Terra Verde awarded $1.7 billion contract for Suburban Rail Loop Line

Global consortium Terra Verde has been awarded a $1.7 billion tunnelling contract for the $34.5 billion eastern section of the Suburban Rail Loop Line in Victoria, Australia.

The deal is to build 10 km (6 mile) twin tunnels between Glen Waverley and Box Hill, with another consortium already signing a $3.6 billion deal to tunnel the rest of the 26 km (16 mile) stretch from Cheltenham.

The Guardian reported that the Labor state government said the latest tunnelling deal came in under what was initially budgeted but the Victoria Premier Jacinta Allan, did not say by how much.

“It demonstrates there is huge competitive interest from these global construction companies,” Allan told reporters.

The entire 90 km (56 mile) orbital rail line is designed to run from Cheltenham to Werribee via Melbourne airport. Boring on the first phase of the loop is expected to begin in 2026, with completion slated for 2035.

The transport infrastructure minister, Danny Pearson, said there was “simply no stopping” the project as early works power ahead at all six station sites.

Victoria has pledged $11.8 billion to build the eastern section, with a third of funding expected to come from the federal government and the rest from unexplained “value capture” revenue.

The Albanese government has only committed $2.2 billion for the project so far, leaving a $20 billion funding hole.

The entire project was initially estimated to cost up to $50 billion in 2018, before its 2021 official business case showed the east and north sections could cost between $30.7 billion and $57.6 billion. The state’s independent Parliamentary Budget Office cast doubt on that estimate, putting the cost to build the first two sections at $125 billion.

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