Suburban Rail Loop: SRL tunnel contract signed for Cheltenham to Box Hill

The first major works contract is set for a $35bn rail line under Melbourne’s middle suburbs, locking Victoria into its most expensive infrastructure project.

The first major works contract for a $35bn rail line under Melbourne’s middle suburbs has been inked, locking Victoria into its most expensive infrastructure project ever.

The deal, worth $3.6bn, is to tunnel the initial 16km of the 26km Suburban Rail Loop East, which will connect Cheltenham to Box Hill.

After months of debate about the project’s future, due to fears of a funding blackhole, Premier Jacinta Allan has staked her leadership on the city-shaping line and declared it was “full steam ahead”.

Construction giants CPB Contractors, Ghella and Acciona Construction were awarded the contract, which will pave the way for tunnel boring machines to begin digging within three years.

The detailed underground path SRL East will follow through Melbourne’s middle suburbs.

A separate contract, for tunnelling between Glen Waverley and Box Hill, will be inked next year; a further deal to build SRL trains and a signalling system, as well as operate and maintain the SRL East network, will be signed the following year.

Once built, it will be the longest rail tunnel in the country.

Ms Allan said the new orbital line, which would connect to existing radial spokes of the rail network, would help shape the future of Melbourne.

“We are full steam ahead with the Suburban Rail Loop – by 2026, tunnel boring machines will be in the ground and Victorians will be hard at work delivering a project that will slash travel times and transform our transport system,” she said.

Debate has raged about the cost of the SRL East, which is the first stage of a 90km loop around Melbourne that Labor proposed prior to the 2018 state election.

Cost estimates of building and operating the full loop have ranged from $125bn to $200bn.

But Ms Allan has consistently said there is “no alternative” due to a growing city that will hit 9 million people – the population of London today – by mid-century.

The state has pledged about $9.3bn for the project, and the Albanese Government has promised $2.2bn.

Concept plans for the Box Hill SRL.

When it announced the ambitious plan, the government said it hoped the Commonwealth would contribute a third of the funding, the state another third, and the remaining funding from development taxes referred to as “value capture”.

Part of the SRL vision is to build up around six station precincts along the line in Cheltenham, Clayton, Glen Waverley, Monash, Burwood and Box Hill.

Recently released images show soaring high rises as well as medium-scale density along main roads for up to 1.6km of each station.

Suburban Rail Loop Minister, Danny Pearson, said the project would drive jobs and significant economic activity.

“SRL East equals 8,000 direct jobs and thousands more across the supply chain,” he said.

The government says the project will be one of the most sustainable infrastructure construction project in the country’s history, promising construction emissions 20 per cent below industry standard and TBMs to be powered by renewable energy.