TBM Grace reaches Redcliffe Station

TBM Grace has reached the Forestfield-Airport Link's Redcliffe Station construction site, with Premier Mark McGowan and Transport Minister Rita Saffioti welcoming her arrival onsite yesterday.

TBM Grace arrived at Redcliffe on Thursday afternoon (May 9), having now tunnelled 62 per cent of the 7.4 kilometre tunnel component of the future 8.5 kilometre train line to Bayswater.

The TBM was guided into the station over a period of 24 hours, with a team of 15 inside the machine for the final breakthrough. This is the first time Grace has 'surfaced' since leaving the Airport Central Station box in June 2018.

The project's second machine, TBM Sandy, is about 500 metres behind Grace and is expected to break into the Redcliffe box in June.

Both TBMs will be stopped at Redcliffe for about six weeks to enable scheduled maintenance and replacement of their screw conveyors. The TBMs will be cleaned, worn cutter head tools replaced, and routine servicing and testing will be conducted.

The machines will then begin the final leg of their journey, under the Swan River and on to the Bayswater dive structure, where it will eventually connect to the Midland Line.

The METRONET team and local government have examined the best land uses around Redcliffe Station. It will eventually service more than 5,000 employees, while more than 7,800 new residents are expected to move to the immediate area once fully developed.

Redcliffe Station will form the centre of one of METRONET's first transport oriented developments - a precinct of apartments, shops and entertainment where walking, cycling and public transport are made easy. The first trains are expected to run on the Forrestfield-Airport Link project in the second half of 2021.