Back in August, the doors opened to a shiny new stretch of Sydney Metro – 15 kilometres of new metro tunnels connecting Sydney from Chatswood in the north to Sydenham in the Inner West. The latest addition to the Sydney Metro system was described by Transport Minister Jo Haylen as the biggest upgrade to the city’s infrastructure since the opening of the Harbour Bridge, but it’s not stopping there. Once complete, the Sydney Metro project will comprise 46 stations across the city, and tunnel boring on the final section of the huge Sydney Metro West project is now underway.
When it starts welcoming passengers (due for 2032), Sydney Metro West will double rail capacity between Greater Parramatta and the Sydney CBD. Currently, a lot of the heavy lifting on the Metro West project is being done by enormous tunnel boring machines (TMBs), which are constructing 2.3-kilometre twin railway tunnels deep below the harbour.
Named after women’s rights activist and Australia’s first radio astronomer Ruby Payne-Scott, the TMB Ruby has just begun its journey under the harbour to form the final stretch of tunnel. The 1,100-tonne machine will operate around the clock, seven days a week – gradually excavating earth beneath the harbour before arriving at Hunter Street in Sydney CBD.
These tunnels will form the second under-harbour railway crossing for Sydney, with the first (part of the M1 Metro line) running beneath the harbour connecting Barangaroo to North Sydney in just three minutes.
“Over the next 20 years, 420,000 people are expected to move into the corridor surrounding these future metro stations. This new line will keep our growing city moving,” Minister for Transport Jo Haylen said.
You can learn more about where Sydney Metro is going next via the map below, and we’ve put together all of our Sydney Metro insights – from details on the station artwork to facts about accessibility – over here.
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