Central Station works: update
08.02.2022
The largest escalators in the southern hemisphere have been installed at Central Station as part of Sydney Metro’s transformation of Australia’s busiest railway station.
Excavation of the underground station has been completed 27 metres below the surface and the new metro platforms installed.
Work is also progressing on Central Walk: this 19-metre wide and 80-metre-long concourse underneath platforms 16 to 23 will connect metro customers to suburban, intercity and regional rail services, buses, coaches and light rail. As well:
- 20 out of 42 new escalators have been installed at Central – all 42 would stretch 955 metres end to end;
- The nine escalators in the new Metro station box are 45 metres long each, currently the longest in the southern hemisphere, with each escalator truss weighing more than 26 tonnes.
The Northern Concourse canopy has been installed and is now part of the Central landscape, providing an extra 540 square metres of open space.
The landmark canopy over this transformed pedestrian thoroughfare, made in the Hunter Valley, sits 16 metres above ground and weighs 330 tonnes.
More than 373,000 tonnes of predominately sandstone has been excavated from the Metro box, 67,200 tonnes of concrete poured and 850 tonnes of structural steel installed.
Central Walk and the new escalators to platforms 12 to 23 - as well as the lifts to platforms 12 to 23 - will open late this year.
The new metro platforms will become operational once Sydney Metro City & Southwest services begin in 2024.