The finish line for tunnelling on a huge Sydney railway project is in sight after two machines each weighing more than 1,000 tonnes smashed their way past the deepest part of Darling Harbour.

Two tunnel boring machines which are being used on the Sydney Metro West project have reached the deepest part of Darling Harbour at 35 meters below the water’s surface.

Set to open in 2032, Sydney Metro West is part of the broader Sydney Metro project – a mutli-decade railway investment program which is delivering 46 stations and 113km or new metro rail via fast, reliable, turn-up-and-go services with fully accessible stations.

The project will deliver a 24-kilometer underground metro railway that will double rail capacity between the Sydney CBD and the rapidly expanding hub of Parramatta.

Once complete, commuters will be able to travel between Hunter Street in 20 minutes.

All up, tunnelling on the project is 97 percent complete.

Tunnelling is being delivered in three packages.

Both the western and central packages are complete.

At the eastern end, tunnelling continues to progress from the second last station at Pyrmont underneath Darling Harbour through to Hunger Street Station.

The tunnel from Pyrmont has reached 35 meters below the water’s surface.

It is passing under the Australian Maritime Museum and now heading towards King Street Wharf on the eastern shore of Darling Harbour.

Names Jessie and Rugby, each of the tunnel boring machines have less than 700 meters left to finish their job at a rate of advance of 90 meters per week.

Each machine weighs approximately 1,100 tonnes.

The machines are designed to dig in the high-pressure conditions beneath Sydney Harbour. They move at a slower pace than traditional tunnel boring machines due to the wetter conditions and geological environment which they are navigating.

The next section of tunnelling will be under some of Sydney’s busiest and best-known streets.

This includes York, George and Pitt streets.

The tunnelling will pass closely underneath Wynyard Station to reach the Hunter Street cavern.

More than 5.87 million tonnes of earth will be excavated to build the Sydney Metro West tunnels. This is the equivalent to filling the entire volume of the Sydney Opera House 2.6 times over.

Once tunnelling is complete, track laying and station construction will follow.

All up, the project is expected to create about 10,000 direct jobs and 70,000 indirect jobs during construction.

NSW Premier Chris Minns welcomed the latest progress.

“We are well on the way, and real, substantial progress is being made on this project underneath the city,” Minns said.

“This is one of the biggest public transport projects in the country, and it will have a major impact on how people get in and out of the city – to Westmead, Parramatta and Olympic Park.”

 

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