TBM Eileen arrived at the Airport Terminal metro station site after building 1.26km of fully lined tunnel. It marked completion of the first leg of the 5.5km journey towards the Aerotropolis.
Since launching at Airport Business Park in April, TBM Eileen has tunnelled at an average speed of 120m per week and excavated around 112,000 tonnes of rock.
It took about five months to dig out approximately 293,000 tonnes of rock to build the 25m-deep Airport Terminal Station box to prepare for the TBM’s arrival.
The TBM will now traverse the station box before being relaunched to tunnel under the future Western Sydney International Airport. It is expected to arrive at the Aerotropolis metro station site in 2024.
CPB Contractors and Ghella Joint Venture is using four TBMs will build the twin metro tunnels for the Sydney Metro – Western Sydney Airport line, with three TBMs already in the ground.
The 23km rail line will be operational when Western Sydney International Airport opens for passenger services.
