The Sydney Metro project is a 66km long standalone fully automated railway system with 31 metro stations between Rouse Hill and Bankstow which has been split into two stages. 

Stage 1 – is the EUR5.63 bn (AUD8.3 bn) Sydney Metro Northwest –  which is 36km long and will open in the first half of 2019 with 13 metro stations. When it is running at full capacity a metro train will run every four minutes at peak times which will be 15 trains an hour.

Stage 2 – is the Sydney Metro City & Southwest – and is a 30km extension of metro rail from the end of Sydney Metro Northwest at Chatswood, under Sydney Harbour, through new underground CBD stations and will go on to Bankstown in the southwest. It is expected to open fully in 2024. The EUR1.91 bn (AUD2.81 bn) Sydney Metro City & Southwest Tunnel and Station Excavation (TSE) works contract has been awarded to John Holland, CPB Contractors and Ghella a Joint Venture put together by the NSW Government. The JV will start work immediately to get the first of 5 TBMs in the ground by the end of next year. 

Design and construction works under the Stage2 or Sydney Metro City & Southwest tunnelling contract involves :

• twin 15.5km metro rail tunnels from Chatswood to Sydenham to be excavated by five TBMs: four double-shield, hard rock, gripper type TBMs and one specialised Slurry TBM for tunnelling under Sydney Harbour.
• 57 cross passages every 240 m between the tunnels and a temporary access shaft at Blues Point;
• tunnel structures at Chatswood and Marrickville.
  • excavation and civil works for six new underground metro railway stations at Crows Nest, Victoria Cross (North Sydney), Barangaroo, Martin Place, Pitt Street and Waterloo.
  • a crossover cavern at Barangaroo to allow trains to cross from one track to another.
  • design and manufacture of about 99,000 precast concrete segments to line the tunnels.
  • demolition and removal of existing buildings on the construction sites.
    • removing of crushed rock by barges for the excavation work that takes place at Blues Point, Barangaroo and under Sydney Harbour. Following a community consultation has been decided to reduce impacts to the road network and to cut truck movements.
    • upgrading of the T3 Bankstown Line from Sydenham to Bankstown to metro standards.

Transport for NSW conducted geotechnical work deep under Sydney Harbour to help determine the best way to deliver the new metro railway tunnels, taking rock and soil samples from more than 50 boreholes.

These geotechnical works confirmed a specialised TBM is required to tunnel through a combination of sandstone, clay and sediments between North Sydney and the new metro station at Barangaroo. 

Once the tunneling contract is complete in 2021, work will continue along the 30km length of the project to lay tracks, fit out stations and upgrade the existing rail line from Sydenham to Bankstown to metro rail.The line extends the new metro rail from Sydney’s booming North-West into the City and Bankstown, connecting it with new metro stations already under construction at Castle Hill, Bella Vista, Rouse Hill, Kellyville and beyond. This new metro line will eventually stretch 66km and connect dozens of suburbs along the way. When services through the City start in 2024, the tunnels will move more people than the Harbour Bridge and Sydney Harbour Tunnel combined.  For further information click here, here and au/11 for tunnelbuilder archive also visit http://www.transport.nsw.gov.au/ and www.sydneymetro.info. 26/17.