The Sydney Metro West line has hit another major milestone as tunnel boring machines (TBMs) Jessie and Ruby have now passed the deepest point of their journey below Darling Harbour – roughly 35-metres below the water’s surface.
This journey is the second dive under the harbour for Jessie and Ruby since their journey first began in The Bays in 2024, with the two TBMs having travelled below below Sydney Harbour at Johnstons Bay.
The two TBMs now have under 700 metres of tunnel left to build in order to reach their final destination at the future Hunter Street metro station, which will lie in the heart of the Sydney CBD.
In order to construct the 250-metre-long tunnels beneath Darling Harbour; the TBMs have travelled from the Australian Maritime Museum on the western shore toward King Street Wharf on the east.
Next; the two TBMs, which have been specially designed to dig under high-pressure conditions, will tunnel beneath a number of the city’s busiest streets, including York, George and Pitt streets and pass closely underneath Wynyard Station to reach the Hunter Street cavern.
Thus far, TBMs Ruby and Jessie have excavated around 286,692 tonnes of earth so far, with roughly 7,000 precast tunnel segments still left to install before reaching their destination at Hunter Street.
Each TBM is moving at around 90 metres per week, 24 hours a day, seven days a week, and whilst their design means they move at a slower pace due to wetter conditions and geological conditions, they remain on track to reach Hunter Street by the end of the year.
Tunnelling for Sydney Metro West first began in 2023, and has now reached 97% completion for the 24-kilometre line, which aims to connect Westmead to the Sydney CBD.
