Tunnelling launch site under construction for the SRL East.

Construction of a launch site for a tunnel boring machine (TBM) is now underway in Burwood – the most significant work yet on SRL East.

Excavators, cranes and pile-drilling rigs will dig a 19m deep, 38m long and 29m wide space – enabling TBMs to be launched in 2026.

Crews are drilling holes around the edge of the launch site which are filled with concrete to form support walls, before 34,500 tonnes of soil is removed and 1200 tonnes of steel struts installed.

Hundreds of early jobs have already been created as workers move underground services and utilities, and prepare sites for major construction in Box Hill, Monash, Glen Waverley, Clayton and the train stabling site in Heatherton.

The first tunnelling contract for SRL East has been awarded to a consortium of global tunnelling leaders. The Tunnels South contract is for 16km of twin tunnels from Cheltenham to Glen Waverley – the longest in Australia. A consortium of CPB Contractors, Acciona Construction and Ghella will deliver this huge construction package, and trains will be running by 2035.