Getting On With The Job Of Building The Metro Tunnel
20 July 2018
Victorian Government:
Contractors have been selected to build
the twin
tunnel entrances of the Andrews Labor Government’s
Metro Tunnel
Project, which will see dozens of high capacity trains pass through them
each hour as part of
Victoria’s biggest ever public transport project.
Minister for Public Transport Jacinta Allan was at the future site of
Parkville Station today to announce a consortium comprising
John
Holland,
CPB Contractors and
AECOM have been selected as the preferred
bidders to deliver the $1 billion
Rail Infrastructure Alliance (RIA) works package.
The new Parkville Station will connect the health precinct and
University of
Melbourne to the metropolitan
rail network for the first time.
More than 1,000 people will work on the construction of Parkville
Station, with construction currently focused on creating the underground
support structures needed to enable the safe excavation of around
200,000m3 of rock and soil below Grattan Street.
The $1 billion RIA works package, is the last major contract as part of
the Metro Tunnel project. The consortium will build the tunnel entrances
in South Yarra and Kensington, which will each see thousands of
passengers pass through every hour before their trains go underground
and onto twin 9km tracks beneath Melbourne.
New high-capacity signalling will allow trains to pass through the new
entrances every two to three minutes in each direction – a vital part of
the Metro Tunnel, which will deliver major benefits for suburban
passengers.
The project will also slash waiting times and overcrowding across
Melbourne’s train network by giving Melbourne’s three busiest lines a
new underground pathway through the city, thereby freeing up space in
the City Loop for the benefit of other train lines.
This additional capacity will create room for an additional 504,000 peak
passengers each week across the network. The RIA also includes works on
train lines out in the suburbs to maximise the benefits of the Metro
Tunnel and take full advantage of the extra capacity it creates.
Public spaces near the eastern tunnel portal, including South Yarra
Siding Reserve, Lovers Walk and Osborne Street Reserve, will be
rejuvenated as part of these works before being returned to the local
community once tunnel entrance works are complete.
Around 1000 people will work on the RIA package, which is part of the
$11 billion project that is on budget and ahead of schedule. Site
preparations ahead of portal construction will commence later this year,
with most RIA works expected to be finished in line with the completion
of the tunnels and stations, by the end of 2025.
Quotes attributable to Minister for Public Transport Jacinta
Allan
“We’re continuing to build the critical infrastructure needed to help
Victorians get home safer and sooner every day.”
“The Metro Tunnel will deliver more trains, more often to the outer
suburbs and slash travel times to some of Melbourne’s key health,
education, jobs and tourism hubs.”
--ENDS--
Source: Victorian Government - www.premier.vic.gov.au
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