Shortlist for Melbourne’s Suburban Rail Loop Announced

CPB Contractors, John Holland and Laing O’Rourke are on the shortlist for phase one of Melbourne’s $50-billion suburban rail loop.

The contract will be awarded by the state government at the end of the year with construction starting in the city’s south east in 2022 to create twin-tunnels in the rail corridor from Cheltenham to Box Hill.

The package of works includes road modifications, relocating and protecting utilities, ground improvement trials, tram terminus works and site preparation for tunnel-boring machines.

The state government has made progress on the 26km route, buying the land required for tunnel-boring machine launches, using $2.2 billion from the 2020-21 budget.

Seven kilometres of ground and 425 boreholes have been drilled by suburban rail loop workers with five drilling rigs in use and two more to arrive in a few weeks.

Six underground stations are to be built as part of stage one—at Cheltenham, Clayton, Monash, Glen Waverley, Burwood and Box Hill.

More details including precise station locations, entrances and design elements are expected soon.

Suburban Rail Loop minister Jacinta Allan said the government was “not wasting a second” by beginning early stage construction.

“These new underground stations will deliver fast and convenient journeys—confirming the station locations and entrances for stage one brings us a step closer to starting work on this transformational project,” Allan said.

The shortlisted respondents will now have to demonstrate they can deliver these works, employ local people and commit to other key programs including the major projects skills guarantee, recycled first policy and the social procurement framework.

Previously the shortlisted contractors have worked on rail projects across Australia including the current Parramatta and Canberra light rail, Brisbane’s Cross River Rail and other rail projects across Sydney and the globe.

Stage One of Suburban Rail Loop will slash public transport travel times and connect our growing health, education, retail and employment precincts in Melbourne’s south east between Cheltenham and Box Hill.

The suburban rail loop will eventually run all the way to Werribee via the Melbourne Airport with an additional nine stops added to stage one of the project.

This will create another link to the airport building on the Melbourne Airport Rail project which goes through Sunshine Station and into the city.