TBM Betty has smashed through into a cavern deep beneath Westmead to complete the first tunnel at the western end of the 24-km Sydney Metro West line, the project that will link Westmead to the Sydney CBD with a fast, 22-minute metro ride, which now reached 93 per cent completion.  

TBM Betty has spent 24-months, working around-the-clock, to construct a tunnel from Sydney Olympic Park, via the future Parramatta metro station. It chewed through 790,000 t of earth and installed 30,000 concrete segments along the way to line the new tunnel walls.  

Fittingly named after Olympic sprint champion Betty Cuthbert, TBM Betty is the first to finish its tunnel at both ends of the line. There is now just 3.5-km of tunnel left to build to bring a 30-month tunnelling program by six TBMs across the finish line.  

The remaining sections of tunnel are being worked on by three TBMs:  TBM Dorothy is 1059 m from its final breakthrough at Westmead, where it is due to arrive in the coming weeks. At the opposite end of the alignment, TBMs Ruby and Jessie are making their way under Sydney Harbour to reach the Hunter Street terminus in the Sydney CBD by the end of the year.  

Sydney Metro West is targeting a 2032 opening and once operational will slash travel times, offering passengers fast metro trips from Westmead to Parramatta in 2 minutes, Westmead to Five Dock 14 minutes, Westmead to Pyrmont in 20 minutes and Westmead to Hunter Street in 22 minutes . 

TBM Betty will be now dismantled and lifted out of the station box piece by piece over the next seven weeks. A crew of up to 150 workers at a time have spent three years constructing the 500-m underground structures at Westmead. 

Sydney Metro West will double rail capacity between Greater Parramatta and the Sydney CBD, delivering faster, more reliable journeys and supporting jobs, housing and new communities across Western Sydney. 

For further information click here and au/11 for tunnelbuilder archive. Visit https://www.sydneymetro.info. 38/25.