<div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Melbourne's Metro Tunnel will open to passengers this morning, doubling the size of the city's underground rail network.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The project, which cost $15 billion and has been hampered by delays and setbacks, will add five new stations, with the first trains hitting the rails at 9am.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The five new stations are Town Hall, Anzac, Arden, State Library and Parkville, with the new line running for almost 100 kilometres.</span></div></div><div><div id="adspot-mobile-medium"></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>READ MORE: </span></strong><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/national/north-st-marys-fire-sydney/4cbcf0c6-97a4-4917-bb96-5e4bc96ddf66" rel="" target="_blank" title=""><strong><span>Massive industrial fire in Sydney's west could burn for days</span></strong></a></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>It represents the biggest upgrade to Melbourne's rail in 40 years, and will ease congestion on the city loop.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>It is a project that has been years in the making, with tunnelling beginning in 2019.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Boring machines were digging as deep as 40 metres underneath Melbourne to create the tunnels, the most striking of which are two twin tunnels that run for nine kilometres.</span></div></div><div><div class="OUTBRAIN" data-reactroot="" data-src="//www.9news.com.au/national/melbourne-metro-opening-victoria/32bf7082-1d95-440f-88ed-42e019e19fcd" data-widget-id="AR_5"></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The opening is not without controversy, with the firefighters union wanting to </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/national/melbourne-new-metro-opening-row-over-safety/1a320f23-d6c1-4cdf-b301-fdb8a18e4318" rel="" target="_blank" title="delay it"><span>delay it</span></a><span> due to claims about dangerous radio faults within the new network.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>READ MORE: </span></strong><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/world/sri-lanka-floods-mudslides-cyclone-ditwah-death-toll/fe119d0b-a8a1-44ed-bea8-983a9ac8312f" rel="" target="_blank" title=""><strong><span>Death toll from floods and mudslides in Sri Lanka rises to 132</span></strong></a></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Victorian Premier Jacinta Allan claimed it was a scare tactic to try and secure better pay, rather than publicising any actual safety concerns.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"The claims that have been made by the union today are wrong and they've also been clearly rejected by the rail safety regulator, who is the expert on this matter," Allan said.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"These claims are being made perhaps more for industrial purposes than anything else."</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/national/how-to-follow-9news-digital/29855bb1-ad3d-4c38-bc25-3cb52af1216f"><em><strong><span>DOWNLOAD THE 9NEWS APP</span></strong></em></a><em><strong><span>: Stay across all the latest in breaking news, sport, politics and the weather via our news app and get notifications sent straight to your smartphone. Available on the</span></strong></em><span> </span><a href="https://apps.apple.com/au/app/9news/id1010533727"><em><strong><span>Apple App Store</span></strong></em></a><span> </span><em><strong><span>and</span></strong></em><span> </span><a href="https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=nineNewsAlerts.nine.com&amp;hl=en_AU&amp;pli=1"><em><strong><span>Google Play</span></strong></em></a><em><strong><span>.</span></strong></em></div></div>