The Metro Tunnel is set to open in less than two weeks and Pakenham’s Mark Godden is set to be among the first drivers to transport people through the city’s five new stations.
The moment is even more significant for Mr Godden as he continues a lineage of train drivers.
“We really have come such a long way in the last 15 years,” he said.
The Metro Tunnel will be the biggest transformation of Melbourne’s rail network in 40 years, and Pakenham’s Mark Godden has played a key role in making it happen.
Mr Godden is among more than 500 drivers trained to drive through the project’s new state-of-the-art tunnels and train stations.
He has followed in the footsteps of his train driver father-in-law and grandfather-in-law. His son is also on the waitlist to start training as a driver, which would make him a fourth-generation train driver.
Mr Godden has driven trains for 17 years – in recent years becoming an on-the-job trainer, mentoring other drivers as they learn to drive in the Metro Tunnel.
He said driving a train through the Metro Tunnel was a “surreal experience.”
“It’s great to be able to show drivers all the advancements in signalling, level crossing removals and brand-new stations,” Mr Godden said.
“We really have come such a long way in the last 15 years.”
He said the new tunnel, which will open on Sunday 30 November, would change how people move around the city.
“I’m quite excited for the different opportunities we will now have to get around the CBD and greater Melbourne,” Mr Godden said.
Each of the drivers trained to operate through the Metro Tunnel has undertaken additional training on the cutting-edge systems and technology that will be used on Victoria’s new train line.
Eventually, the number of drivers trained will rise to more than 1,000 drivers trained – the majority of drivers on the metropolitan network.
Each driver must undertake around 150 hours of extra training on the cutting-edge systems and technology that will be used in the tunnel and on sections of the Sunbury, Cranbourne and Pakenham lines.
With five new stations, passengers from the South East will find their commute or weekend trip to the city significantly changed, while it will free up capacity in the City Loop to run more trains more often across more lines.
The new twin nine-kilometre rail tunnels between Kensington in Melbourne’s north-west and South Yarra in the South East will connect the Sunbury, Cranbourne and Pakenham lines up to 40 metres under the centre of the CBD.
The project includes five new underground train stations – Arden, Parkville, State Library and Town Hall and Anzac – which will allow people to catch a train for the first time to Parkville’s hospitals, the University of Melbourne and the St Kilda Road business district.
The two CBD stations – State Library and Town Hall – will have interchanges with the City Loop for easy transfers.
Passengers in Melbourne’s south-east will be able to access the five new state-of-the-art stations directly via Cranbourne and Pakenham line trains.
The Summer Start over December and January will mean more than 240 extra services a week for passengers along the Cranbourne, Pakenham and Sunbury corridor – all running through the Metro Tunnel – in addition to existing services.
Services will run every 20 minutes between Westall and West Footscray – from 10am until 3pm on weekdays and from 10am until 7pm on weekends. Some weekend services will be extended to East Pakenham and Sunbury.
From February 1, the Big Switch will fully integrate the Metro Tunnel into the wider transport network.
More than 1,000 new weekly train services will be introduced and all Cranbourne, Pakenham and Sunbury services will run through the Metro Tunnel.
This will deliver a turn-up-and-go network on the Sunbury, Cranbourne and Pakenham lines with trains running every 3 – 4 minutes on average between Watergardens and Dandenong in the peak and trains running at least every 10 minutes between Watergardens and Dandenong stations outside of the peak between 6am and 9pm.
The Big Switch will also see the Frankston line return to the City Loop, improving access to the CBD for thousands of passengers on one of Melbourne’s busiest lines.
