The upcoming winter months are set to be filled with local metro tunnel trial operations, as the construction on Clyde Road progresses.
There will be a full day of trial operations on Saturday, 21 June, where new systems and infrastructure will be tested for an extended period of time, impacting operations on the Cranbourne, Pakenham and Sunbury lines.
In Casey, crews on the Clyde Road Upgrade in Berwick will close the Princes Freeway citybound exit ramp onto Clyde Road from mid-June to November.
The Clyde Road entry ramp onto the Princes Freeway Warragul-bound will also be closed from July until October.
For the train lines, this means more trains are set to run throughout the day as compared to the usual Saturday timetable, with passengers on the mentioned lines required to interchange at Footscray and Caulfield to complete their journey.
State Minister for Transport Infrastructure, Gabrielle Williams, said that the Metro Tunnel Project “is gearing up for its first full day of trial operations as it prepares to open to passengers later this year”.
The project is one year ahead of schedule, as crews are scheduled to continue working in the two new CBD stations.
In light of this, from Friday, 29 August to Friday, 5 September, buses will be replacing trains on the Cranbourne, Pakenham, Traralgon and Bairnsdale lines as Suburban Rail Loops crews continue works at Clayton Station to prepare for the tunnelling’s start in 2026.
Information displays on the trains and platforms will reflect future services, so station staff will also be present to assist passengers with understanding how their journey is affected.
The new, high-capacity metro trains have travelled over 140,000 kilometres inside the tunnels, and while these trials continue, disruptions are to be expected throughout the Cranbourne, Pakenham, Sunbury and Gippsland lines.
Two more level crossings will be removed in the north-west, and testing of the locally built X-Trapolis 2.0 will continue, with buses to replace trains on sections of the Cranbourne, Pakenham, Frankston, Sunbury and Werribee lines.
“A huge amount of work is underway this winter, with the finish line in sight for Metro tunnel and West Gate Tunnel – city-shaping projects that will ease congestion and cut travel times,” Williams said.
Throughout Melbourne, the West Gate tunnels are near completion, and with this comes some outbound lane and ramp closures on the West Gate Freeway.
Outbound travel will also be reduced to three lanes between Williamstown Road and Millers Road, with the Williamstown outbound onramp to be closed, along with the Millers Road exit ramp.
