Australia’s Victorian government has announced plans to cut A$2bn (€1.23bn) from the cost of Melbourne’s Suburban Rail Loop (SRL) while continuing to deliver the project.
It has identified around A$1bn in immediate savings through reducing the project’s scope, and an independent technical review will target a further A$1bn in savings.
No new contracts will be awarded until the review is completed.
The A$2bn cuts would take the total estimated project cost to A$33.3bn (€20.42bn).
The government said the cuts and scope changes would not delay current works and tunnelling would start on schedule.
The news comes as the assembly of two TBMs is under way at the Burwood launch site, and TBM components are arriving at the Clarinda site.
The scope changes include replacing the planned underground station interchanges at Box Hill and Glen Waverley with surface connections.
The plans also include pursuing alternative ways to provide sufficient parking at Glen Waverley, dropping plans for a second station entrance at Clayton, abandoning complex pedestrian bridges at Burwood and Cheltenham, and scaling back some future precinct works.
The SRL Community Projects Fund will be discontinued after the current funding round.
The government will also remove duplication in project delivery next year by abolishing the Suburban Rail Loop Authority and transferring its work to the Victorian Infrastructure Delivery Authority (VIDA).
VIDA delivered the Metro Tunnel and other major projects across Victoria.
Victoria premier Ben Carroll said the SRL would be built on time and the changes meant it would also be built under budget.
