Dubai, United Arab Emirates (CNN) — A metro train traveled under Sydney Harbor for the first time ever. This is considered a “historic step” for the Australian city!
The successful crossing was part of an ongoing test program on the metro’s 15.5km twin tunnels, which run from northwest Sydney and run beneath the famous harbour.
This came more than 91 years after the first steam train crossed the Sydney Harbor Bridge in January 1932.
Jo Haylin, Minister for Transport for New South Wales, said in a statement: “Train travel under the harbor is an exciting and historic step, meaning more people can take a train across the city… and this will improve the wider rail network once the city’s metro is ready to transport passengers next year.
Credit: Courtesy NSW Government
An important step
The Metro City and Southwest Line project, valued at A$20.5 billion (about US$13.7 billion), will eventually run all the way to the suburb of Sydenham, in the inner-west part of the city.
Although the trains are currently being manually operated during the “low speed test” period, with a maximum speed of 25 kilometers per hour, they will gradually move to the “high speed test”.
Peter Regan, chief executive of Sydney Metro, said the speed would be increased to 110 kilometers, or about 68 miles, per hour.
The trains will be driverless when they start operating.
“Each train will also undergo acceleration and braking tests on the newly built track, completing a series of system checks, to ensure it can perform reliably when in operation,” adds Regan.
Credit: Courtesy NSW Government
Tests will continue for the remainder of the year, before passenger services start on the first half of the line, which is scheduled for 2024.
The second section of the line, which will run from Sydenham to Bankstown in Sydney’s southwest, is not expected to open until 2025.
Meanwhile, plans are also in place for a A$27 billion (about US$18 billion) Metro West line, down Hunter Street, in Sydney’s central business district.
The city will have a network of four lines, 46 stations, and 113 kilometers of new metro track by 2030.
The ambitious Sydney project has been described as one of the largest suburban railway projects in the world.
It has been compared to the Grand Paris Express project, the French capital’s estimated $31.6 billion expansion of its public transport network, which is also expected to be completed in 2030.
