THE Victorian state government has signed the first major construction contract for the $A 34.5bn ($US 22.67bn) eastern section of the ambitious suburban rail loop project in Melbourne only days after the state Ombudsman criticised how the project was conceived.

Victoria’s state premier, Ms Jacinta Allan, signed the $A 3.6bn contract for 16km of the 26km initial stage of the eastern section of the project with a three-company consortium of CPB Contractors, Ghella and Acciona Construction. Work will comprise construction of the twin tunnels between Cheltenham in the southeast and Glen Waverley.

The entire 90km orbital rail line will run from Cheltenham to Werribee via Melbourne Airport and was costed at $A 50bn in 2018. Tunnel boring is expected to start in 2026 and be completed by 2030.

Allan says the contract marked a “really big milestone towards getting on and delivering the Suburban Rail Loop."

She added that a second tunnelling contract for the next 10km stretch between Glen Waverley and Box Hill will be awarded in 2024, completing the first 26km section of the loop, dubbed SRL East.

Criticism

The announcement comes just six days after the state ombudsman, Ms Deborah Glass, criticised how the project was conceived.

She said the loop was the brainchild of a former ministerial staffer who had taken up a role in the public service and worked on its early stages with a small team at consultants PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), sidelining experts in the Department of Transport.

“[The Suburban Rail Loop] was subject to excessive secrecy and ‘proved up’ by consultants rather than developed by public servants,” Glass says.

She also noted Infrastructure Victoria did not recommend the project and was not consulted before the government’s announcement.

Ms Marion Terrill, the transport and cities programme director at think tank The Grattan Institute, has described the Suburban Rail Loop as one of the "least scrutinised projects in recent Australian history."

So far, the state government has committed about $A 9.3bn for SRL East and the Australian federal government $A 2.2bn.

For detailed data on Australian rail projects, subscribe to IRJ Pro.