A major year of tunnelling on a huge Sydney Rail project has begun with the relaunch of two tunnel boring machines at a key metro station.

The New South Wales Government has announced that tunnel boring machines Beatrice and Daphne have relaunched at the Five Dock Metro Station site.

Set to open in 2032, the Sydney Metro West project will deliver two 24-kilometer rail tunnels which will double rail capacity between the growing hub of Parramatta and the Sydney CBD.

The project is expected to deliver 10,000 direct construction jobs along with a further 70,000 indirect jobs.

(Station box for what will be the new Five Dock Station. TBM Beatrice is on the left, TBM Daphne is on the left.)

The relaunch comes after the two TBMS made tunnelling history on November 30 when they arrived at Five Dock Station minutes apart.

That breakthrough achieved what the New South Wales Government says is the first ever double breakthrough of tunnel boring machines in the Southern Hemisphere.

The machines have now been relaunched after undergoing maintenance that was considered to be necessary in order for them to continue along the next leg of their journey in a safe manner.

The machines will now continue to build the new metro tunnels towards Sydney Olympic Park.

Their next stop will be two kilometres away at the future Burwood North Metro Station site.

As they progress this journey, the 1,300 tonne machines will complete an average of 200 metres of tunnelling each week.

They are expected to break through at Burwood North in April.

Each of the TBMs are 165m long, approximately 1,300 tonnes in weight.

Each has 34 rock-cutting disks in its 7m diameter cutterhead.

The machines move around the clock as tunnelling has been approved to occur 4 hours per day, 7 days per week.

Each TBM is operated by 15 workers who work in rotating shifts.

All up, TBMs Beatrice and Daphne are two of six tunnel boring machines that are being used to construct the Sydney Metro West project.

Two other TBMs – named Betty and Dorothy – are constructing the tunnels between Sydney Olympic Park and Westmead.

They are 1.3 kilometres and 930 meters into their journey respectively.

The final two TBMs will tunnel below Sydney Harbour. They will arrive at The Bays in coming months and will begin tunnelling in the middle of the year.

The breakthrough comes as the Sydney Metro West project continues to be the subject of controversy.

Whilst there is widespread agreement over the project’s benefits and importance, concern remains about cost and time delays as well as the project’s alignment.

On the former issue, the project’s original budget has blown out by at least $12 billion to a current cost estimate of $25.32 billion.

Meanwhile, the project’s completion date has been delayed from the second half of this decade to the current opening date of 2032.

In terms of alignment, there is concern that confirmed stations along the route are too far apart.

This is leading to concern that opportunities for housing uplift near stations and greater transport network accessibility and connectivity have been unnecessarily sacrificed on account of greater speed in order to achieve travel times of 20 minutes between Sydney and Parramatta.

Last April, the then newly elected Labor Government announced a review of the project to be conducted by the NSW Legislative Assembly Committee on Transport.

In its final report released last month, that  Committee recommended that additional stations  be considered along the route to enable better connectivity and more opportunities to unlock new housing in and around transport stops.

(Five Dock Cavern Beatrice is on the left, TBM Daphne is on the right)

Transport Minister Jo Haylen welcomed the latest progress.

“Sydney Metro West has kicked off a huge year in tunnelling and over the next 12 months we will really see this transformational project take shape,” Haylen said.

“These mighty machines are really doing the heavy lifting as we move closer towards our goal of delivering even more public transport connections for the people in Sydney’s west.

“This once in a generation investment into transport infrastructure will also act as a catalyst for the delivery of much-needed housing.

“As Sydney grows, fully accessible and reliable rail services are crucial to keep our city moving.

“By the end of the year, six enormous tunnel boring machines will be crushing through rock to deliver 24 kilometres of brand-new metro tunnels beneath Sydney.”

 

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