Greater Western Sydney is now home to landmark new 9.8km twin metro railway tunnels, with major tunnelling officially complete on the city-shaping Sydney Metro – Western Sydney Airport project. These tunnels are set to become the transport spine of the Greater West.
The historic milestone was reached after TBM Marlene arrived at the St Marys Metro Station site and achieved the final tunnel breakthrough for the project.
The mega machines spent 14 months building two separate sets of tunnels at either end of the alignment. The job required the excavation of 1,863,460 tonnes of material and the installation of 69,966 concrete segments to line the new tunnels.
TBMs Marlene and Catherine carved out the 4.3km tunnels from Orchard Hills, under the M4 Motorway and the Great Western Highway to reach St Marys. TBMs Eileen and Peggy constructed the 5.5km tunnels from Airport Business Park, underneath the new Western Sydney International Airport, to Aerotropolis.
The final TBM breakthroughs occurred in quick succession:
- TBM Catherine completed the first tunnel at the St Marys site on 20th May 2024.
- TBM Eileen broke through at the Aerotropolis site on 29th May.
- TBM Peggy made the penultimate breakthrough for the project and arrived at the Aerotropolis site on 7thJune.
- TBM Marlene made the final breakthrough at the St Marys site on 20th June 2024.
With tunnelling complete, the TBMs will be dismantled, washed and lifted by tower cranes onto trucks to travel to a storage location, before they are shipped back to the TBM manufacturer.
Work inside the tunnels will continue and involves completing the construction of 39 cross passages and preparing for tracklaying to begin.
A joint venture between CPB Contractors and Ghella was awarded the $1.8bn Station Boxes and Tunnelling contract in 2021 to deliver the 9.8km of twin metro tunnels, five station boxes and two services facilities shafts for the Sydney Metro – Western Sydney Airport project. The line will be operational when Western Sydney International (Nancy-Bird Walton) Airport opens for passenger services in 2026, with an expected travel time of 15 minutes from St Marys metro station to the Airport Terminal Station and a further five minutes to the Aerotropolis Station.
Sydney Metro – Western Sydney Airport is targeted to open in line with the start of operations at the new Western Sydney International Airport.
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