Breakthrough for the Forrestfield Airport Link

Grace, one of the tunnel boring machines for the Forrestfield Airport Link has arrived at Redcliffe Station near Perth Airport.

The machine was guided into the station over a period of 24 hours.

A team of 15 were inside for the final breakthrough.

This is the second time Grace has surfaced since the beginning of tunneling works at Forrestfield in 2017.

This is a major milestone for the project and after tunneling more than 2.6 kilometres since leaving the Airport Central Station, Grace is now undergoing six weeks of scheduled maintenance.

Another tunnel boring machine is about 500 metres behind and is expected to break through in early June.

Together, the machines will have installed 5500 concrete rings made up of 33000 tunnel segments since the project’s start.

After maintenance the machines will begin on the final leg of the journey, underneath the Swan River and onto the Bayswater dive structure. This will connect the tunnels to the Midland Line.

The first trains are expected to run on the Forrestfield Airport Link in the second half of 2021.

Once up and running Redcliffe station will service more than 5000 employees.

Once fully developed 7500 residents are expected to move to the area.

Redcliffe Station will form the centre of one of METRONET’s first transport oriented developments, which will include a precinct of apartments, shops and entertainment, with ease of walking, cycling and public transport made a priority.