Victorian premier Ben Carroll pushes ahead with SRL spend despite hinting at pause

A day after suggesting other projects were more important to Victorians, Carroll has committed to pushing ahead on train line

The Victorian premier, Ben Carroll, has made an about-face, committing to pushing ahead with the first stage of the Suburban Rail Loop while promising to reduce its total cost by about 6%.

Carroll will on Tuesday announce changes to the scope of the first stage of the project, known as SRL East – a 26km stretch of tunnels between Cheltenham and Box Hill – estimated to save $1bn.

He will also order an “independent, technical review” to identify a further $1bn in savings.

No further contracts will be awarded until the review is complete but the government has stressed all current works will continue, with tunnelling between Burwood and Glen Waverley set to begin soon.

“The SRL will be built on time. Today’s changes mean it will be built under budget,” he said.

Combined, the two measures would reduce the total cost of SRL East by 6% to about $32.3bn from a maximum $34.5bn contained in the project’s 2021 business and investment case.

Carroll will also annouce that the Suburban Rail Loop Authority, the statutory agency responsible for planning and delivering the project, will be folded into the Victorian Infrastructure Delivery Authority. The move was already under way prior to Carroll becoming premier four weeks ago.

Since Carroll took on the Labor leadership, he has sought to differentiate himself from his predecessors , Jacinta Allan, and Daniel Andrews, who both championed the orbital train line.

In his first week as premier, Carroll said he would not tear up the project’s contracts. But he wouldn’t rule out redirecting billions of dollars earmarked for the SRL to other projects, such as Melbourne Airport rail .

Then, in radio appearances on Monday, he suggested projects other than SRL were more important to Victorians.

“The Suburban Rail Loop, an orbital line, makes sense, but it cannot be crowding out everything else we need to do as a government. Airport Rail, Melton electrification, filling potholes and doing the job properly – these are the things Victorians want from their leader and their government,” Carroll told 3AW.

On ABC Radio Melbourne , he said work on SRL would go ahead but there were “other projects that are so much more needed and urgent”.

“There is a contract in place and that work will go ahead. But I am also having a very good look at how we fix up potholes, get on with Airport Rail, get on with Melton electrification,” Carroll said.