Metro Tunnel now open

After a decade of works, passengers can now catch a train through the twin nine-kilometre tunnels and five new underground stations that form part of Melbourne’s Metro Tunnel.

Since the Metro Tunnel was first announced in 2015, workers have excavated 1.8 million cubic metres of rock and soil, used 754,000 cubic metres of concrete and 157,000 tonnes of steel and laid 40 kilometres of Australian-made rail, creating around 7000 jobs including hundreds for apprentices, cadets and trainees.

The inaugural Metro Tunnel services departed East Pakenham at 9.03am and Sunbury at 9.28am on November 30, arriving a minute apart at Town Hall Station. Services through the Metro Tunnel about every 40 minutes from East Pakenham and about every 60 minutes from Sunbury.

Free weekend public transport will also be made available on the line from 30 November 2025 until 1 February 2026.

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On 1 February 2026, what’s known as the ‘Big Switch’ will introduce a new timetable across buses, trams, regional and metropolitan trains, and connect the Cranbourne, Pakenham and Sunbury lines with all services on those lines running through the Metro Tunnel.

Opening the five new underground stations to passengers has doubled the size of Melbourne’s underground rail network, providing access to new destinations and allowing passengers to cross the city from Arden Station in North Melbourne, to Anzac Station on St Kilda Road in just 12 minutes.

After a decade of works, passengers can now catch a train through the twin nine-kilometre tunnels and five new underground stations that form part of Melbourne’s Metro Tunnel. — Image courtesy of the Victorian Government.

Premier Jacinta Allan dedicated the project’s completion and opening to the local workforce that delivered it.

“Today, thousands of Victorians will ride the Metro Tunnel and get to experience the biggest change to our rail network in 40 years,” Allan said.

“Today belongs to the thousands of Victorians who have spent the past decade building the Metro Tunnel – without you, none of this would be possible.”