Tunnel segment production starts for next stage of Sydney Metro West

More than 60,000 concrete segments will be produced at the Eastern Creek facility to line the tunnels, and 3,600 segments to line the spur tunnels, which will link trains with the Stabling and Maintenance Facility in Clyde.

The segments will be stored at the facility until they are ready to be transported to site and loaded onto the TBM. Each ring of the tunnel will comprise six segments.

The precast segments, each weighing approximately 3.8 tonnes, are produced in high-precision laser-cut moulds that are designed and customised for the project.

Approximately 100 workers will be on site at any one time to operate and maintain the facility which will operate 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

In October last year the first TBMs for Sydney Metro West arrived at the Bays Station site. They are due to start work soon, carving out 11km twin tunnels from The Bays to Sydney Olympic Park.

A joint venture between Acciona and Ferrovial is building the twin 11km tunnels for the central section of the Sydney Metro West Line. The Gamuda Australia and Laing O’Rourke Consortium has the Western Tunnelling contract to deliver 9km of twin metro rail tunnels between Sydney Olympic Park and Westmead.

In November, a Ghella, John Holland and CPB Contractors joint venture was awarded the Eastern Tunnelling Package  – the third and final major tunnelling package, which includes 3.5km of tunnels beneath Sydney Harbour.

The 24km Sydney Metro West, which will double rail capacity between Greater Parramatta and the Sydney CBD, is one of three projects forming Sydney Metro – Australia’s biggest public transport project.

The Western Sydney Airport project is a 23km line through western Sydney to the new Western Sydney International (Nancy-Bird Walton) Airport. CPB Contractors and Ghella Joint Venture to build the new twin metro rail tunnels.

Testing and commissioning is under way on the City & Southwest project. Last year the John Holland, CPB Contractors and Ghella Joint Venture won the 2022 Australian Construction Achievement Award for the tunnel and excavation works on the project.

Once all three projects are completed, Sydney will have a network of four metro lines, 46 stations and 113km of new metro rail.