When Melbourne's Metro Tunnel will open after decade-long wait
Moderated by Tomas Kauer 
Melbourne's long-awaited Metro Tunnel is slated to open to the public in early December after years of construction, delays and cost blowouts.
Victorian Premier Jacinta Allan today announced the tunnel is scheduled to be complete and ready for passengers by the start of summer following eight years of construction.
The new tunnel will service trains every 20 minutes between Westall and West Footscray from 10am until 3pm Monday to Friday for an initial "Summer Start" period.
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Weekend services trains will run every 20 minutes from 10am until 7pm, extending to East Pakenham every 40 minutes and Sunbury every hour.
Metro Tunnel services will stop at five new underground stations: Arden, Parkville, State Library, Town Hall and Anzac.
A network-wide timetable for the new tunnel is scheduled to start on February 1 next year.
Labelled "The Big Switch", this major timetable overhaul is set to add 1000 new weekly services to the network.
From this point, trains will run at least every 10 minutes from 6am until 10pm between Watergardens and Dandenong.
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The services will increase to every three to four minutes during rush hour.
Frankston Line services are also expected to return to Melbourne's City Loop from February 1.
Allan said it was crucial to trial a smaller number of services first before integrating the big timetable switch.
The premier could not confirm an exact date for the tunnel's opening and would only confirm it as "early December".
"Christmas is coming early for everyone on the Pakenham, Cranbourne and Sunbury lines, who'll have hundreds of new services every week from the start of December," Allan said.
"What an incredible moment for our state – Victorians have patiently waited for this tunnel to get built underneath their feet and behind big sheds, and now they'll be able to use it."
The Melbourne Metro Tunnel was first announced in 2015.
Construction work began in 2017, including lengthy and complex work on Town Hall station which needed excavation as deep as a five storey building.
In September last year, the Allan government announced an $837 million cost blowout on the project.
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