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The Guardian - AU
The Guardian - AU
National
Benita Kolovos Victorian state correspondent

The Metro Tunnel will finally open after years of chaos – so what is the payoff for the Melbourne commuter?

Metro Tunnel Melbourne Daniel Andrews Labor Jacinta Allan Sunbury Transurban
Curved red beams above an underground train station platform.
The Metro Tunnel will open with what the state government calls a ‘summer start’, with trains only running between 10am and 3pm on weekdays. Town Hall station features red beams above the platforms. Photograph: Asanka Brendon Ratnayake/The Guardian

After years of seemingly endless roadworks and construction, the commuters of Melbourne will on Sunday finally get to ride trains on the Metro Tunnel, before driving through the West Gate Tunnel weeks later.

The government is so hopeful the two finished-yet-expensive projects will be embraced that Jacinta Allan quietly broke an unwritten rule of politics – she shared a 2015 photo featuring her predecessor, Daniel Andrews, to celebrate the Metro Tunnel’s completion.

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