The final TBM for Sydney Metro West tunnel to be built under-harbour has arrived and will carve out together with the first tunnel boring machine the 2.3 km twin tunnel.
The TBMs will dig from The Bays, under Sydney Harbour, to Hunter Street in the Sydney CBD as part of the Sydney Metro West – Eastern Tunnelling Package (ETP).
The TBMs arrived in 32 pieces by ship (16 for each TBM) at White Bay port in March. They are currently inside the 34-metre-deep station box at The Bays being assembled ahead of their launch later this year.
Both 1,100 tonne machines will journey parallel to the iconic Anzac Bridge, heading to the new Pyrmont Station site, and then under Darling Harbour before reaching the Hunter Street Station site in the heart of the CBD.
These mixed shield (slurry) TBMs are specifically designed to excavate through sandstone and under the harbour. This will be the second under harbour crossing undertaken by Sydney Metro using this technology following the successful crossing between Blues Point and Barangaroo as part of the City & Southwest project.
Once launched, the TBMs will tunnel at an average rate of 90 metres per week and will arrive at the Hunter Street Station site in mid-2025.
These are the last of six TBMs being used for the 24 km Sydney Metro West tunnel project that will double rail capacity between Parramatta and the Sydney CBD, transforming Sydney transport and mobility pattern.
In December 2023, two TBMs broke through at Five Dock metro station as part of the southern section of the new line.
The Sydney Metro West project will provide fast, reliable, turn-up-and-go metro services with fully accessible stations, link new communities to rail services and support employment growth and housing supply.
Sydney Metro West is expected to be complete by 2032.
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