The first tunnel boring machine, TBM Wendy, has broken through at North Sydney, entering the biggest underground cavern built so far for the Sydney Metro project.
TBM Wendy has reached the site of the future Victoria Cross Station, 25 metres beneath the city.
It has tunnelled 4.5 kilometres from Chatswood over eight months and has another 1.7 kilometres to go before it reached the edge of Sydney Harbour at Blues Point. The machine will undergo three weeks of maintenance before being re-launched.
TBM Wendy is one of the five TBMs helping to build a 15.5-kilometre twin railway tunnel.
The cavern at Victoria Cross is 40 per cent bigger than the cavern being built at Barangaroo on the North West Metro.
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New South Wales Premier Gladys Berejiklian welcomed the arrival of the TBM.
“It was just over two months ago TBM Wendy broke through at Crows Nest and now she has already made it to the next stop in North Sydney,” Berejiklian said.
“TBM Wendy has tunnelled 4.5 kilometres from Chatswood in eight months and only has another 1.7 kilometres to reach the edge of Sydney Harbour at Blues Point.
“This is incredible progress on the next stage of Sydney Metro which will take the North West Metro, under the harbour, through the CBD and on to Bankstown.”
NSW Transport Minister Andre Constance said Sydney Metro is Australia’s biggest public transport project and will deliver turn-up-and-go Metro train services to 31 stations along a new 66-kilometre railway.
“Wendy is one of five boring machines busy excavating 15.5-kilometre twin railway tunnels to help deliver more metro rail services as quickly as possible,” Constance said.
TBM Wendy is named after Wendy Schreiber, a volunteer at Bear Cottage.