Metro Tunnel Project will embark on another critical period of end-to-end trial operations in August, as the project gets ready to open later this year.
On Saturday 16 August and Sunday 17 August, Metro Tunnel crews will test all the new systems and infrastructure over an extended time as a dress rehearsal before the project opens to passengers.
Trains running on the Sunbury, Cranbourne and Pakenham lines will run through the Metro Tunnel, so passengers will need to interchange at Footscray and Caulfield to complete their journey, as they are unable to travel inside the tunnel.
More trains will run over the two days compared to the usual weekend timetable, as the Project trials turn-up-and-go services using the Metro Tunnel’s next-generation signalling system in real-world conditions.
This follows a first full day of trial operations in June, when trains ran more than 3,400 kilometres and took 265 trips between Sunbury and Cranbourne and Pakenham East.
Passenger information displays on the trains and platforms will reflect future services, so station staff will be out in force to help people understand how their journey will be affected, with passengers urged to pay careful attention to live announcements.
There will be more full-day trial runs in the coming months as the Metro Tunnel prepares to open to passengers later this year.
Trains have already travelled more than 197,000 kilometres through the tunnels as part of the exhaustive testing and trial operations phases.
The Metro Tunnel will connect the busy Sunbury and Cranbourne, and Pakenham lines via a new tunnel under the city, creating an end-to-end rail line from the north-west to the south-east – giving passengers more choices in how they get to where they need to go.
Minister for Transport Gabrielle Williams said: “The Metro Tunnel will be the biggest transformation of our rail network in more than 40 years, and we need to repeatedly trial all the complex systems before it opens later this year, one year ahead of schedule.”
