Work starts on Sydney Metro West
18 November 2020Work has officially started on the Sydney Metro West project following the confirmation of seven proposed metro stations as part of a new underground railway that will connect Greater Parramatta with the Sydney CBD.
Stage 1 of the project includes more than 20km of twin tunnels from Westmead to The Bays. New, fully accessible stations are to be constructed at Westmead, Parramatta, Sydney Olympic Park, North Strathfield, Burwood North, Five Dock, The Bays and the Sydney CBD.
Preparatory works have started at the site of The Bays Station in preparation for the arrival of the first TBM which is expected to be in the ground before the end of 2022. A total of four machines will be required for the tunnelling, two of which will be launched from Westmead and two from The Bays. All TBMs will be retrieved from the Sydney Olympic Park station site.
Most stations will be constructed using the cut-and-cover method, apart from Five Dock which will be a binocular station: a shaft will be sunk to the required level followed by the excavation of two underground caverns.
Sydney Metro is currently working through the shortlist process to appoint a consortium to deliver the first tunnelling package, the Central Tunnelling Package, which includes 11km of twin tunnels from The Bays to Sydney Olympic Park. The scale of the project has necessitated that the tunnelling and excavation works are separated into geographically-specific contract packages between Westmead and the Sydney CBD. The first tunnelling contract is expected to be awarded by the middle of 2021.
Sydney Metro West aims to reduce crowding on three major train lines and take tens of thousands of cars off the roads daily. When complete, the travel time between Parramatta and the Sydney CBD will be around 20 minutes. It is envisaged the project will create more than 10,000 direct new jobs and around 70,000 indirect jobs.
