The Sydney Morning Herald logo
Advertisement
NationalVictoriaMetro Tunnel

This was published 3 months ago

Melbourne Metro Tunnel as it happened: Cheers as first trains travel through Metro Tunnel; Delays after fire alarm, door issues

Ashleigh McMillan
Updated ,first published

Key Posts

What do you think of the tunnel?
Fire alarm delays Metro Tunnel services
Another escalator stops, this time at State Library
‘Best day ever’: project director misty-eyed about new stations
Train from East Pakenham enters the tunnel
Sunbury train enters the Metro Tunnel
First train leaves Sunbury
Premier spruiks ‘milestone’ opening
Today’s timetable
When does the first train depart?

Thanks for joining us

By Ashleigh McMillan

It’s been wonderful to have your company on the first day that the Metro Tunnel and its five new stations were open to the public.

Here is a wrap up of the day’s key moments.

  • The first train travelling towards the Metro Tunnel left East Pakenham at 9.03am. Due to proximity, the first passenger train that entered the new tunnel was the Sunbury service, which left the station at 9.28am.
  • Hundreds lined up at East Pakenham and Sunbury stations to be on the first services of the day.
  • Premier Jacinta Allan, who travelled on the train from Sunbury, said it was “absolutely bloody amazing to see this day come” after a decade of championing the project.
  • There were teething issues at some of the new stations. Escalators at Parkville and State Library stations stopped working. At Anzac station, trains both undershot and overshot the platform, meaning automatic platform screen doors stayed closed.
  • Some services along the tunnel were delayed for up to 25 minutes following a fire alarm at South Yarra.
  • One Nation leader Pauline Hanson addressed a crowd at an anti-immigration rally at Flagstaff Gardens in Melbourne’s CBD. A counter rally which began at State Library meant it was a busy day for the city, alongside the Metro Tunnel opening.

Please join us tomorrow morning as we bring you live news from the first day of weekday services through the Metro Tunnel. Bye for now.

Photo gallery: The first day of Metro Tunnel services

By

Our photographers have followed the commuters and trains through the excitement of the first day of travel through the Metro Tunnel.

We bring you the best images below.

‘People will visit Melbourne to see the stations’

By Cara Waters

Melbourne’s Lord Mayor Nick Reece says the Metro Tunnel is going to be the biggest single boost to the Melbourne CBD in 40 years, with the City of Melbourne expecting an extra 500,000 people a week to visit the CBD.

“It will not only transform the city, it will change the way people use our rail network as it will increase the capacity across our network so it is a boost for everyone,” he said.

The Metro Tunnel stations are Arden, Parkville, State Library, Town Hall and Anzac.The Age

“It is going to be fascinating to see the way new communities across Victoria are connected from Tarneit to Toorak, from Pakenham to Prahran.”

Reece said he was “blown away” by the architecture of the Metro Tunnel stations.

“People will visit Melbourne to visit the stations – they are that good,” he said. “The Moscow underground with its famous gilded stations with chandeliers has got nothing on these fabulous stations we have in Melbourne.”

Advertisement

Watch: Musicians in scuba kits delight passengers

By Angus Thomson

I don’t really buy into the Melbourne-Sydney rivalry (they’re both great cities I’ve been lucky enough to live in), but I’ve stumbled across one feature of the new Metro Tunnel that Sydney’s version will never top: a three-piece band in scuba kit, playing the Beatles’ Yellow Submarine.

What does diving have to do with the Metro Tunnel? Can they take the escalators in those flippers? Whose idea was this?

I have many more questions, but I’ve got to hand it to them, it’s a great vibe at State Library station, and dozens have popped their head in for a dance. Encore, Melbourne.

Loading

Your say

By

Melburnians have written in with their thoughts on the tunnel. Here are some of their views.

Nick said: Currently at Parkville station heading home towards West Footscray. I’ve been really impressed with the accessibility options on the platforms. The design and colour scheme is also very appealing.

Another reader wasn’t so impressed. They said: Just spare a thought for the western tunnel residents that will have to listen to extra heavy, slow-moving, rumbling trains go by every 90 seconds, and they can’t even use the train because South Kensington wasn’t included.

Frank said: Maybe if they spent less money on “unique” designs for each station (lovely but totally over the top – there’s a fine line between great design and overdesign and not working within a budget and things that are “nice to have” – they could have built Metro 2 to Fishermans Bend (that’s a real folly) and they should have built a station connecting at South Yarra ... And unlike other metros around the world, they didn’t allow for over-station development at places like Arden..

Then there are the issues around electromagnetic interference at the hospitals ...
With this blowout in costs, imagine what the suburban loop will cost if it ever is completed? Meanwhile, outer suburbs get dudded on basic bus services.

Under the lights at Anzac station.Chris Hopkins

Simon said: Very impressed at how well-designed the stations are, particularly how the new concourse at State Library will help capacity at Melbourne Central. Hopefully will increase momentum for the much-needed airport rail and the Melton and Wyndham Vale electrifications.

Another Melburnian said: Wonderful civic pride and excitement. Long-running station design flaws continue: poor shelter from rain, insufficient seating, fonts too small on signage and screens. Train ventilation still awful. Comically amateurish platform announcements, often with separate platforms announcing simultaneously. On-train announcements often inaudible. But an exciting day. Thanks, Victorians.

Opposition leader slams cost blowouts

By Annika Smethurst

Opposition leader Jess Wilson said she sees $3 billion in cost blowouts when she looks at the Metro Tunnel project.

“The premier today might be taking Victorians for a ride, but she is taking them for a ride every single day when it comes to the waste and the financial mismanagement of this state,” she said.

The premier and tunnel builders have consistently said the blowouts were typical of the cost escalations seen on projects of its type all over the country.

Advertisement

Watch: Excitement as first train reaches tunnel

By Gemma Grant

It’s been a joyous day for commuters on the first train to reach the Metro Tunnel.
Watch the video below.

Opinion: Is this the best we can do with station names?

By Darren McClelland

The Victorian government is turning up the dial to 11, raising excitement about the Melbourne Metro stations opening this weekend The vast stations may be glorious, but it’s a pity authorities didn’t harness the same awe and public imagination when it came to naming them.

In the 1970s, Claytons – a non-alcoholic beverage – was advertised as the “drink you’re having when you’re not having a drink”. It became part of the Australian vernacular to describe something that’s not fair dinkum.

What’s in a name?Joe Armao

It appears the Victorian government was running a Claytons competition in 2017 when it asked the public to name the five new Metro stations.

Imagine my disappointment and bewilderment – and no doubt that of thousands of Victorians who entered the contest – when the state government announced it would be using the locational monikers of State Library and Town Hall for those stations, as well as Parkville and (eventually) Arden for two more.

Sketch: Wall-to-wall yellow in bathrooms gives Homer Simpson vibes

By Gemma Grant

The opening of so many train stations brings something unexpectedly exciting. A new set of shiny bathrooms to utilise while in transit.

Flinders Street Station, the city’s major terminal, isn’t known for being the cleanest of places. Its bathrooms are no exception. (I’ve made a pledge to only pay a visit on the most desperate of occasions).

The bright yellow bathrooms at Anzac station.Chris Hopkins

Unsurprisingly, the glitz and the glamour of the Metro Tunnel has brought some far more desirable spots for travellers to duck into for a quick nature break.

Overall, the bathrooms are clean, fresh and functional. But there’s one thing that I couldn’t look past.

Advertisement

Inside the walkway from Town Hall to Flinders Street Station

By

Another new feature of the expanded train network is the Degraves Street subway, which provides access between Town Hall and Flinders Street stations.

The two stations are connected by the walkway, which is around 150 metres long. The PTV journey planner estimates a seven-minute walk between the two stations. But it’s more like three minutes if you’re a fast walker.

Will and Richard Moulding at Campbell Arcade as they make their way from Flinders Street to Town Hall station using an underground passage.Gemma Grant

The underground area also connects to Campbell Arcade, which offers access to Degraves Street and Flinders Street.

Richard Moulding and his son Will have just started their exploration of the Metro Tunnel, and are walking through the pink-tiled Campbell Arcade en route to Town Hall station.

Advertisement