Sydney’s Central Station—a critical interchange that connects with suburban, intercity, and regional rail services, buses, coaches, and light rail—has installed the longest escalators in the Southern Hemisphere as part of a milestone transformation to Australia’s busiest train station.
The nine escalators are 45 metres long and weigh more than 26 tonnes each.
At a price tag of $955 million ($US682 million), New South Wales Premier Dominic Perrottet said the work at the iconic station would transform public transport services.
“The upgrade to Central Station will create more than 5,500 jobs over the four years of construction and represents the biggest improvement to the station in decades,” Perrottet said in a release on Feb. 8.
“This city-shaping work is an extraordinary engineering and construction accomplishment. We’re delivering this Metro rail station below the surface at Central while existing train services continue above.”
As an underground link for customers, construction has excavated a cavern 27 metres below ground and installed an extra 540 square metres of open space with an Australian-made canopy.
“The roof over this transformed pedestrian thoroughfare, made in the Hunter Valley, sits 16m above ground and weighs 330 tonnes,” Minister for Transport and Minister for Veterans David Elliott said.
The unique challenge in the railway renovation has been blending the old with the new.
The station has a long and rich history with a classically inspired building consisting of a sandstone and brick structure.
The architects behind the upgrade, Woods Bagot and John McAslan + Partners, said the construction would unlock the clarity of the historic building.
“Significant heritage qualities of the 112-year-old station will be emphasised along with the introduction of new architecturally-inspiring elements as part of a scheme that amplifies Central Station as a Sydney icon,” said John McAslan in a statement.
John McAslan + Partners were also involved in restoring London’s 170-year-old King’s Cross Station, which serves 150,000 passengers a day, winning awards for their innovative and contemporary design.
The new escalators will open later this year, and the new metro platforms will become operational in 2024.
