To chants and cheers, Melbourne enters its ‘new era of train travel’

1 week ago 7

The mood was electric. “Tunnel, tunnel, tunnel,” jubilant passengers chanted as the first train made its way along Melbourne’s new underground rail line.

The enthusiasm for the Metro Tunnel was palpable as crowds rode the trains and explored the five new city stations that opened to the public on Sunday.

Passengers board the first rain to leave for the new Metro Tunnel at Pakenham East on Sunday

Festivities began in the early hours of the morning at two distant ends of the city: Sunbury and Pakenham East.

The stations are the termini of the almost 100-kilometre continuous rail line that, as of Sunday, uses the Metro Tunnel and takes these services out of the City Loop. That line starts at Sunbury, in Melbourne’s north-west, travels underground through the tunnel entrance at Kensington to Parkville, the CBD and Domain, and emerges at South Yarra to travel along the busy south-east Cranbourne and Pakenham corridor.

By 8.30am, a crowd of about 150 people were lining up at Sunbury because they knew the initial service there, leaving an hour later, would be the first to enter the tunnel as a passenger train.

Father and son Craig and Fraser Hill, the first in line, woke up at 4am to travel from Camberwell to Sunbury by train to ensure their spot.

Craig and Fraser Hill line up at Sunbury.

“I love trains. I’m really looking forward to seeing the new stations,” said Fraser, 15.

“And platform screen doors – I don’t think I’ve ever seen them before.”

The pair said they intended to spend a couple of hours riding the tunnel and exploring the new stations before going to bed early.

Train enthusiast Sisila Priyankara lines up at Sunbury train station.

Near them in line was Sisila Priyankara, who moved to Sunbury with wife Shameda in April last year. The Metro Tunnel was one of the reasons behind the move.

Priyankara works as a software engineer a short walk from the new State Library station.

The tunnel will drastically shorten his commute. Before the tunnel opened, waiting times could creep up to 40 minutes during off-peak times.

At the other end of Melbourne, in the city’s booming south-east, a small brass band played to the underground concourse as hundreds waited for the 9.03am service.

Metro Trains employees handed out commemorative pins as the crowd waited in the cold to be let onto the platform.

Although the Pakenham East train had an earlier departure time, it had a longer journey with more stops, which meant the train from Sunbury narrowly claimed bragging rights as the first to enter the tunnel.

Jacob Backman, a long-time Traralgon local who works in the city, said he was considering moving into the Pakenham area, and the upgraded services that come with the Metro Tunnel were a major selling point.

On both the Sunbury and East Pakenham lines, crowds broke into cheers and applause as they boarded the trains and took off from the stations.

Their excitement grew at every stop as more and more passengers piled on. By the time each train got to Dandenong and Sunshine, it was standing room only.

“Breathe in,” one passenger quipped as a train pulled up to a busy Caulfield station.

Just before 10.09am, the Sunbury train entered the Metro Tunnel to rapturous applause.

In the words of another reporter at The Age who was present, “the vibe was electric”.

Premier Jacinta Allan and other Labor MPs ride the first train to go through the Metro Tunnel from Sunbury on Sunday.

“I’ve been waiting for this for so long,” said one of the many train enthusiasts on board.

“Here’s to the new era of train travel in Melbourne,” one punter yelled to loud cheers.

Commuters in the Sunbury train’s front carriage, which was also carrying Premier Jacinta Allan and other Labor MPs, were in high spirits.

Just three minutes later, Pakenham East passengers joined in the cheers as they made it to Anzac station in Domain, the entrance to the Metro Tunnel from the south-east.

Jackson Davis (right), Matthew Boldiston (centre) and Adam Bain were collecting new station pins on Sunday.

Among those cheering was Jackson Davis, who wore a suit and his Metro Tunnel pins to commemorate the tunnel opening he said was a “a very special day”.

“It’s not just for the enthusiasts, it’s for those who have wanted to see a better transport plan being enacted since forever.”

His friend Matthew Boldiston said he had been following the opening of the tunnel’s stations stage by stage, but was delighted to see it all come together in a single trip.

“It is just a dream come true,” he said.

Linda Cantan, who was Metro Tunnel project director for much of its construction, was on the same train. Visibly emotional, she said it was the best day of her career as it pulled into Anzac station.

Linda Cantan on board one of the first passenger services through the Metro Tunnel.

Not everyone on the train was there for the spectacle. Cantan regaled a mother and daughter with a history lesson of the project after learning they had boarded on their way to see the Myer Christmas windows on Bourke Street.

She had flown from Dublin to be there and painted her nails orange to match the arches of the stations.

“Each of the stations has their own bit of character, and I just think they will be stunned with how beautiful it is,” Cantan said.

As the trains arrived in the city, the Metro Tunnel fiesta spilled out to the underground caverns that make up the five new stations. The crowds remained for much of the day.

At Parkville, hundreds of people at a time explored the new concourse that also serves as an underground pathway for the precinct.

At Town Hall, friends Maliki Arabai, 18, and Charlie Renaud-Moysey, 20, strolled the station taking photos.

“It’s such a cool moment for Melbourne … You see photos of the City Loop opening, and it’s like that – but 2025,” Renaud-Moysey said.

The City Loop comparison will be welcomed by Allan, who has spruiked the benefits of the project she has overseen as minister and leader in unlocking the rail network and developing precincts previously untouched by heavy rail such as Arden and Domain.

Before boarding the train at Sunbury, the premier described the Metro Tunnel as a “fairness project” that would bring Melbourne together.

That may be a political line, but on Sunday, it also felt like reality. Thousands took pleasure in the opening of a project that was decades in the making, and the city was closer because of it.

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