AUSTRALIA: Detailed negotiations are currently underway with the TransitLinX consortium of John Holland, RATP Dev, Alstom, KBR and WSP as a preferred bidder for the Linewide contract package to fit out and then operate the Suburban Rail Loop East in Melbourne.
Project promoter Suburban Rail Loop Authority told Railway Gazette International on October 1 that the contract package covers the supply of rolling stock, the signalling system, fit-out of the tunnels, and operations and maintenance of the SRL East route for the first 15 years.
The contract is expected to be awarded ‘in the coming months’, the project promoter said.
SRL East forms the initial 26 km section of an orbital railway that will eventually be 90 km long. SRL East wil run from Cheltenham to Box Hill, serving six stations.
The wholly underground SRL East will consist of twin-bore tunnels. It is being built for automation to GoA4, and the trains being sought will be equipped for driverless running with regenerative braking.
Construction of SRL East started in 2022, with preparatory work now under way at all six station sites and at the train stabling facility in Heatherton.
Tunnelling is scheduled to start next year, divided into two contract packages, awarded last November and December 2023. Three bidders have been shortlisted for the construction of the underground stations, divided into two contracts, which are expected to be awarded next year.
- Four more tunnel boring machines were ordered from China Railway Engineering Group on September 22, augmenting the four ordered in September 2024 from Herrenknecht. Each TBM will be between 100 m and 150 m long and just over 7 m in diameter and fully powered by renewable electricity.
- Read our feature article about the progress on the SRL project in the November 2025 issue of Railway Gazette International.
