Tunnelling for the western end of the Sydney Metro West project is officially complete following the entrance of tunnel boring machine (TBM) Dorothy at Westmead metro station.
The 1200-tonne machine is one of the first autonomous TBMs to be used in Australia.
Named after Australian human rights activist Dorothy Buckland-Fuller; the TBM reached the Westmead metro station box following a journey carving out nine kilometres of tunnel from Sydney Olympic Park – tunnelling through 788,000 tonnes of earth and installing 28,788 concrete segments.
The new Westmead metro station box features a 240-metre-long rail crossover cavern that allows future trains to switch tracks for a return journey, a station cavern and sub tunnels to futureproof potential extension.
The box is also the deepest along the Sydney Metro alignment at 39-metres-deep.
TBMs Jessie and Ruby, the final two machines building the tunnels, are now moving ahead to complete the last leg of the eastern section of the line having crossed under Sydney Harbour. They are now heading to Hunter Street in the Sydney CBD.
Sydney Metro West is currently on schedule to open in 2032 and is set to reduce travel times, providing metro trips from Westmead to Parramatta in 2 minutes, Sydney Olympic Park in 7 minutes and to Hunter Street in 22 minutes.
