Sydney’s Central Station Metro Achieves Practical Completion

When metro services start later this year, 21,350 commuters are set to use these services at Central Station in the morning peak, significantly reducing pressure on other transport modes. Metro will also provide Central Station passengers with fast metro trips to Chatswood in 15 minutes; North Sydney in 9 minutes; and Sydenham in 7 minutes.  

Laing O’Rourke was awarded the Central Station Metro (CSM) contract in 2018 and has successfully delivered:

• A revitalised Northern Concourse, with transformed pedestrian thoroughfares and a landmark roof canopy. The roof has been built three times, once virtually, a second time offsite at Kurri- Kurri (Hunter Valley) and for the final time at Central Station (in just three weekend possessions of 48-hour periods and short night work sessions of 3-hour periods
• Engineering marvel Central Walk, a new 80-metre-long by 19-metre-wide underground pedestrian concourse connecting all areas of the station and enabling easy interchange between modes of transport, including trains, buses, light rail, and in 2024, metro services.  
• A brand-new North-South Concourse where, in 2024, commuters will have access to metro platforms and metro services every four minutes in the peak. 
• A new entrance at Chalmers Street providing direct access from the east and allowing easy interchange from the CBD and South-East Light Rail services.
• New underground Sydney Metro platforms 27m beneath Platforms 13, 14 and 15.      
• Significant accessibility upgrades as a result of the installation of 14 new lifts and 42 new escalators, including escalator access to suburban rail platforms 12 to 23 for the first time in the station’s history. 
• The station’s first solar power farm was installed, a total of 664 solar panels to power lights across three Central Station platforms (producing approx. 366.3 megawatt hours of solar energy). 

Each new upgrade has opened as it was finished to ensure customers can enjoy its benefits as soon as possible.

During construction, Laing O’Rourke undertook over 90 community initiatives; volunteering 1,100 hours in the community, working with 17 of our supply-chain partners on local initiatives, raised over $130,000 via fundraising campaigns, and made substantial in-kind donations to two local charity partners.