ACCIONA has reached a significant milestone in Heatherton with the arrival of the first tunnel boring machine cutterhead for Suburban Rail Loop East, signalling that preparations for tunnelling between Cheltenham and Glen Waverley are progressing on schedule ahead of works commencing later this year.
The 78‑tonne cutterhead travelled more than 10,500 kilometres by sea from China after undertaking extensive factory acceptance testing. Its arrival marks the first major delivery of tunnelling equipment for the project’s southern section, which includes 16 kilometres of twin tunnels between Cheltenham and Glen Waverley.
The cutterhead forms the front section of the TBM that will excavate the SRL East tunnels, cutting through mixed ground conditions at depths averaging 26 metres underground. The equipment was transported from Herrenknecht’s manufacturing facility in Guangzhou to the Port of Shanghai before being shipped to Melbourne and moved overnight to the Heatherton stabling facility site.
Additional TBM components, including the shield and trailing gear gantries, will arrive in the coming weeks. These parts will be stored off site until they are transported to the Clarinda launch site for assembly in 2026. Due to their size and complexity, TBMs are delivered in multiple shipments and assembled over several months before commissioning.
The arrival of the cutterhead follows the successful completion of the machine’s factory acceptance testing, which verified that all mechanical, safety and performance systems met the required standards. The testing process included propulsion checks, cutterhead rotation assessments, instrumentation calibration and safety simulations under controlled conditions.
The southern section of SRL East will use a combination of slurry and convertible TBMs to adapt to the varying geological profile between Clarinda, Glen Waverley and Cheltenham. Slurry machines will manage mixed ground conditions, while convertible TBMs will transition to earth pressure balance mode to operate in softer clay soils closer to Cheltenham.
More TBM parts will arrive throughout 2026 as manufacturing continues overseas and remanufacturing works progress in New South Wales. Two machines for the project are being rebuilt using components from previous Sydney Metro tunnelling works, reducing both waste and carbon emissions.
This milestone reflects steady progress on a project that will transform travel across Melbourne’s east, reducing congestion and creating new connections between major education, health and employment precincts. With tunnelling set to begin next year, the arrival of the first cutterhead marks a clear step toward delivering Victoria’s longest rail tunnels and a key future transport link for growing communities.