The first four tunnel boring machines (TBMs) for SRL East will begin arriving on site next year – and will be in the ground in 2026 tunnelling between Cheltenham and Glen Waverley.
Herrenknecht – one of the world’s leading manufacturers – is the preferred contractor to supply the TBMs that will drill 16kms of twin tunnels between Cheltenham and Glen Waverley.
Two of the machines will be remanufactured after being used on the Sydney Metro project – significantly reducing the carbon footprint of SRL works. All four TBMs will be powered by 100 per cent renewable electricity.
Measuring 7.24m in diameter and between 120 and 150m long, the first TBMs will launch from Clarinda and travel up to 90m a week – two travelling south to Cheltenham and two north towards Glen Waverley. The TBMs will arrive on site for assembly in late 2025 and will start tunnelling in early 2026.
In a world first, one of the crews operating the TBMs will be an all-women team – and more than 650 women have already applied for selection.
Two types of TBMs will be used to match ground conditions along the SRL East alignment – two slurry machines will be used in the northern section, while two convertible machines will be used in the softer ground further south. In a Victorian first, these two machines will be converted from slurry to earth pressure balance (EPB) machines between Heatherton and Cheltenham.
Construction of SRL East between Cheltenham and Box Hill is forging ahead with works underway at all 6 station sites, including the TBM launch site in Burwood and the tunnel access structure in Heatherton. SRL East is creating up to 8000 direct jobs and 1400 people are already working on the project.
SRL East will be taking passengers in 2035, opening up access to jobs, healthcare and education in Melbourne’s east and south east, and delivering a train service for the first time to Monash and Deakin universities.
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