Progress on the Metro Tunnel Project is heating up this winter as it undertakes a full day of trial operations on the Pakenham and Cranbourne lines for the very first time.
On Saturday, 21 June, the Metro Tunnel team will test all the new systems and infrastructure over a whole day all the way from East Pakenham to Sunbury – with more trains set to run throughout the day compared to a usual Saturday timetable.
Trains running on the Cranbourne and Pakenham lines need to travel through the Metro Tunnel without passengers – so people will have to change trains at Caulfield to complete their journey.
Information displays on the trains and platforms are also being tested and will show future Metro Tunnel services, not actual services on the day.
Station staff will be out in force to help people understand how their journey is affected – and passengers are urged to pay careful attention to live announcements.
Ben Ryan, Executive Project Director for the Metro Tunnel Project, said the new High-Capacity Metro Trains have already travelled more than 140,000 kilometres inside the tunnels.
“Similar to the testing that car manufacturers would do, we’re testing the trains in the new tunnel over and over to make sure we find and fix any issues before it opens to passengers later this year,“ he said.
“We’ll have plenty of staff on hand at the stations to help everyone get where they need to go on the day. Please allow extra travel time, listen for announcements from the driver and follow the instructions of the team at the station.“
When the Metro Tunnel opens, the Cranbourne and Pakenham lines will come out of the City Loop and run through the new tunnel and five new stations at Anzac (on St Kilda Road), Town Hall and State Library (under Swanston Street in the CBD), Parkville and Arden (North Melbourne) and then on to Sunbury.
Town Hall Station and State Library Station will have direct connections with Flinders Street and Melbourne Central stations so people can change to City Loop services without touching off and on again.
The Metro Tunnel will open later in 2025.
