Melbourne Metro Tunnel Project

Melbourne, Australia, Oceania

Completed · Transport · Underground Metro Rail Network · Temperate · 2025

A 9-km twin tunnel connecting the Sunbury and Cranbourne-Pakenham rail lines through five new underground stations beneath Melbourne's CBD, opened November 2025. Anzac Station features an 85-metre timber-steel hybrid canopy above ground; underground concourses use skylights, coloured structural elements and tree-form columns to pull natural light below street level.

Innovation highlights

  • 85-metre timber-steel hybrid canopy at Anzac Station — largest of its type in Australian rail infrastructure
  • passive daylighting strategy drawing natural light into deep underground concourses
  • tree-shaped column structures at Town Hall Station distributing loads and framing cathedral-scale space
  • 5-station cross-city underground network enabling turn-up-and-go metro frequency for Melbourne for first time
  • each station architecturally distinct while sharing a coherent wayfinding logic
Client / Developer
Victorian Government / Rail Projects Victoria
Architect
RSHP + Hassell + WW+P Architects
Engineer
Arup
Type
Underground Metro Rail Network

#metro rail #underground #hybrid canopy #mass timber #daylighting #infrastructure #urban transit

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