Sydney Metro Northwest has marked one year of tunnelling on Australia’s biggest public transport project with another major milestone – the first of the project’s four tunnel boring machines arrived at Castle Hill today.

TBM1 Elizabeth started digging from Bella Vista on September 8 last year and today broke through into the site of the future Castle Hill station.

“The builders of Australia’s longest ever railway tunnels are setting a cracking pace – more than 70 per cent of tunnelling is now complete,” Mr Constance said.

“More than 21km of the 30km tunnelling task is now complete – it’s full steam ahead.”

Sydney Metro Northwest is the first time in Australian history that four TBMs have been used on the one transport infrastructure project, delivering the twin 15km railway tunnels from Bella Vista to Epping.

TBM1 Elizabeth has:

• Travelled 6.5km since her journey began at Bella Vista;
• Excavated more than 600,000 tonnes of rock, both sandstone and shale; and
• Had 620 hardened steel cutters on her cutter head replaced from the forces of tunnelling.

TBM1 Elizabeth, named after local colonial pioneer Elizabeth Rouse, has 2.5km left to dig before reaching her final destination of Cherrybrook, expected early next year.

Vision of today’s break-through can be downloaded at the link below: