Construction on one of the five new underground stations has begun as part of the $11 billion Metro Tunnel project.
North Melbourne station will be 20 metres underground and workers will begin preparing for the excavation of 330,000 tonnes of rock and soil. The space will allow for 225-metre-long platforms and will include an above ground plaza on the corner of Laurens and Barwise streets.
The station is planned to turn the industrial area into a new suburb on the edge of the CBD which aims to become home to more than 43,000 jobs and 25,000 residents over the next 30 years.
Construction will ramp up on Parkville and Anzac station over the coming weeks, with an $18 million manufacturing facility in Melbourne’s west to produce more than 50,000 concrete segments to line the projects twin nine-kilometres tunnels.
The facility will produce around 150 concrete segments a day, each weighing 4.5 tonnes before being sent to the construction project.
Victorian Minister for Public Transport Jacinta Allan said the start of North Melbourne station’s construction marks another major milestone for the project.
“We are delivering the Metro Tunnel on-time and on-budget, creating almost 7,000 jobs for Victorians in the process,” Ms Allan said.
“The Metro Tunnel will transform our public transport system by creating space to run more trains, more often, right across Melbourne.”
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