| Work Detail |
As part of the ongoing Sydney Metro Rapid Transit System project, tunnelling works between Sydney Olympic Park and Westmead are set to begin. Recently, Australia’s first autonomous tunnel boring machine (TBM) dubbed Betty, was deployed to carry out the works starting from the Clyde Stabling Maintenance Facility to the Parramatta Metro Station.
The 170-meter-long TBM Betty will work on approximately 180 metres of tunnel a week. On the first leg, it will reportedly dig the 4.5-kilometre tunnel from Clyde to Sydney Olympic Park. An additional TBM will be deployed in the coming months to excavate Betty’s twin tunnel.
Once the TBMs arrive at Sydney Olympic Park, they will be withdrawn and returned to Clyde, before being relaunched in the opposite direction towards Westmead.
Noteworthy, TBM Betty is the third machine to be deployed under this project. The others are TBM Eileen and TBM Peggy which are working on the Sydney Metro – Western Sydney Airport project. Earlier this month the latter completed the first leg of its 5.5-kilometre journey from the Airport Business Park to the Aerotropolis. TBM Peggy completed its first journey at the site of the future Western Sydney Airport Metro Station.
TBM Peggys’ breakthrough follows TBM Eileens’ approximately a month ago. The latter arrived at the Airport Terminal metro station site about three months after it began tunnelling works at Airport Business Park in April 2023.
Sydney Metro Rapid Transit System Project Overview
Sydney Metro is a fully automated, rapid-transit rail system located in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Metro North West Line, the first component of the Sydney metro opened back in May 2019. This double-track line runs from Tallawong to Chatswood, mostly underground, covering a distance of 36 kilometres and passing through 13 stations.
Work is underway to extend the Metro North West Line from Chatswood to Bankstown under the City & Southwest, a 30-kilometre rapid transit project that is currently being carried out in Sydney. The project is scheduled for 2024 completion upon which it will extend the Metro North West Line by 30 kilometers and its stations by 18.
Two additional lines are being built under the Sydney Metro West and Western Sydney Airport projects. Under the Western Sydney Airport project, an approximately 23-kilometer line will be built from St Marys to the new Aerotropolis station in Badgerys Creek. This line will have a total of six stations and it will mainly service the Western Sydney International (Nancy-Bird Walton) Airport. The Western Sydney Airport project is set to be completed by 2026.
The Sydney Metro West project on the other hand will involve the construction of an approximately 24-kilometre line from Westmead to a new station at Hunter Street in the Sydney CBD. It will comprise a total of nine stations serviced by underground twin tracks. The line will serve Parramatta and Sydney Olympic Park when it opens in 2030. |
