Construction of the new Town Hall Station is ramping up as Metro Tunnel works surge ahead in Melbourne’s CBD.
Piling is underway within the Federation Square work site, which will strengthen the ground before excavation starts later in the year, creating one of the three entrances for Town Hall Station. When piling works are finished, an acoustic shed 13 metres wide, 40 metres long and 18 metres high will be constructed.
Over the coming weeks, crews will also be busy at the Metro Tunnel’s South Yarra site, where the tunnel’s eastern entrance is being built, crews will get on with constructing the roof slab for the Metro Tunnel entrance and install piling to support the entrance structure.
Buses will replace trains on the Sandringham line between 8:00pm, 21 May and 7:00am, 9 June to enable vital works on the Metro Tunnel’s eastern entrance. During this period, buses will run between Flinders Street and Sandringham stations. Passengers should allow up to an extra 60 minutes for their journey.
The Metro Tunnel will create room for 72,000 more peak hour passengers a week and save Sandringham line passengers up to 20 minutes a day – with faster journeys to St Kilda Road, Parkville and Southern Cross Station.
The eastbound section of La Trobe street will be shut for a month between Swanston Street and Elizabeth Street to allow for service relocations and the first step towards building the underground connection from Melbourne Central to the new State Library Station. The closure will be between 20 May and mid-June.
As part of the Streamlining Hoddle Street project, Swan Street in Richmond will be closed to all traffic between Punt Road and Cremorne Street from late 19 May to early 24 May to build an accessible tram stop.
A temporary overnight closure of Punt Road at the Swan Street intersection will also take place between 2am and 5am on Monday 20 May for crews to install new overhead tram lines.
Work on the Frankston line for the removal of level crossings and construction of the new Carrum Station later this year will see buses replace trains between Frankston and Mordialloc from 24 May until 26 May.
Accessibility upgrade work on three East Brunswick stops along Nicholson Street will take place from 11 May and are scheduled to be completed by 18 May, closing Nicholson Street to trams and traffic for the duration.
The Burnley and EastLink tunnels will be closed overnight on 18 May to allow for maintenance work and there will be overnight lane closures on the Monash Freeway between High Street and Warrigal Road for resurfacing work.
For more details on works being carried out, visit bigbuild.vic.gov.au.
Quote attributable to Premier Daniel Andrews
“The new Town Hall Station will connect people to Flinders Street, Federation Square and the rest of the network through the Metro Tunnel – slashing travel times and creating space for more passengers.”
“This is the biggest public transport ever built in Victoria, and it will benefit Victorians every single day – getting them to work quicker and home sooner.”
Quote attributable to Minister for Transport Infrastructure Jacinta Allan
“We thank passengers for their patience as we get on with this vital work that will free up space in the City Loop to run more trains, more often across Melbourne.”
Reviewed 19 August 2020