The Age: $9-11b Melbourne Metro Swanston Street project to go ahead: Daniel Andrews Clay Lucas City Editor, The Age April 16, 2015
The proposed $9-11 billion Melbourne Metro project will be built underneath Swanston Street – despite warnings from the previous Napthine government it would divide Melbourne’s CBD for years.
Premier Daniel Andrews confirmed the route of the long-promised underground rail line, from Kensington to South Yarra, on ABC radio on Thursday morning.
Premier Daniel Andrews and Transport Minister Jacinta Allan annoucne the government will build the Metro Rail Tunnel. Photo: Jesse Marlow
But neither he nor Public Transport Minister Jacinta Allan could answer basic questions about how the nine-kilometre tunnel would traverse the difficult path underneath the Yarra River.
In a press conference on Thursday morning Mr Andrews said the proposed rail tunnel – which has been proposed for seven years now – would travel beneath Swanston Street at a depth of just 10 metres.
And he conceded it would mean years of disruption for the city, including re-routing trams along Swanston Street, which is the busiest tram corridor in the world.
