The Andrews Labor Government's Suburban Rail Loop (SRL) East project is set to create a huge pipeline of opportunity for students to kick start their careers on Victoria's biggest ever infrastructure project.
As Melbourne grows to a city of nine million people by 2056, the Suburban Rail Loop will be crucial to ensuring our public transport network can deliver an extra 11.8 million daily trips and manage an 80 per cent increase in private vehicle trips.
SRL will help deliver Plan Melbourne's vision of a city of centres, with investment, new local projects and urban planning in the broader precincts around new SRL stations helping to reshape how Melbourne grows in the decades ahead. It's a crucial investment in the long-term sustainability and livability of our city.
Work is continuing at pace, with sites being established this year in Burwood, Glen Waverley, Monash, Clayton, Box Hill and the stabling facility at Heatherton, as crews pave the way for tunnel boring machines and prepare for construction of the six new underground train stations.
More than 800 jobs will be created through the initial early works package for SRL East, and a recruitment drive will launch next month to help us attract the best people for the job across a diverse range of fields including engineering and technical specialists, trades, and roles in sustainability, health and safety and importantly, urban planning.
The project will expand Victoria's skilled workforce over the long-term, with 14% of hours to be completed by apprentices, trainees, and cadets during the first phase of construction.
In a Victorian first, girls studying science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) subjects will be able to strengthen their career prospects with an innovative school-based SRL East traineeship program, to be delivered in partnership with Laing O'Rourke, Head Start and Holmesglen TAFE.
The group of Year 11 and 12 students will gain hands on experience on the SRL East project two days a week over the two-year program - supporting more women to pursue careers in the construction industry.
Expressions of interest for the 2024 Suburban Rail Loop Authority (SRLA) Graduate Program will open in coming months.
As stated by Premier Daniel Andrews
"The Suburban Rail Loop will change the way people move around Melbourne and is a project our city and state needs."
"We're recruiting hundreds of Victorian workers, trainees and graduates to help deliver this vital project."
As stated by Suburban Rail Loop Minister Jacinta Allan
"Suburban Rail Loop won't just transform our public transport system, slash travel times and ease congestion - it will create thousands of well-paid and secure jobs for decades to come."
"SRL is a generational investment not just in infrastructure, but in how our city grows, revolutionising our public transport system and ensuring we're ready to support a population the size of London within the next 30 years."
