A consortium involving three construction giants has been awarded a huge tunnelling contract on Melbourne’s biggest rail project.

The Victorian Government has awarded the $1.7 billion Tunnels North on the $30-$34 billion Suburban Rail Loop East (SRL East) contract to the Terra Verde consortium.

The consortium consists of Italian construction group Webuild, South Korean based GS Engineering and Construction, and Bouygues Construction Australia – the Australian subsidiary of French construction firm Bouygues Construction.

The contract is the final of two tunnel projects to be awarded in relation to SRL East.

Set to open in 2035, SRL East is the first stage of the broader Suburban Rail Loop project – a 90 kilometre orbital rail line around Melbourne that will link the city’s middle suburbs in the south-east, east, northeast, north, northwest, west and southwest and that will carry more than 70,000 passengers each day.

Once complete, SRL East will link Cheltenham in Melbourne’s south-east to Box Hill in the east via two 26-kilometre rail tunnels and six new stations.

The first tunnelling contract from Cheltenham to Glen Waverley was awarded to the Suburban Connect consortium in 2023.

The latest contract – the second and final tunnelling contract to be awarded as part of SRL East – will see tunnelling occur over the final 10 kilometres from Glen Waverley to Box Hill.

Tunnel boring machines in respect of this section will be launched from Burwood in 2026.

In addition to the tunnelling, contracts are also being awarded to construct the stations and to undertake construction of the trains, fitout of the tunnels and operation of the network.

In relation to the stations, three consortiums have been shortlisted to bid for two contracts.

The firs contract will involve construction of stations at Glen Waverly, Burwood and Box Hill.

The second will involve the remaining three stations at Cheltenham, Clayton and Monash.

Meanwhile, two bidders are vying for the train, tunnel fitout and operation contract.

By 2026, it is expected to up to 4,000 workers will be employed on SRL East.

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