Metro Tunnel

Updated

Metro Tunnel opening set, more funds for Suburban Rail Loop in bumper day for Big Build

The long-anticipated opening of the $15.5 billion project has been unveiled, as Prime Minister Anthony Albanese revealed more money for the Suburban Rail Loop.

• November 16, 2025
• by Kieran Rooney

‘Panic stations’: Union, operator at loggerheads over Metro Tunnel staffing levels

Staff needed for the opening of the Metro Tunnel are not being replaced across the network, the state’s public transport union has warned.

• October 17, 2025
• by Kieran Rooney and Patrick Hatch

Updated

Melbourne Metro Tunnel on track for December ‘soft launch’ before full services start in February

Trains will run only every 20 minutes and in off-peak hours at first, and commuters must wait a further two months for a full timetable.

• October 7, 2025
• by Patrick Hatch and Kieran Rooney

Allan defends prioritising Metro Tunnel press conference over social services event

The premier was scheduled to appear at a major social services event on Monday morning. Instead, she held a press conference to spruik a new train station.

• October 6, 2025
• by Daniella White and Chip Le Grand

Final Metro Tunnel station complete, as cause of mystery shutdown revealed

The new State Library station is finished and the Metro Tunnel project in its final phase after builders grappled with electromagnetic interference that caused a five-hour shutdown during train trials last month.

• October 6, 2025
• by Rachael Dexter, Kieran Rooney and Patrick Hatch

Melbourne’s first new train station in 40 years is finished – with two key new pieces of tech

Construction on the first new Melbourne CBD train station in more than 40 years is finally finished: Town Hall Station, dug 27 metres below Swanston Street.

• October 5, 2025
• by Liam Mannix

Exclusive

Train drivers stranded in Metro Tunnel for five hours during testing glitch

Metro Trains did not disclose the cause of the fault but said it had investigated and instituted “mitigations” to ensure the issue does not occur when the tunnel opens to passengers.

• September 16, 2025
• by Patrick Hatch

The sophisticated tech that will allow Metro Tunnel trains to stop with pinpoint accuracy

A final program of testing and trials is under way before the Metro Tunnel opens to passengers.

• September 7, 2025
• by Patrick Hatch

Metro Tunnel builders blame design faults for project headaches, delays

Dozens of design faults that have plagued Melbourne’s Metro Tunnel project have been revealed in a court case launched by the firms building the $15 billion underground rail line.

• July 12, 2025
• by Patrick Hatch

Metro Tunnel was meant to open on Sunday, but train services are months away

The underground rail line and five new stations were slated to open on June 29 and builders were even offered a $143 million carrot to get there, but construction and testing delays are stretching the timetable.

• June 28, 2025
• by Nicole Precel and Ashleigh McMillan

Exclusive

Metro Tunnel’s promise to commuters pushed out to 2026

The $15 billion tunnel and five new stations are expected to open in November, but only with limited off-peak services due to construction and testing delays.

• June 28, 2025
• by Patrick Hatch and Kieran Rooney

Exclusive

Taxpayers fork out almost $500m to shield Metro Trains from pandemic fallout

Victoria is paying Metro Trains to offset lower passenger revenue, ensuring the private rail operator records bumper profits despite patronage falling as a result of work-from-home habits.     

• June 18, 2025
• by Patrick Hatch and Kieran Rooney

Busy train lines closing for works as Metro Tunnel trial looms

Passengers will board trains bound for the Metro Tunnel and its five new stations for the first time, but will need to wait to travel through the tunnel itself.

• May 31, 2025
• by Patrick Hatch

Exclusive

‘No place for this’: New CFMEU boss slams Metro Tunnel ‘ghost shift’ scandal

The new boss of Victoria’s embattled construction union has lashed out at those allegedly responsible for corrupting the Allan government’s giant project.

• March 7, 2025
• by Nick McKenzie and Sarah Danckert

Cost of Victoria’s major projects jumps $11.6 billion in a year

The auditor-general has found that 53 of 113 major state projects would cost a combined $14.9 billion more than first budgeted.

• February 19, 2025
• by Rachel Eddie

Quiet cuts to Metro Tunnel scope raise questions over what services will actually be delivered

Commuters could miss out on the full benefits of the $15 billion project because related network upgrades have been cut to rein in the ballooning budget.

• January 1, 2025
• by Patrick Hatch

‘Incredibly disrespectful’: MPs back calls to change racist station name

The name Arden is completely inappropriate for one of the new Metro Tunnel stations, state Greens leader Ellen Sandell says.

• December 12, 2024
• by Carolyn Webb

Exclusive

The shocking racist history behind this Metro Tunnel station name

George Arden was a racist who called Indigenous people violent, ignorant savages. The state government is naming a train station after him.

• December 12, 2024
• by Carolyn Webb

Exclusive

Metro Tunnel land row: Luxury apartment developer sues state for $20 million

The Devitt Property Group has accused the Victoria government of ignoring its compensation claims in a dispute spanning more than four years.

• November 19, 2024
• by Carla Jaeger and Clay Lucas

Updated

Metro Tunnel blowout to cost taxpayers extra $840 million

Transport Infrastructure Minister Danny Pearson announced the state had reached a deal with the project’s builders to cover ballooning construction costs.

• September 26, 2024
• by Patrick Hatch and Kieran Rooney

Exclusive

Secret $888m sweetener: Leaked letter exposes Labor’s massive Metro payout offer

The state government’s settlement offer would mean the companies building the late and over-budget Metro Tunnel would get additional payments to finish the rail project.

• August 27, 2024
• by Clay Lucas

Editorial

Metro Tunnel struggles only highlight rail loop’s costly risks

There’s nothing surer than major projects blowing their budgets, so now is not the time to embark on one so enormous.

• August 23, 2024
• The Age's View

Opinion

Delays, blowouts and stuff-ups: Victoria’s project problem is bigger than Allan

The Andrews and Allan governments have long escaped any electoral consequences for problems on its infrastructure pipeline. But with the bills piling up, taxpayers are right to be concerned.

• August 22, 2024
• by Annika Smethurst

Melbourne’s $14b Metro Tunnel quietly doubles travel times between stations

Trains between new Parkville and Arden stations will take more than twice as long as promised, reaching up to five minutes.

• August 22, 2024
• by Rachel Eddie

Exclusive

Trains will need slower speeds beneath Parkville to protect hospitals

Leaked documents detail a need for a slower pace in the Metro Tunnel near the new Parkville station to limit interference with nearby specialist health equipment.

• August 21, 2024
• by Clay Lucas and Kieran Rooney

Exclusive

Millions blown as state fumbles Metro Tunnel’s interference with hospital equipment

Train tests on Metro Tunnel show interference with equipment in the hospital precinct, and despite the issue being identified a decade ago, it is now costing Victorians tens of millions of dollars annually.

• August 21, 2024
• by Clay Lucas

Exclusive

Delays, ditched designs and hospital damage: Leaked report reveals Metro Tunnel woes

Unfinished stations and budget issues are plaguing the $14 billion mega-rail project as it battles fresh delays and potential compensation claims.

• August 20, 2024
• by Clay Lucas