Melbourne’s first new train station in more than 40 years has been completed, with construction now finished on Town Hall Station — one of five new underground stations delivered through the Allan Labor Government’s landmark Metro Tunnel Project.
Premier Jacinta Allan and Minister for Transport Infrastructure Gabrielle Williams toured the completed station today as the project prepares to open a full year ahead of schedule.
Premier Allan said this milestone demonstrates what investment in public transport can achieve. “This is the first new station in Melbourne’s CBD in 40 years. We invested in public transport – and just look at the results.”
“The Metro Tunnel will cut congestion and get you to work, uni and home sooner – and it opens this year.”
Located beneath Swanston Street between Collins and Flinders streets, Town Hall Station offers direct access to Federation Square, Birrarung Marr, Southbank, the Arts Centre and St Paul’s Cathedral. Its main entrance will open onto a rebuilt City Square, soon to become the city’s new civic heart.
A new pedestrian underpass linking the heritage-listed Campbell Arcade and Degraves Street subway will connect Town Hall Station directly to Flinders Street Station, allowing passengers to switch between the Metro Tunnel and the City Loop without tapping off.
The station’s 18-metre-wide platforms — among the largest underground metro platforms in the world — feature a striking ‘trinocular’ design of three overlapping tunnels with a cathedral-like arched ceiling.
Thousands of workers excavated a space 260 metres long and as deep as a five-storey building, removing more than half a million tonnes of rock and soil while pouring thousands of cubic metres of concrete, laying rail, installing lifts and escalators, and delivering Victoria’s first platform screen doors.
The intricate construction, described as the equivalent of “keyhole surgery”, allowed work to continue beneath one of Melbourne’s busiest streets while trams, cyclists and pedestrians moved freely above.
With construction now complete, Metro Trains crews will begin training and testing at the station. Trains have already clocked more than 265,000 kilometres through the new tunnels — the equivalent of more than six laps around the world.
Minister Williams said the completion of Town Hall Station brings the city closer to a once-in-a-generation transformation.
“With Town Hall Station now complete, we’re another step closer to opening the Metro Tunnel later this year – completely transforming the way Melbourne moves.”
The Metro Tunnel represents the biggest transformation of Melbourne’s rail network in more than 40 years, promising to ease congestion, free up capacity in the City Loop, and enable more trains to run more often across the network.
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