Acciona and Ferrovial joint venture awarded $1.96B Metro West contract

The first of the three major tunnelling contracts for the Sydney Metro West project has been awarded to the Acciona and Ferrovial Joint Venture.

Valued at $1.96 billion, the contract will involve construction of 11 kilometres of twin metro rail tunnels between Sydney Olympic Park and The Bays. Construction work will begin immediately.

New South Wales Minister for Transport and Roads Andrew Constance said mega tunnel boring machines will be in the ground before the end of next year, as planned.

“These tunnels mean you’ll be able to get from Parramatta to the Sydney CBD in around 20 minutes on a fast, safe and reliable driverless metro train, forever changing how we move around Sydney,” Minister Constance said.

“Today’s historic milestone is a massive step towards delivering Metro West which will double rail capacity between Greater Parramatta and the Sydney CBD, transforming our city for generations to come.”

Minister Constance said this once in a century infrastructure investment will link new communities to rail services, slash travel times across the network and support employment growth.

“Sydney Metro West will create more than 10,000 direct new jobs and 70,000 indirect jobs, with many of these jobs generated by this major contract.

“To build these tunnels a broad range of skills will be required including tunnellers, electricians, plumbers, carpenters, concrete workers, truck drivers, labourers and security guards,” Mr Constance said.

The contract includes:

Twin 11 kilometre metro railway tunnels from The Bays to Sydney Olympic Park;
Excavation and civil works for five new stations at The Bays, Five Dock, Burwood North, North Strathfield and Sydney Olympic Park;
Two double-shield, hard rock TBMs;
A crossover cavern at Burwood North and one of the two precast concrete factories at Eastern Creek;
70,000 concrete segments to line the twin tunnels;
Two access shafts at Burwood North and The Bays;
A TBM launch site at The Bays Station and a TBM retrieval site at Sydney Olympic Park Station.

Completion of the first tunnelling contract is expected by the end of 2025.

The contract award follows a competitive tender process involving three shortlisted companies. Due to the scale of the project, tunnelling and excavation works have been split into three packages, with the second package involving nine kilometres of twin tunnels between Westmead and Sydney Olympic Park.

The remaining two tenderers John Holland, CPB Contractors and Ghella Australia Joint Venture (JHCPBG JV) and Gamuda and Laing O’Rourke Australia Joint Venture (GALC JV) will now bid for the Western Tunnelling Package, which is expected to be awarded by the end of this year.

Sydney Metro has also begun the process to appoint its third major tunnelling contractor for the Eastern Tunnelling. This contract for tunnelling between The Bays and Hunter Street in the Sydney CBD is expected to be awarded by late 2022.

Due to the massive scale of the Sydney Metro project, the final tunnelling contract value may vary due to ongoing fine-tuning and optimisation involving the other major contracts, for which tenders have yet to be received.