The first tracks have been laid for Sydney Metro’s City and Southwest project deep below the suburb of Chatswood.
The project aims to extend the city’s driverless railway network from the north west into the CBD.
NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian and NSW Transport and Roads Minister Andrew Constance visited the site to mark the milestone.
“Metro has already transformed the lives of people living in Sydney’s north west and now we are getting on with delivering it for the south west and the CBD,” Berejiklian said.
“More than 5000 people are currently working across the City & Southwest Metro project and, by the time the project opens, around 50,000 people will have worked on it.”
Crews will now work to install 31 kilometres or railway tracks using 62 kilometres of steel, weighing more than 4000 tonnes.
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Specially designed excavators, which can turn 360 degrees inside the tunnels, have been used to distribute the rail steel throughout the route.
The Systems Connect joint venture, made up of CPB Contractors and UGL, delivered the track to convert the excavated tunnels into a railway
Systems Connect crews are also expanding the Sydney Metro Trains Facility at Rouse Hill, constructing the new Sydney Metro Trains Facility – South at Marrickville and installing the power systems for the extension of the network.
Trains are expected to begin running through the tunnels in 2024. This will extend Sydney Metro from the North West Metro into the city and through to Bankstown.
New stations are being built at Crows Nest, Victoria Cross, Barangaroo, Martin Place, Pitt Street and Waterloo, along with new underground platforms at Central Station.