The Victorian government engaged PwC to “prove up” its plans for the $125 billion Suburban Rail Loop in just three weeks without the knowledge of the state transport secretary, according to a scathing ombudsman’s report that has sparked fresh calls to scrap the “politicised” project.

Victorian Ombudsman Deborah Glass on Wednesday said the public could “reasonably question” whether the Suburban Rail Loop was the best use of taxpayers’ money after finding it was created with “excessive secrecy”, having been dreamed up by a senior executive who had previously worked for Daniel Andrews and his treasurer Tim Pallas.