Viewing Platforms Opened for Major Metro Tunnel Construction Works

As construction on the $11 billion Melbourne Metro Tunnel project ramps up, Victorian Minister for Public Transport Jacinta Allan and Melbourne Lord Mayor Robert Doyle have unveiled two separate 10-metre long viewing areas on Swanston Street.

Locals and visitors will be able to watch construction of the biggest public transport project in Victoria’s history from new viewing areas at City Square.

The new platforms will allow thousands of people each day to watch as the landmark is transformed into Town Hall Station -- one of five new underground stations on the Metro Tunnel project.

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Large excavators fitted with a hydraulic hammer and a pulveriser will start demolishing the underground car park beneath City Square in coming days.
City Square is being demolished so that construction crews can dig 11-storeys below the ground to build the new Town Hall station, with most of City Square’s surface to be removed by mid-February.

This access tunnel will be used to transport workers and equipment to and from the surface as the station is built. Following construction of a temporary deck, the site will be covered by a massive acoustic shed towards the end of 2018.

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Work also continues on other Metro Tunnel packages, with bidders now shortlisted for the final package of works -- the Rail Infrastructure Alliance (RIA).

The $1 billion RIA will connect the Metro Tunnel to the rest of the network by upgrading and building new infrastructure including a new platform and turnback facility at West Footscray station, and track and signalling work between Tottenham and Oakleigh.

The RIA will also build tunnel entrances where the Metro Tunnel joins the network in Kensington and South Yarra.

The shortlisted bidders for the RIA are CPB John Holland AECOM comprising CPB Contractors, John Holland, and AECOM Australia and Laing O’Rourke comprising Laing O’Rourke, Kellogg Brown & Root and WSP Australia.