Hunter Street Station is one of the underground metro stations being built as part of the Sydney Metro West project, which is one of the largest public transportation projects in Australia.
The station is one of nine new stations being developed as part of the metro, along with Westmead, Parramatta, North Strathfield, Burwood North, Five Dock, Sydney Olympic Park, The Bays and Pyrmont stations.
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The Hunter Street Station will serve as a transport hub providing connections to other Sydney Metro lines, as well as other forms of transportation. It will be delivered as an integrated station development comprising above-station developments under a development partner model by the New South Wales (NSW) government.
Hunter Street Station location
Hunter Street Station will be located on the corner of Hunter and George Streets and Bligh and O’Connell Streets in the northern part of Sydney’s central business district (CBD).
Hunter Street Station design and development details
The metro station will comprise two sites, east and west, which will be connected by a single-span cavern (tunnel) with a single central platform. It will feature a main western entrance opening to George Street and an eastern entrance facing O’Connell Street that will connect to Richard Johnson Square.
Subterranean walkways will be constructed from the station to Martin Place, Wynyard and Barangaroo Stations as well as direct links to other Sydney Metro lines, suburban rail services and bus services. In addition, escalators and lifts will provide level access between O’Connell and Bligh Streets.
The NSW government announced the development of the Hunter Street Station in 2018. The location of the new station was confirmed in May 2021. The environmental impact assessment report was released during the same year, following which the planning approval for the project concept was received.
The proposed designs for two entrances to the Hunter Street Station were released in September 2022. Tunnelling and station excavation was approved in 2022.
Construction of the station details
Tunnelling works at the Hunter Street East site began in April 2023, with a road header tunnelling machine for excavating a temporary decline access tunnel. Once the drop has been built, tunnelling will continue into the underground station cavern and turnback tunnels.
Site preparation, service identification and relocation, geotechnical studies, site surveying, structural demolition, scaffolding and other pre-construction works are currently ongoing at the site.
Tunnelling works at the Bligh Street site are set to begin in the next few months and will continue at both the East and West entrance sites until mid-2025.
Above-station developments
The Hunter Street development will feature two over-station development towers over the east and west station entrances with commercial, retail and residential spaces.
The Hunter Street West station will have a 51-storey tower while the Hunter Street East station will have a 58-storey tower. The towers will be linked to public spaces and the underground metro station.
The towers will offer up to 150,000m² of high-quality commercial office space, retail, new lobby spaces, lift cores, access, parking, loading docks and building facilities for future expansion. The intended facade roof is oriented to support solar panels and minimise overshadowing.
The development will also expand the plaza at the eastern station entrance and improve pedestrian connectivity, promoting mobility across the station zone.
Contractors involved in Hunter Street Station development
A joint venture of construction companies John Holland, CPB Contractors and Ghella was awarded the contract to excavate the Hunter Street Station site along with the Pyrmont Station site, as well as 3.5km of metro rail tunnels of the metro project.
Sydney Metro West project details
Sydney Metro West is a 24km-long rapid transit project under construction in Sydney, connecting Westmead to Hunter Street. It will double the rail capacity and relieve overcrowding on the Western Line.
The project will be the first fully-automated metro rail system in Australia. It will help in meeting the projected increase in passenger traffic while improving connectivity between Sydney CBD and Greater Parramatta.
The travel time to Parramatta, Sydney Olympic Park and Five Dock stations will be 20 minutes, 15 minutes and eight minutes, respectively.
