Major excavation works at the Anzac Station site have commenced as a part of the A$11bn ($7.98bn) Melbourne Metro Rail Project (Metro Tunnel) in Victoria, Australia.

Currently, excavation works to build the 300m-long, 30m-wide and 22m-deep station box are underway.

The crew is expected to remove nearly 400,000t of rock and soil to build the station. An acoustic shed will also be built over the northern section of the Anzac Station site in the middle of the year to mitigate noises and contain dust.

Excavation works at all five stations sites have begun and nearly 2.5 million tonnes of rock and soil is estimated to be extracted in the process.

“The Metro Tunnel will create space to run more trains, slash travel times and connect areas such as Domain and Parkville to the network.”

Victoria Premier Daniel Andrews said: “We’re not wasting a minute building the Metro Tunnel, excavation is now underway at every station and the massive tunnel boring machines will be digging under Melbourne by the end of the year.

“The Metro Tunnel will create space to run more trains, slash travel times and connect areas such as Domain and Parkville to the network for the first time.”

Once complete, the Metro Tunnel will provide end-to-end rail connectivity from Sunbury in the west to Cranbourne/Pakenham in the south-east of Melbourne.

The scope of the project includes the construction of two 9km rail tunnels and five underground stations.

The five stations currently being built are North Melbourne, Parkville, State Library, Town Hall and Anzac.

Victoria Minister for Transport Infrastructure Jacinta Allan said: “The Metro Tunnel will not only deliver more trains more often, it will create thousands of local jobs and kick-start the careers of hundreds of young Victorians.”

Last month, excavation works for Parkville Station commenced.

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