Melbourne orbital line contract awarded

The Suburban Loop Authority in the Australian city of Melbourne has awarded the TransitLinX Alliance an AUD 8.8bn contract to build the first 26km of the Suburban Rail Loop in East Melbourne from Cheltenham to Box Hill. The Alliance consists of Alstom, John Holland, KBR, WSP and RATP Dev. Alstom’s share is worth EUR 1bn and includes 13 Metropolis automated metro trains for GOA4 and 15 years of maintenance, as well as the Urbalis CBTC train control system. The trains will be built in Australia at Dandenong and serviced at a depot at Heatherton. The Suburban Rail Loop is intended to be expanded to cover 90km with the future section linking Box Hill and Werribee via Bundoora, the Airport and Sunshine. Its provision is a response to forecasts that the city’s population will reach nine million by 2055. The Loop will provide interchange with most of the existing radial suburban lines. 26km will be bored tunnels with six new underground stations.