Australia’s largest public transport infrastructure project is currently underway. The Sydney Metro Northwest, formerly known as the North West Rail Link, will be the first fully-automated metro rail system in Australia and is currently on track to begin carrying passengers in 2019.

The project will deliver a total of eight new railway stations and 4,000 commuter car parking spaces to Sydney’s expanding North West region.

A $340 million contract, which was awarded to the Salini Impregilo joint venture, involves building a 4km long “skytrain” section between Bella Vista and Rouse Hill, along with other surface works like bridges, embankments and railway cuttings. While most of the train line will reside underground, in Australia’s longest tunnels, the 4km skytrain delivers new metro trains into Sydney’s North West.

“This project has led to a jobs boom in Sydney’s North West with about 400 workers on site building the skytrain and about 900 others working to deliver Australia’s longest railway tunnels.”
– Premier Mike Baird

The In Motion Aero team is working with video production company, TVU Productions, to capture progressive aerial footage during the construction of the skytrain project for media coverage. Two 600 tonne horizontal cranes, officially known as Launching Gantries, have already completed more than 550m of the 4km skytrain between Bella Vista and Rouse Hill.

The first crane is located at the Cudgegong Road end of Sydney Metro Northwest project and the second is currently beside Old Windsor Road in Kellyville and is now fully operational. By the completion of the project, the gantry cranes will lift more than 1,200 concrete segments into place to form the skytrain deck.