Metro Tunnel to take first passengers in early December

The Metro Tunnel will open in early December with hundreds of new services a week as part of the Summer Start.

Metro Tunnel services will run seven days a week and stop at all five new underground stations: Arden, Parkville, State Library, Town Hall and Anzac.

Trains will run every 20 minutes between Westall and West Footscray from 10am until 3pm on weekdays and 10am and 7pm on weekends. Weekend services will depart East Pakenham every 40 minutes and Sunbury every 60 minutes.

This will be a time for everyone to get familiar with the new systems and stations.

There will be more than 240 extra weekly services during the Summer Start in addition to existing services.

Passengers on the Cranbourne/Pakenham and Sunbury lines will continue their journeys as normal through the City Loop during the Summer Start, and connect to Metro Tunnel services at interchange locations, including Footscray and Caulfield stations.

On February 1 next year, the Metro Tunnel will be fully integrated into the wider transport network. This is when all services on the Sunbury and Cranbourne/Pakenham lines will travel exclusively through the new tunnel.

The Frankston Line will also return to the City Loop, improving access to the CBD for thousands of passengers on one of Melbourne’s busiest lines.

The announcement of the first passenger services comes as major construction has finished on the CBD stations – Town Hall and State Library. The project’s expert team is now working through the remaining trial operations exercises as part of the “dress rehearsal”.

To celebrate the opening of the Metro Tunnel, public transport users will have access to free weekend travel, providing an opportunity to see Melbourne’s five new underground train stations.

Free Saturday and Sunday travel will apply from early December 2025 to February 1, 2026, and extend across all modes of public transport across Victoria.

The Metro Tunnel will mean faster travel across the city – around 12 minutes from Arden in North Melbourne to Anzac on St Kilda Rd. •