First look inside skytrain
02.05.2016
This is the first look inside Sydney Metro Northwest’s skytrain, held together by more than 1,400 kilometres of steel cables.
“The 4 kilometre skytrain from Bella Vista to Rouse Hill is taking shape before our eyes,” Transport Minister Andrew Constance said.
“This is the first chance we’ve had to take a rare look inside this giant structure, an engineering marvel which will change the way of life for the north west.”
Inside the skytrain, black pipes run the length of the structure carrying about 37,000 high tension steel cables. These cables pull together and secure the 1,200 concrete segments which make up the 4 kilometre elevated structure.
If the steel cables were laid end to end they would stretch from Sydney to Rockhampton on Queensland’s central coast – a distance of more than 1,400 kilometres. The concrete segments are lifted in place by the giant cranes, then glued together before each span of segments is tensioned using the steel cables.
Once the skytrain is built, work will start on the elevated railway stations at Kellyville and Rouse Hill – two of eight new metro stations.
Sydney Metro Northwest will be the first fully-automated metro rail system in Australia. It’s on track to open to customers in the first half of 2019 with a train every four minutes in the peak – that’s 15 trains an hour.