Jacinta Allan spruiks Suburban Rail Loop tunnelling machine deal on final day of China trip

Premier Jacinta Allan says Victoria has more to learn after visiting a Chinese city where a Suburban Rail Loop project will be built for $1.8bn — far below the $34.5bn the Melbourne version is budgeted to cost.

Victorian Premier Jacinta Allan says Victoria has more to learn after revelations one of China’s suburban rail projects will cost the global superpower just $1.8bn to build.

Promoting a new deal to bring Chinese tunnelling machines to Melbourne to carve out the $34.5bn Suburban Rail Loop, Ms Allan on Friday visited a rail line in the city of Deyang in China’s Sichuan province.

State-owned China State Construction and Engineering Company is building the first 40 kilometres of a suburban train line in that city for just $1.8bn – a fraction of the cost of Victoria’s SRL.

The Chinese figure covers construction and installation costs and does not include other expenses such as financing costs.

Ms Allan said the huge difference in cost showed Victoria had more to learn about massive rail infrastructure projects.

“It tells us that three is so much we can learn from countries like China who are great rail countries,” she said.

Allan during her five-day trade mission to China. Picture: Supplied

A boring machines built by the China Railway Engineering Equipment Group to be used on the SRL.

Ms Allan spent her final day in China promoting the tunnelling machine deal which will bring another four tunnel boring machines (TBMs) to Melbourne to carve out twin tunnels between Glen Waverley and Box Hill.

The massive machines will be built in Zhengzhou before arriving in Melbourne.

“Chinese companies are investing in the SRL – and Victorian workers are building it,” Ms Allan said.

“Why shouldn’t we aspire to a public transport system like China’s? They have fast trains and rail loops everywhere.”

Ms Allan’s comments sparked a new round of questioning over whether she is using the trip to seek out Chinese investment to help fund the project, something the government has denied.

Questioned by media in Melbourne, Energy Minister Lily D’Ambrosio on Friday refused to comment on the issue.

“I’m not making comments on that, that I’ve not heard directly one way or the other, I’m not going to do that,” she told reporters on Friday

“What is really important here is that the Premier is representing the whole of the state.”

Works underway on the SRL at Box Hill. Picture: Mark Stewart

Victorian Deputy Opposition leader Sam Groth said there were a lot of questions around the deal for the tunnelling machines.

“We know China is an important trade partner for us, but we want to make sure that whatever deal Jacinta Allan is signing us up for, in terms of tunnel boring machines and the SRL, is transparent with the Victorian people,” he said on Friday.

“We have a TBC in the Victorian budget when it comes to the cost SRL, we have no idea what these tunnel boring machines are going to be costing and we have no idea what future governments are being signed up to.”

The tunnelling deal is part of a $1.7bn contract awarded to Terra Verde – a global consortium of Webuild, GS Engineering and Construction, and Bouygues Construction Australia – to deliver the section of the twin tracks.

More than $5.5bn in contracts has already been signed for the SRL despite it currently facing a $20bn black hole.

Originally published as Jacinta Allan spruiks Suburban Rail Loop tunnelling machine deal on final day of China trip