THE state government’s Metro Tunnel Project is powering ahead towards its all-important train testing milestone, with brand-new platform screen doors being installed in the underground stations to boost safety and help keep trains running on time.
Acting Premier and Minister for Transport and Infrastructure, Jacinta Allan, recently inspected the platform screen doors at the future Parkville Station, with installation already well underway at Arden and Anzac stations and set to begin shortly at State Library and Town Hall stations.
The toughened glass sliding doors will open and close in tandem with the fleet of Melbourne’s new high-capacity metro trains – creating a barrier between the track and platforms to improve passengers’ safety by preventing people and objects from falling into the path of oncoming trains, and stopping trespassers entering the tunnels.
The state government is investing in the first platform screen doors in Victoria – a hallmark of world-class metro rail systems, like those in London, Singapore, Hong Kong and Paris.
The new technology has been tested in a series of rigorous trials over several years, both in virtual development and at a test platform at the Pakenham East train depot.
Sixty doors will be fitted at each station, with 300 to be installed across the five new underground stations being built by the project – enough to stretch from Flinders Street Station to the MCG.
Work on the rest of the Metro Tunnel is continuing at pace, with crews currently working to finish 24 days of around-the-clock work to separate the Frankston Line from the Cranbourne-Pakenham Line at Caulfield Station.
The track upgrades will allow trains to run every two-to-three minutes when the Metro Tunnel opens in 2025 – a year ahead of schedule.
The Metro Tunnel’s stations are also quickly taking shape, with the fit-out of lifts, escalators, security systems, CCTV, passenger information displays and emergency phones underway, as well as tracks being laid along the nine-kilometre twin tunnels.
When finished, the Metro Tunnel will create capacity for more than half a million additional passengers per week to travel during peak times across Melbourne’s train network.
