This is not a drill! We repeat, this is not a drill! After years of city-wide disruptions, billions of dollars spent, five new underground train stations built, state-of-the-art tech installed and hours of intense driver training sessions, Melbourne's Metro Tunnel is ready to open to the public. And it's being delivered a year ahead of schedule, too.
The official opening date has been a tight-lipped secret for a while now, but Victorian Premier Jacinta Allan has finally revealed the landmark new public transport network will open with hundreds of weekly services in early December.
But don't expect to be cruising from Sunbury to Pakenham at all hours of the day. The Metro Tunnel will open with a special Summer Start period to iron out any bugs, avoid unexpected disruptions and ensure everything runs safely and smoothly. On weekdays, that means services every 20 minutes from 10am to 3pm between Westall and West Footscray; while on the weekends, you can travel every 20 minutes from 10am until 7pm between Westall and West Footscray, every 40 minutes from East Pakenham and every 60 minutes from Sunbury.
The soft launch will include 240 new services along the Sunbury, Cranbourne and Pakenham lines, with trains stopping at all five new stations: Anzac, Arden, Parkville, Town Hall and State Library. The timetable will remain unchanged on every other line, with trains travelling through the City Loop as normal.
Then, on Sunday, February 1, comes the Big Switch. The Metro Tunnel will be fully integrated into Melbourne's existing public transport network, with a brand new timetable in place (including for buses, trams and regional trains) to accommodate the more than 1,000 new weekly services. This is when the Sunbury, Cranbourne and Pakenham lines will travel exclusively through the new tunnel, and the Frankston line will return to the City Loop.
“Christmas is coming early for everyone on the Pakenham, Cranbourne and Sunbury lines, who’ll have hundreds of new services every week from the start of December,” said Allan. “The Metro Tunnel will transform Melbourne, cut congestion and get you to work, uni and home sooner – and it opens in early December, a year ahead of schedule.”
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