Metro Tunnel
The Metro Tunnel (sometimes also known as the Melbourne Metro Rail Project or the Metro Rail Capacity Project) is a metropolitan rail infrastructure project currently under construction in Melbourne, Australia. It includes the construction of twin 9-kilometre rail tunnels between South Kensington station (north west of the Melbourne City Centre) and South Yarra (in the south east) with five new underground stations. The southern portal for the tunnel is to be located to the south of South Yarra station. As a result, the tunnel will connect the Pakenham and Cranbourne lines with the Sunbury line, and allow these lines to bypass Flinders Street station and the City Loop while still stopping in the Melbourne central business district.
Railways in Melbourne
During the 2018 Victorian state election, the State Government also announced its Western Rail Plan, which would quadruplicate and electrify the rail lines to Melton and Wyndham Vale, allowing Metro services. Under this plan, Metro and V/Line regional services would be separated, allowing for higher speed trains to be introduced to Geelong and Ballarat. These faster trains would run via a new tunnel between Sunshine and Southern Cross Station to be built as part of the Airport rail link, potentially using the same new generation of electrified regional rolling stock as the Airport line. According to the Government, these lines could be fully electrified to Geelong and Ballarat and run at speeds of up to 250 km/h, significantly above the 160 km/h limit of current V/Line VLocity trains. Planning for the fast rail and electrification of the lines to Melton and Wyndham Vale will occur alongside planning for the Airport rail link, with construction set to start by 2022.