It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas around Metro Tunnel

You better watch out, you better not cry! The Metro Tunnel Project is coming to town for Christmas with a host of festive activities across Melbourne’s CBD.

Roving performers will entertain passers-by next to City Square every Friday in December before Christmas, between 5.30pm and 6.30pm, including the energetic Trash Puppets and fun-loving Punk Emus.

A new artwork by Gunnai/Waradjurie artist Robert Michael Young, on display along the Metro Tunnel’s site fence at City Square, offers a unique Australian twist on the Christmas classic, 12 Days of Christmas.

You’ll see galahs giggling, dingos dancing and koalas cuddling in the exciting mural as you stroll down Swanston St.

The age-old Christmas carol offered the perfect structure for a visual artwork that reflects Christmas in Australia, said Young.

“I like the simplicity of this song and its meaning,” he said.

It’s important for me to create artworks that represent life and play and culture.

If you want to immerse yourself in another Aussie-themed Christmas artwork, this time with a touch of quirky humour, head to Scott Alley to see The Little Things.

The large-scale artwork created by Tonia Composto – also known as Lemon Chicken Por Favor – offers a snapshot of the joys and differences of Christmas in Australia. Prawn on the barbie, anyone?

“It’s the little things in Australia that make Christmas unique,” Composto said.

If you feel inspired to get creative, Composto is hosting a series of one-hour doodling workshops at Metro Tunnel HQ (125-133 Swanston St) on December 9 and 16 from 10.30am. You’ll learn how to turn a humble doodle into a work of art, which you can take home to gift to your loved ones.

The events are part of the Metro Tunnel’s Creative Program, which aims to bring colour and life to Melbourne’s CBD while construction on this major project is under way. For more information head to bigbuild.vic.gov.au/projects/metro-tunnel/community/events.

While the streets of Melbourne are filled with all things Christmas, deep underground work on the Metro Tunnel’s five new underground stations is progressing at pace.

At Anzac Station the station concourse is taking shape with lights, stairs, lifts, and escalators now installed, while crews have almost finished installing platform pavers. The entrances in the Shrine of Remembrance grounds and Albert Road Reserve are also well advanced.

Test trains are now running at a maximum speed of 80km/h through the tunnel – the same speed they will travel at when the project opens in 2025.  •