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Article text (copied from 12ft):

Trains through Melbourne’s new Metro Tunnel project will be able to run as frequently as once every three minutes.

In testing this month, 12 trains made 18 trips an hour between West Footscray and Hawksburn – the first use of high-frequency services on the $12 billion railway under the CBD.

Trains through the Metro tunnel have progressed to the point where they can now run at 80km/h. Trains through the Metro tunnel have progressed to the point where they can now run at 80km/h.

The state government initially promised a “turn up and go” service – without specifying precisely how often trains would run.

The significant testing milestone was made possible by modern signalling technology that allows trains to communicate wirelessly with each other and the network and to adjust their speed and run closer together.

The high-capacity signalling is now used on almost half of the services on the Cranbourne and Pakenham lines.

When completed, the Metro is expected to provide these passengers, and those on the Sunbury line, with trains so frequent they don’t have to look at a timetable.

Trains started running through the tunnel in July 2023 at low speeds but have progressed to the point where they can now run at 80km/h.

So far, there have been about 660 individual tests over 1960 hours, covering 16,500 kilometres of track. Testing will continue as experts seek to ensure the new technology works alongside the decades-old signalling system used across Victoria.

The Allan government maintains the Metro Tunnel project will be completed in 2025, but internal documents have previously shown it could open by the end of this year. Before it opens to passengers, there will also be “dress rehearsals” with station staff and drivers between Clayton and West Footscray.

Public Transport Users Association spokesman Daniel Bowen said the project would make public transport faster and more attractive option, including outside peak hours.

“The Metro Tunnel will change how people get around inner Melbourne, making busy precincts around Anzac and Parkville stations more quickly and easily reachable by train for the first time,” he said.

“When public transport works well, it helps everyone, making more jobs and more opportunities easily accessible to everyone, without putting more cars on the road, or imposing the financial costs of car ownership on people.”

The Metro Tunnel will add five new underground stations at Domain in South Yarra, Parkville, Arden in North Melbourne and two in Melbourne’s CBD.

Trains will run on one continuous line from Sunbury in the city’s north-west, under the heart of Melbourne, to Cranbourne and Pakenham in the south-east. Taking these lines out of the City Loop is also expected to free up the rest of the network to run more services.

The government estimates it will take about 16 minutes to travel from the western tunnel entrance in Kensington to the eastern portal at South Yarra. The same trip would currently take between 24 and 37 minutes in peak hour, requiring two train trips and a change at Flinders Street station.

“We’re a year ahead of schedule on the Metro Tunnel project and once it opens it will change the way Victorians move across Melbourne for the better,” Transport Infrastructure Minister Danny Pearson said.

Shrine of Remembrance chief executive Dean Lee said the new stop at Domain precinct – Anzac Station – will improve access to the historic site.

“As one of Melbourne’s most visited cultural attractions, we’re looking forward to making it easier for people to experience the solemn beauty and historical significance of this revered landmark,” he said.

Public transport advocates have previously questioned whether the Metro Tunnel can deliver the full scale of “turn up and go” services it first promised. They said they were yet to see evidence that it would deliver high-frequency trains in the outer suburbs during off-peak periods and weekends.

The Department of Transport and Planning is developing a new timetable for when the project is completed.