Tunnelling has started on the Suburban Rail Loop, a major milestone in the delivery of Melbourne’s first orbital train line that will make moving across Melbourne quicker, easier and more affordable for future generations.
Tunnel boring machine (TBM) Alice is now tunnelling from Burwood towards Glen Waverley. A second machine, Hacia, is in the ground ready to start excavating the second of the twin tunnels in coming weeks.
In a Victorian first, the giant TBMs are being launched using an ‘umbilical method’ due to the confined space on the site, where the front part of the TBM starts tunnelling while the rest of the machine is gradually built behind it.
TBM Alice is named after Melbourne music producer and musician Alice Ivy, while TBM Hacia is named after construction industry trailblazer Hacia Atherton.
At Clarinda, TBM Aayushi - named after health advocate and medical student Aayushi Khillan - is being assembled to tunnel towards Glen Waverley this year. More TBMs will launch next year from Burwood towards Box Hill, and from Heatherton to Cheltenham.
The SRL will connect every major train line from Cheltenham to the west, via the north, and improve access to housing, jobs, schools, universities and hospitals in Melbourne’s middle suburbs.
Major construction is underway at all 6 station sites at Cheltenham, Clayton, Monash, Glen Waverley, Burwood and Box Hill, with trains taking passengers in 2035. The Burwood site is across the road from Deakin University, bringing a direct train service to the campus for the first time.