In the final afternoon of AusRAIL 2024 Caroline Wilkie from the Australasian Railway Association (ARA) and Chief Executive Officer of the Suburban Rail Loop Authority Frankie Carroll sat down to speak about Suburban Rail Loop (SRL).
Melbourne is Australia’s fastest growing city and Carroll said SRL is about urban renewal and supporting the city which is growing rapidly.
“If we do not effectively manage our growth we will see Melbourne have to continue to expand out further and further,” he said.
“This is about connecting those middle suburbs and building those middle suburbs.
“If you look at every major city in the world, they have an orbital rail line and we do not have that in Melbourne.”
It has been a major year for SRL. Construction has begun at all six sites, the second tunnelling contract was awarded, TBMs were ordered and the organisation recruited the worlds first all women TBM team.
“It has been a huge year for us,” he said.
“We have the linewide package next and we are evaluating them at the moment and they will be awarded in Q2 2025
“Precinct planning normally takes seven years and we are doing six in two and a half years.
“It has been a huge year this year but it will be even bigger next year.”
Carroll explained that SRL is a major housing project along with a rail project and SRL understands this part of the work it is doing. The team is looking to other major projects across the country to understand how it should prepare for the work it is doing.
“The team at Sydney Metro told us to buy more land around the station boxes and we have learnt from Cross River Rail around other parts we should be prepared for,” he said.
“Planning the infrastructure around this project is what matters.”
As the project is expected to be complete in 2036, it will cross into net-zero requirements. Carroll explained that the team is aware of these challenges and is preparing well for it .
SRL is a major project for Victoria and Carroll said that it will need to be prepared with workers capable of succeeding.
“We are entering a sweet spot with tunnelling, we have done a number of projects nationally and we can use that to our advantage,” he said.
“There will always be competition between projects in Australia but the sub-contracting market is very strong in Victoria and that will help.”
Carroll said Government has committed to funding the SRL and he believes that with the awarding of these packages, government has shown its commitment to the mega project.
“Government has committed 14 billion dollars and costs are 34 billion dollars for stage 1,” he said.
While Carroll chuckled at the detractors across Melbourne and noted a recent survey by the Age were 57 per cent of Victorian’s were in favour of SRL, he said it is important the project is held accountable.
There was a couple of detractors for the City Loop in Melbourne when it was first being built and I don’t think that lasted very long after it opened,” he said.
“The conversation is starting to change, people can see what the project can do for the city and they are on board.
“Let’s have a balanced conversation when it comes to the project and not just be critical, but I am starting to see a change in Victoria.”
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