Melbourne’s $12 Billion Metro Tunnel Set To Open Next Year

Melbourne’s long-awaited Metro Tunnel, a massive infrastructure project, is expected to open in September 2024.

Joe Barr, CEO of construction company John Holland, said the tunnel’s opening has been accelerated, with the government initially targeting a 2025 launch, itself a year ahead of the project’s original schedule.

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The $12bn project involves the construction of two nine-kilometre train tunnels beneath Melbourne’s central business district. 

Once operational, it will link the Sunbury line, serving Melbourne’s western suburbs, with the Cranbourne and Pakenham lines in the city’s southeast. 

This connection will also help alleviate congestion in the City Loop.

In addition to the tunnels, five new stations will be created. These stations include Anzac, located near the Shrine of Remembrance, Parkville, near the University of Melbourne and several major hospitals, and Arden, an emerging area in Melbourne’s north.

Minister for precinct Colin Brooks, said “Adren will become a thriving new neighbourhood that will accommodate 34,000 jobs and 20,000 residents,” he said.

Mr Brook said more people would be forced to move further away from their jobs, education and services if the city does not “reshape” itself. 

He said Melbourne’s population was forecast to reach 9 million by the 2050s, around the similar size of London today.

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