Construction of SRL East is powering ahead, with tunnelling now underway.
Tunnel boring machines (TBMs) have begun building the 26km twin tunnels between Cheltenham and Box Hill. At their deepest point, the tunnels will be approximately 60m below ground, the equivalent depth of a 16-storey building.
Work sites Tunnelling has now begun from Burwood to build the northern section of the twin tunnels. The first TBMs are heading towards Glen Waverley, with tunnelling from Burwood to Box Hill to start next year.
TBMs will launch from Clarinda and Heatherton to excavate the southern section of tunnels between Cheltenham and Glen Waverley.
SRL East TBM alignment map V2
About Burwood Four TBMs will launch from Burwood – 2 will tunnel towards Glen Waverley and 2 towards Box Hill.
TBM Alice and TBM Hacia are tunnelling from the TBM launch site in Burwood towards Glen Waverley.
Construction of a second tunnel boring machine launch site is well underway, as well as construction of acoustic sheds to reduce impacts on local residents.
Find out more about Burwood
About Clarinda
TBMs will launch from Clarinda – tunnelling north to Glen Waverley via Clayton and Monash.
See how the TBMs will launch from the Clarinda site.
About Heatherton TBMs will launch from Heatherton to complete the section of tunnels between Heatherton and Cheltenham.
The train stabling facility will also be located in Heatherton – where SRL East trains will be parked when not in operation and where they will be cleaned, maintained and prepared for the next day.
About the TBMs The TBMs needed for SRL East have been supplied by 2 of the world’s leading manufacturers of TBMs - Herrenknecht and the China Railway Engineering Equipment Group (CREG).
All SRL TBMs will be powered by 100% renewable electricity.
Tunnels South The Herrenknecht TBMs – which are 7.24m in diameter and 100m to 150m long – will tunnel the southern section between Cheltenham and Glen Waverley.
The Herrenknecht TBMs will launch from Heatherton west towards Cheltenham, and from Clarinda to tunnel north towards Glen Waverley.
These TBMs can also be converted for use as earth pressure balance machines, to suit ground conditions along the way.
Tunnels North The 4 CREG TBMs will build the northern section of tunnels between Glen Waverley and Box Hill. One launched from Burwood, with the second one to start soon – both tunnelling south towards Glen Waverley. The other 2 will head north towards Box Hill from next year.
The TBMs used for the northern section of the tunnels are earth pressure balance machines, to suit local ground conditions and minimise impacts on the surface.
Our tunnel boring machine names SRL East's TBMs are named after groundbreaking Victorian women.
Around the world, most TBMs are named after women, following a tradition dating back to the 1500s, when miners prayed to Saint Barbara for protection.
Students from local primary schools near SRL East stations chose the names from a shortlist of inspiring Victorian women from a range of backgrounds and industries.
These students will be among the first to use SRL East when it opens in 2035 to get to uni, TAFE or work, and their names are on the giant machines they helped name.
TBMs for Box Hill to Glen Waverley
TBM Elizabeth
Named after Elizabeth Chong AM – celebrity chef, teacher and author – by Roberts McCubbin Primary School students 'Of all the honours I have been bestowed throughout my career, this one is quite a thrill – especially as I was chosen by children. I feel like I am now a permanent part of Australia’s history, that I have left a physical as well as emotional legacy.'
Elizabeth Chong is a famous Australian chef who loves to cook Chinese food. She was born in China and moved to Australia when she was young. Her dad was also a chef and created the dim sim.
As she grew up, Elizabeth started teaching people how to cook in her own cooking school. She shared her cooking tips and stories about Chinese traditions with Australia on TV.
Elizabeth Chong is a food hero and a teacher, bridging Australian and Chinese cultures.
TBM Bich-Cam
Named after Bich-Cam Nguyen OAM – founder of Australian Vietnamese Women’s Association and 2021 Senior Australian of the Year – by Essex Heights Primary School students 'Suburban Rail Loop East will help get you from A to B faster, causing less pollution and less time spent in traffic. Tunnel boring machines are certainly not boring! I’m very pleased to be part of this historic initiative.'
Bich-Cam Nguyen and her family arrived as refugees in Melbourne in July 1975. Cam started work a week after arrival and was still working full time until she retired in 2022 at the age of 82.
In January 1983, she motivated 15 Vietnamese refugee women to start a charity – the Australian Vietnamese Women's Association (AVWA) – to provide support services to disadvantaged refugees.
She was the CEO of AVWA, for 18 years. AVWA is now an organisation with 5 offices across Melbourne and 430 staff, offering a wide range of services for all ages and genders.
TBM Alice
Named after Alice Ivy – Melbourne music producer and musician – by Kerrimuir Primary School students 'Thank you very much for this honour, I absolutely dig it!'
Alice Ivy is a pioneering Melbourne female music producer with three albums and more than 100 million streams to her name.
Her 2020 album Don't Sleep, was nominated for Best Dance Release and Engineer of the Year at the ARIA Awards, as well as the Triple J Award for Australian Album of the Year.
Her Album Do What Makes You Happy was nominated for Best Engineered Release at the 2025 ARIA Awards.
Alice Ivy has toured with Billie Eilish, The Jungle Giants, San Cisco and The Rubens and played more than 400 shows in 4 continents.
TBM Hacia
Named after Hacia Atherton – founder of Empowered Women in Trades – by Glen Waverley Primary School students 'To know that young students are being introduced to women in trades, and that they resonated with my story, is honestly one of the most meaningful forms of recognition I could receive. It truly means the world not just to me personally, but as a recognition of the work the Empowered Women in Trades team and I have been doing to create change for women in the skilled trades sector.'
As the founder of Empowered Women in Trades, Hacia is on a mission to create a more inclusive future in construction where everyone can thrive.
From overcoming a life-changing horse riding accident in 2017, to leading a movement that empowers women, Hacia’s journey is all about resilience and inspiration.
She’s building a future where more women take up skilled trades in areas usually dominated by men.
TBMs for Glen Waverley to Cheltenham
TBM Aayushi
Named after Aayushi Khillan – founder of Body Buddies – by Le Page Primary School students 'I came to Australia as a young immigrant at 3 years old, so to now be chosen by primary school students as the namesake of a tunnel boring machine is an honour beyond words. To be embraced by the next generation and become part of Melbourne’s landscape as a doctor, social entrepreneur, and advocate means so much to me. I want every child who voted to know that they can achieve anything they dream of.'
Aayushi is currently studying to become a pediatrician and completing a PhD on pain in young people with cerebral palsy.
She founded Body Buddies, a social enterprise that uses plush organ toys to teach children about their health – with the belief that every child deserves to understand their body and how to care for it.
She has served on numerous advisory groups focused on improving health and wellbeing for children and young people from diverse backgrounds.
TBM Belinda
Named after Belinda McKenzie – steam train driver and medical student – by Clayton North Primary School students 'I am so honoured to have been selected to have one of Suburban Rail Loop East’s tunnel boring machines named after me. Being unconventional and breaking new ground has been a bit of a theme in my life but I never imagined that it would lead to recognition on such a grand scale.'
Belinda McKenzie is currently studying medicine at Monash University. From climbing mountains in the Himalayas to competing in elite sports events, she enjoys taking on challenges.
In 2011, she left her job as a patent attorney to start working at the Puffing Billy Railway, where she learned how to operate the historic steam trains.
Training for 9 years, she became the first female to qualify to drive Puffing Billy, celebrating her achievement with the first all-female train crew in the railway’s history.
TBM Issy
Named after Isolde Piet – world’s first female TBM pilot – by Huntingdale Primary School students 'It’s a huge honour to have one of the tunnel boring machines on the project named after me, especially when I look at the other remarkable women recognised by this initiative. I can’t wait to get started on our section of tunnels between Cheltenham and Glen Waverley, and it will be an especially nice moment to see TBM Issy launched.'
Isolde 'Issy' Piet was the first female TBM pilot in the world and will now be leading the world’s first all-women TBM crew as Construction Manager for the southern section of SRL East tunnels between Cheltenham and Glen Waverley.
With more than 20 years of experience in civil construction, Isolde has worked around the globe in the Netherlands, Turkey and more recently in Australia.
Her first role out of university was working on what was considered the largest tunnel at the time – the Groene Hart Tunnel.
TBM Muriel
Named after Aunty Muriel Bamblett AM – Victorian Aboriginal Child and Community Agency (VACCA) CEO – by Clayton South Primary School students 'It is truly an honour to have the Suburban Rail Loop East tunnel boring machine named after myself given the many Victorian women this tradition has honoured in the past. I particularly want to thank the children of Clayton South Primary school for nominating me, an honour indeed. May the Saints continue to protect those who work underground.'
Muriel Bamblett is a Yorta Yorta, Dja Dja Wurrung, Taungurung, Boon Wurrung Elder and has led VACCA as CEO since 1999.
She is driven by the desire to give children in care a connection to culture and is currently active in more than 30 Aboriginal community advisory groups.
Under Muriel’s leadership, VACCA has grown exponentially and is now one of the largest employers of Aboriginal people in the state.
FAQs
TBMs vary in dimension and are highly specialised pieces of machinery designed to excavate tunnels beneath the surface with customisation to suit underground conditions.
The TBM’s rotating cutterheads carve their way through soil and rock, creating tunnels that are safe, durable, and built to last for generations.
They are also equipped with a state-of-the-art navigation system, and facilities for workers, including an office, kitchen and toilets.
TBMs operate like moving underground factories, using their giant rotating cutting heads to grind and excavate rock and soil. As each TBM moves forward, it installs a concrete lining in its wake - forming the lining of the tunnel.
The SRL East twin tunnels will be constructed deep underground, at an average depth of 26 metres – or the equivalent of 6 storeys underground.
Cities around the world regularly build underground rail systems in densely populated urban areas, including Melbourne’s own Metro Tunnel.
With thousands of tunnels operating around the world and millions of people living above them with no impact on their daily lives, tunnels can be built safely and without affecting buildings and properties above ground.
TBMs can operate up to 24 hours a day, 7 days a week with expert crews managing their operations.
A TBM crew includes around 10 highly skilled roles, including the TBM operator, gantry and segment crane operators, grouters and support roles. All crew members receive specialised training, including spending time inside a special hyperbaric chamber to learn about working in pressurised conditions.
In a world first, one of the crews operating the TBMs for SRL East will be an all-women team.
The all-women crew will have a range of roles – each of which requires a specific skill set. All crew members well be suitably trained and qualified to perform their roles as part of this world-first initiative.
Tunnelling will start in 2026, and the all-women crew is expected to be tunnelling by 2027. At least 10 per cent of total labour hours on the southern section of the SRL tunnels will be worked by women.
TBMs will start tunnelling the 26km of twin tunnels between Cheltenham and Box Hill from 2026, launching from sites at Burwood and Clarinda.
The TBMs for SRL East will travel up to 90m a week, depending on the ground conditions.
Trains will be taking passengers in 2035.
Once tunnelling on SRL is completed, the TBM have been designed to be disassembled from within the tunnel and brought to the surface. The TBM shield will remain in the ground.
Where possible, TBM parts will be recycled and re-used.
