Railways in Melbourne
In February 2015, the State Government established the Melbourne Metro Rail Authority to oversee planning for new twin 9-kilometre rail tunnels through the central city between South Kensington station and South Yarra. The new Metro Tunnel will have five new underground stations and connect the Pakenham and Cranbourne lines with the Sunbury line, creating a new route through the CBD as an alternative to the City Loop. New underground stations will be created at Arden, Parkville, Domain and two new CBD stations, State Library and Town Hall. Enabling works were underway by 2016 and major construction work on the tunnel and stations began in 2017.The project has an estimated cost of $11 billion and is scheduled to be complete by 2025.
Northwest Rapid Transit
Metro Trains Sydney Pty Ltd, a joint venture between MTR Corporation (60%), John Holland (20%) and UGL Rail (20%), will operate the network with a fleet of 22 Alstom Metropolis trains for 15 years when it opens in 2019. The same companies are also partners in Metro Trains Melbourne that has operated the Melbourne suburban network since 2009.