the project is not expected to be completed until 2025.

The extra cost of converting a 13-kilometre stretch of the Bankstown line has pushed up the bill for Metro City and Southwest to about $21.6 billion, almost twice the original forecast of $12 billion last decade.

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