Town Hall Station will be on the corner of Swanston Street and Flinders Street, with a walkway running underneath Flinders Street to the new hub, as well as to Degraves Street.
Trial Operations are a ‘dress rehearsal’ for the project that involves station staff, operators, maintenance staff and drivers rehearsing the operation of the Metro Tunnel and its stations.
A major chunk of the state’s debt comes via Victoria’s infrastructure program, including road projects the $10.2 billion West Gate Tunnel and the $26 billion North East Link, and rail projects the $15.6 billion Melbourne Metro.
The Department also confirmed that Melbourne’s newest suburban rolling stock, the Xtrapolis 2.0 – which are currently under construction – will also be unable to use the new tunnel.
The Victorian government has blamed increased building costs for the additional $837m spend, with the project now more than $3bn over its initial budget.
Minister for Transport Infrastructure, Danny Pearson, announced a cost blowout of $837 million today, with the project now expected to cost $15 billion, $4 billion more than the original cost.
