Tunnelling on Melbourne’s Suburban Rail Loop will start in 2026 with the State Government awarding the first contract for SRL East.
A consortium of global tunnelling experts — CPB Contractors, Ghella and Acciona Construction — has been awarded the $3.6 billion contract to build 16 kilometres of twin tunnels between Cheltenham and Glen Waverley.
The project will create 8000 direct jobs as it delivers six new underground stations between Cheltenham and Box Hill – slashing travel times and congestion and connecting people to new housing, employment and health and education services in Melbourne’s east and south-east.
SRL East will be one of the most sustainable infrastructure construction projects in Australia’s history, with the four TBMs to be powered by 100 per cent renewable electricity and total emissions from construction to be 20 per cent below industry standard.
Skilled workers and training will also benefit from SRL East, with at least 12 per cent of hours to be worked by trainees, apprentices and cadets.
Construction is progressing across the SRL East corridor, with works in Burwood underway to build the TBM launch site; under the tunnelling contract, most ground preparation works required to excavate safety cross passages between the twin tunnels will be managed underground, reducing impacts on local residents, schools and roads.
The two other bidders for the Cheltenham to Glen Waverley Package will now compete for the second tunnelling package between Glen Waverley and Box Hill, with that contract to be awarded in 2024.
In a separate package of works, two consortia have been shortlisted for the Linewide Alliance contract to build the fleet of high-tech SRL trains and signalling system, and to operate and maintain the SRL East network – with the contract set to be awarded in 2025.
