John Graham opens Sydney Metro West tunnel walk for 1,200 people
John Graham led more than 1,200 members of the public through Sydney Metro West tunnels on 1 March 2024, in the first underground station-to-station walk on the project. The route ran 1.3 kilometres from Bays West to Pyrmont and took around 15 minutes each way.
Participants descended by lift into the Bays West station box, entered 7-metre-high tunnels and walked to a deepest point of 45 metres underground. The public also passed within 25 metres of the Anzac Bridge footings and beneath Johnstons Bay.
John Graham on Metro West
Graham said the walk showed how Metro West will transform travel between the Sydney CBD and Greater Parramatta. “This is a once-in-a-generation project and today the community has walked through the tunnels that will soon transform how we move between the Sydney CBD and Greater Parramatta,” he said.
He also said: “Standing deep beneath the city, you get a real sense of the scale and ambition of Sydney Metro West—this is the infrastructure that will shape Sydney’s future for decades to come.”
Metro West Tunnelling Completed
The walk came after the final tunnel boring machine broke through sandstone into the Hunter Street station cavern in February 2024, ending the 128 kilometres of tunnelling across all of Sydney’s Metro projects since work began in 2014. Tunnelling is now complete on Metro West, and the project’s focus will progressively shift to station construction and tunnel fit-out.
Graham said: “With tunnelling now complete, we’re pressing ahead with station construction and fit-out to get another step closer to fast, reliable and world-class metro services for Greater Sydney.”
2032 Opening for Sydney Metro West
The project remains tied to a $27–29 billion investment, and the NSW Government awarded $11.5 billion worth of contracts in December 2023 to deliver 60 kilometres of track, rail systems, five Metro West stations, tunnel fit outs, supply and operation of the train fleet and the Hunter Street Station development partner.
When Sydney Metro West opens in 2032, the journey from Pyrmont to Bays West will take two minutes, and the trip to Parramatta will take 18 minutes. The project also includes up to 18,000 homes around Burwood North station, up to 18,000 homes around North Strathfield station, up to 15,000 homes around Sydney Olympic Park station and up to 8,500 homes near Bays station.
