The Metro Tunnel will open early December, prompting big changes for Sunbury Line travellers.
From early December, hundreds of weekly services will begin running through the Metro Tunnel’s new stations.
Metro Tunnel services will run seven days a week and stop at all five of the new underground stations; Arden, Parkville, State Library, Town Hall, and Anzac.
From Monday to Friday, services will run every 20 minutes from 10am until 3pm between Westall (Cranborne and Pakenham lines) and West Footscray (Sunbury line).
On weekends, services will run every 20 minutes from 10am until 7pm between Westall and West Footscray, every 40 minutes from East Pakenham, and every 60 minutes from Sunbury.
The government said this would result in more than 240 extra services a week for Sunbury, Cranbourne and Pakenham lines customers.
Existing services on the Sunbury line will continue as normal through the City Loop during throughout December, with passengers able to connect to the Metro Tunnel at interchange locations, including Footscray and Caufield stations.
“Christmas is coming early for everyone on the Pakenham, Cranbourne and Sunbury lines, who’ll have hundreds of new services every week from the start of December,” Premier Jacinta Allan said.
“What an incredible moment for our state – Victorians have patiently waited for this tunnel to get built underneath their feet and behind big sheds, and now they’ll be able to use it.”
On 1 February, Victoria’s entire train network will be overhauled as part of the big switch.
Thousands of individual timetable changes will be implemented at once, with more than 1000 new weekly train services expected to shake up travel plans.
The Sunbury, Cranbourne and Pakenham lines will travel exclusively through the Metro Tunnel from 1 February, with a turn-up-and-go network on the lines.
Trains will run at least every 10 minutes between Watergardens and Dandenong stations between 6am and 9pm through the Metro Tunnel.
During the peak, services between Watergardens and Dandenong will arrive on average every three to four minutes.
Timetable changes will also expand to buses, trams, regional and metropolitan train networks.
