The Melbourne Metro Tunnel will commence passenger operations on Sunday, 30 November, marking the largest network reconfiguration in the Victorian rail system since the City Loop opened four decades ago.
The project will introduce five new underground stations and significantly expand capacity on the Cranbourne, Pakenham, and Sunbury corridors. The opening follows a phased implementation approach, beginning with what operators have termed the “Summer Start” period.
Initial Service Parameters
During the Summer Start phase, Metro Tunnel services will operate every 20 minutes between Westall and West Footscray. On weekdays, these services will run from 10am to 3pm, expanding to 10am to 7pm on weekends. This represents an additional 240 weekly services on the affected corridors.
Weekend services will extend to East Pakenham Station at 40-minute intervals and to Sunbury Station hourly. Existing City Loop services on these lines will continue to operate according to current timetables, providing passengers with routing options during the transition period.
Infrastructure Additions
The tunnel delivers five new stations: Arden in North Melbourne, Parkville serving the university and health precinct, State Library at the northern CBD edge, Town Hall in the southern CBD, and Anzac near St Kilda Road. These stations are designed to improve connectivity across the network and reduce congestion at existing central stations.
Network Integration
Full network integration is scheduled for 1 February 2026 through the “Big Switch” timetable revision. At that point, all Cranbourne, Pakenham, and Sunbury line services will run exclusively through the Metro Tunnel, supported by more than 1,000 additional weekly services. The timetable revision will affect buses, trams, regional trains, and metropolitan services.
The state government is offering fare-free weekend travel across the entire Victorian public transport network from 30 November through 1 February to encourage patronage during the transition period. Updated timetables and journey planning information are available through Transport Victoria’s website.
