Major construction has kicked off on the Suburban Rail Loop in Victoria, ahead of tunnelling commencing at the start of next year.
Suburban Rail Loop is a 90-kilometre orbital rail line that will help transform the way Melbourne grows, improving travel efficiency for more than 80 per cent of Melburnians and take more than 600,000 cars off the roads every day.
Consortium Suburban Connect will build 16 kilometres of twin tunnels between Cheltenham and Glen Waverley, while Terra Verde is building the tunnels north of Glen Waverley to Box Hill.
From next year, TBMs will be launched from Clarinda – two digging towards Glen Waverley, and two towards Cheltenham.
Premier Jacinta Allan and Minister for Suburban Rail Loop Harriet Shing visited the tunnel boring machine launch site in Clarinda yesterday, which will see the use of ‘flying launches’. This allows tunnelling to begin while the TBM continues to be built from behind from a smaller launching area and minimise disruption.
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In total, each TBM will take about three months to assemble and will travel up to 90 metres a week.
In Burwood, excavation of the second SRL East TBM launch site has just past the half-way mark and is on track to be finished by mid-year – with tunnelling from Burwood to Glen Waverley also set to begin in 2026.
Trains are set to run on the project in 2035.
Minister for Suburban Rail Loop and Housing Harriet Shing said the project would create new employment and housing opportunities for locals.
“With major construction underway on the Suburban Rail Loop we are closer every day to delivering more opportunities and more homes for Victorian families, exactly where we need them,” Shing said.
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