Four tunnel boring machines (TBMs), each weighing more than 1100 tonnes and 120m long, were used to dig the twin 9km tunnels.
The TBMs were fitted with drill-like cutterheads measuring 7.3m across, which could tunnel through rock 6 times harder than concrete.
Find out more about our TBMs.
The Metro Tunnel is up to 40m deep, with the deepest point under Swanston Street – at the northern edge of the CBD – where the new tunnels pass under the City Loop tunnels.
The designs for the 5 Metro Tunnel stations were an international collaboration between Australian architects Hassell and London-based firms Weston Williamson and Partners and Rogers Stirk Harbour and Partners (RSHP).
Find out more about the station designs.
Victorians helped name the Metro Tunnel’s 5 new stations: Arden, Parkville, State Library, Town Hall, and Anzac.
An advisory panel made up of a diverse group of Victorians went through over 50,000 suggestions and compiled a shortlist of names for the Victorian Government to consider.
The names chosen were among the most popular suggestions for each station. All names had to meet the naming rules for places in Victoria.
Accessibility was at the forefront of design for the 5 new Metro Tunnel stations, which will be fully compliant with the Disability Discrimination Act (1992).
Accessibility features at the stations include:
- escalators and lifts
- customer service counters
- customer help points
- wide platforms
- Tactile Ground Surface Indicators (TGSIs)
- braille and tactile signage
- audible announcements
- accessible toilets, ambulant cubicles and Changing Places
- hearing loops.
Find out more about accessibility in the stations.
Sunbury, Cranbourne and Pakenham Line trains will all run through the Metro Tunnel.
These lines will no longer be running through the City Loop, instead:
- city-bound trains on the Sunbury Line will enter the Metro Tunnel after Footscray Station
- city-bound trains on the Cranbourne and Pakenham Line will enter the Metro Tunnel after Malvern Station.
All trains on the Sunbury, Cranbourne and Pakenham lines will be High Capacity Metro Trains (HCMTs) once the Metro Tunnel opens.
V/Line trains and freight trains will not run through the Metro Tunnel.