The new state-of-the-art training facility at Clyde, in Western Sydney, is managed by Sydney Metro West delivery partners Gamuda and Laing O’Rourke Consortium, which is building the tunnels from Westmead to Sydney Olympic Park.
The purpose-built academy specialises in the delivery of training activities in civil construction, safety, and tunnelling disciplines.
The facility is helping to upskill existing workers as well as connect new workers to the construction industry by building their capabilities and placing them in entry-level roles on the project.
The academy has specialised virtual reality simulators, which will simulate underground tunnelling operations, and a decommissioned TBM to give trainees hands-on experience.
It is accessible to workers across all sectors of the industry and to the Western Sydney community to access a full curriculum of nationally-accredited training that forms part of the Australia Qualifications Framework.
Since opening in mid-2023, participants have successfully completed nearly 3,000 training courses across 192 accredited and non-accredited training programmes. It is expected up to 10,000 people will benefit from the training programmes offered, with 260 people currently participating across 19 programmes.
The facility is powered entirely by a solar farm located at the Clyde site. It is one of the largest solar farms to be used on a Sydney Metro project to date.
Tunnelling is well under way on the 24km Sydney Metro West line between Westmead and Hunter Street in the Sydney CBD, with four of the six TBMs in the ground.
