Suburban Rail Loop East Launches First Tunnel Boring Machine 'Alice' at Burwood as Melbourne Reaches 95 Level Crossing Removals

Tunnelling Officially Commences on 26-Kilometre SRL East Corridor

MELBOURNE, Victoria — In a transformational leap for Australian public transportation, Victorian Premier Jacinta Allan and the Suburban Rail Loop Authority (SRLA) have officially commenced subterranean tunnelling on the generational Suburban Rail Loop (SRL) East project. The milestone began as the project's first massive, custom-engineered Tunnel Boring Machine (TBM), named 'Alice', successfully lowered its 7.2-metre cutterhead into the Burwood launch box to initiate excavation on the 26-kilometre twin rail tunnels that will link Cheltenham to Box Hill.

Named in tribute to trailblazing educational pioneer Alice Appleford, TBM Alice will bore northward beneath Melbourne’s eastern suburbs toward Box Hill, while a sister machine, named 'Hacia', prepares to launch shortly behind it. Powered 100% by renewable electricity, the TBMs will operate around the clock, installing precision-manufactured precast concrete tunnel segments to form the permanent subterranean spine of Victoria's new orbital transit network.

Orbital Rapid Transit Connecting Six Key Middle-Suburban Hubs

SRL East delivers six brand-new, architecturally bespoke underground stations: Cheltenham, Clayton, Monash, Glen Waverley, Burwood, and Box Hill. By bypassing the congested central Melbourne rail interchange at Flinders Street, the line establishes direct high-capacity rail connectivity between major regional hospitals, high-density residential precincts, and leading universities—including Monash University and Deakin University.

Transit planners estimate that the driverless automated metro service will slash cross-suburban journey times by up to 60 minutes and permanently eliminate more than 600,000 daily private vehicle trips from Melbourne’s arterial roadways and freeways upon commercial opening.

Level Crossing Removal Project Hits 95 Crossings Eliminated Milestone

Coinciding with the subterranean launch of SRL East, Victoria's Level Crossing Removal Project reached an extraordinary safety milestone, confirming that 95 dangerous and congested road-rail level crossings have now been permanently eliminated across metropolitan Melbourne. Recent structural completions at Hopkins Road in Truganina and Ferris Road in Melton have unlocked surface road bottlenecks, improved emergency service response times, and delivered 50 completely rebuilt, accessible rail stations.

The Allan Labor Government affirmed its statutory timeline to eradicate 110 level crossings by 2030, converting legacy rail corridors into elevated skyrail parklands, separated bike trails, and community sports recreation grounds.

Building a Sustainable, Polycentric Metropolis for Future Generations

Victorian infrastructure ministers underscored that the confluence of deep-bore SRL tunnelling and grade-separated level crossing removals represents the largest synchronized infrastructure modernization in the state’s history. Directly generating over 8,000 local engineering and construction jobs, the investments establish a resilient, transit-oriented backbone that underpins Melbourne’s liveability, economic productivity, and sustainable growth for the 21st century.