From subway to highway, here’s Melbourne’s future

Strolling along the lengthy corridors of the Queen Victoria Market means losing oneself in a temple of desire. Its stalls offer everything: food, of course, but also treats of all sorts, books, paintings, vintage furniture and irresistible last minute offers.

The Vic Market, as the residents of Melbourne call it, is one of the pulsating organs of the metropolis, a place of commerce and history, as it was built in the 1800s, and despite its age it remains one of the largest open air markets of the southern hemisphere.

Just a few steps away from the market, in one of the most vibrant areas of Melbourne, the State Liberty Station will be built. It is one of the stations envisaged by the Metro Tunnel Project, the grandiose sustainable mobility project that entails the construction of an underground tunnel along which will run the subway trains, thus significantly cutting down time and distance for those who daily travel up and down one of the most important Australian cities.

Highways, railways and city subways. The Metro Tunnel Project is part of the Australian policy of large infrastructure investments that is directing important resources to modernize Melbourne. The plan is to build two twin tunnels 9 kms long and five stations to create strategic interconnections with other city transport infrastructures. At the end of the work, the city will have a new subway line that will cut down the average time a citizen spends on public transport by 50 minutes a day.

The links with bus lines and with the Melbourne Airport Rail, the railway that will be completed in 2029 and will connect downtown to the airport in 30 minutes, will create a virtuous transport cycle for the whole metropolis.

The same goal si shared by the North East Link Primary Package, a large project that the Webuild group is involved in through the consortium SPARK. The North East Link is Australia’s largest infrastructure project realized with a Public-Private Partnership and envisages the construction of an essential link to the highway network to redirect the traffic of 15,000 trucks a day away from local streets, reducing commuting times by 35 minutes. It is another great public works project perfectly integrated with the new subway tunnel.

Running from Kensington to South Yarra, the tunnel will cut in half the city, touching Melbourne’s most vital neighborhoods as well as tourist attractions, cultural venues and economic areas. The departure point from Kensington was planned to link the subway to the Sunbury Line, one of the existing subways, and to the future Melbourne Airport Rail. From Kensington the trains will travel to North Melbourne reaching Arden Station, where the new station is part of the beginning of a renewal process for the area.  From there it will head East towards Parkville Station, in the heart of the university and hospital center of the city, where the University of Melbourne, the Royal Melbourne Hospital and the Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre are located. Then the line will continue to State Library Station and from there south to Town Hall Station, Anzac Station, next to the access to the Central Business District, and reach the end of the line at South Yarra. Overall, the new five stations, integrated with the existing transport network of the city, serving the strategic areas of Melbourne, will allow a profound change in the mobility of the city.