The Metro Tunnel completes its biggest trial yet
The Metro Tunnel has completed its most significant “dress rehearsal” yet – trains making more than 2600 trips across 10 days as part of trial operations.
Trains travelled more than 35,000 kilometres, roughly the length from Melbourne to London and back, as part of the work in early January in preparation for opening later this year.
Trains travelled at a frequency of between eight and 12 per hour between Hawksburn and West Footscray on the Sunbury and Cranbourne/Pakenham lines via the new twin nine-kilometre tunnels.
Train frequency is expected to increase in the coming months as operators refine the new technology inside the tunnels and stations.
It’s all part of the project’s latest phase to make sure the complex systems and technology are working as designed, and all the necessary processes and procedures are in place for when passenger services begin.
The 10-day blitz was also an opportunity for Metro Trains staff to become more familiar with the project, with another 46 trains drivers trained to operate the new high-capacity Metro Trains – taking the total number of trained drivers to around 200. Trial operations will continue to test the system’s staff and drivers through exercises based on real-life scenarios that focus on the use and operation of the tunnel.
The team will run through more than 100 exercises to demonstrate the project’s complex systems and technology are working as designed.
Some exercises will be rehearsed multiple times over many months to make sure all the necessary processes and procedures are in place for staff ahead of passenger services in 2025.
Activities will range from the fundamentals – such as manual opening and closing of the platform screen doors in the event of a failure – to intruder detection and mass station and train evacuation exercises.
Work on Town Hall and State Library stations in the CBD is progressing at pace, and testing and trial operations will continue in the coming months to ensure the tunnel is safe and reliable.
The Metro Tunnel is the biggest upgrade of Melbourne’s train network since the City Loop opened in 1981, which will double the size of Melbourne’s underground rail network as we move towards becoming Australia’s biggest city.
It will connect the busy Sunbury and Cranbourne/Pakenham lines via a new tunnel and five new stations under the city, creating an end-to-end rail line from the north-west to the south-east, giving passengers new connections and more choice. •

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