Sydney Metro West double breakthrough makes history

They are the first two TBM breakthroughs on the project’s twin 24km tunnels.

TBM Daphne broke through first, followed closely by TBM Beatrice, after building the 4.3km section of metro tunnel from The Bays to Five Dock for around seven months. 

So far, the TBMs have each excavated 437,463 tonnes of material.

Sydney Metro West will double rail capacity between Greater Parramatta and the Sydney CBD, making it easier and faster to travel around western Sydney.?? 

NSW premier Chris Minns said the TBM breakthroughs were an important milestone for the project. 

“We’re building this major public transport project at the same time as we’re turbocharging the creation of new housing in our state,” he said.

“This project won’t just change the way people move around our city; it will now also provide the well-located homes for future generations to live in.” 

Transport minister Jo Haylen said the two breakthroughs offered “a snapshot at the sheer scale and ambitious nature of Sydney Metro West, that will completely transform this great city”. 

Beatrice and Daphne are double-shield, hard rock TBMs, designed to excavate through the sandstone and shale ground conditions.?The 1300-tonne machines are 165m long, have a 7m diameter, and 34 disc cutters per cutterhead. They include refurbished cutterheads, front shields and gripper shields from TBMs used on the Sydney Metro City & Southwest project.? 

The two TBMs have excavated at an average of 200m per week and installed a total of 30,732 precast concrete segments. They will spend the next few weeks traversing to the western end of the station box cavern and undergo maintenance before being relaunched to continue their journey to Sydney Olympic Park.

The next stop for the TBMs is the Burwood North Metro Station site about 2km away, where they are due to arrive in early 2024.?

Beatrice and Daphne are two of six TBMs building the tunnels for the new Sydney Metro West line.?Two TBMs – Betty and Dorothy – are currently tunnelling between Sydney Olympic Park and Westmead, while the final fifth and sixth TBMs will launch in 2024, starting at The Bays, moving under the harbour to Pyrmont and on to Hunter Street.

Betty and Dorothy have built 865m and 300m, respectively, of fully-lined tunnels since launching from the Clyde launch box.

The 1,200-tonne machines are tunnelling approximately 180m a week and are expected to complete the first 4.5km leg of their journey and arrive at Sydney Olympic Park in mid-2024.

TBM Dorothy and Betty have made history as the first autonomous TBMs to be used in Australia. They feature AI software, which can automatically steer, operate and monitor the machine. 

Also last week, a shortlist of delivery partners for further major packages was announced.

The Stations Package West contract includes the design and construction of five new metro stations at Westmead, North Strathfield, Burwood North, Five Dock, and the Bays. 

The shortlisted bidders are CPB Contractors Pty Ltd & Lendlease Construction Pty Ltd; and MetroVista comprising Gamuda Berhad with DT Infrastructure and Besix Watpac (NSW) Pty Ltd engaged as delivery partners.

The Linewide Package includes the design, construction and commissioning of 24km of linewide rail infrastructure, as well as tunnel ventilation, power, lighting, drainage and fire systems infrastructure. The Linewide contractor will also be responsible for the design and construction of a stabling and maintenance facility and operations control centre at Clyde. 

The shortlisted bidders are CPB Contractors Pty Limited & UGL Engineering Pty Ltd; and John Holland Pty Ltd 

The Trains and Systems package includes the procurement of 16 metro trains and associated rail systems, signalling systems, control systems, and platform screen doors.

The shortlist is:

• Alstom Transport Australia Pty Ltd 
• CRRC (Hong Kong) Co Ltd & MTR Corporation (Australia) Pty Ltd 
• Hyundai Rotem Company & UGL Engineering Pty Ltd 
• Siemens Mobility Pty Ltd, Siemens Mobility GmbH, Siemens Mobility Austria GmbH and Siemens Ltd 

The Operations and Maintenance package includes the procurement of a customer-focused operator responsible for operations, asset management and maintenance for 15 years. 

The shortlist is:

• GroWest Metro consortium comprising RATP Développement S.A. & John Holland Pty Ltd 
• Keolis Downer Pty Ltd
• MTR Corporation (Australia) Pty Ltd 
• River City Metro comprising ComfortDelGro Transit Pte Ltd & UGL Rail Services Pty Ltd 

By mid-2024, Sydney Metro will commence a market engagement process with developers and station builders as part of the Stage 2 Expressions of Interest to procure the Integrated Station Developments at Parramatta, Sydney Olympic Park, and Pyrmont.