Thursday, 14 November 2019

In reply to  Ms VAGHELA (Western Metropolitan) (16 October 2019)

Ms ALLAN (Bendigo East—Leader of the House, Minister for Transport Infrastructure):

I thank the member for Western Metropolitan Region for her question.

The Metro Tunnel Project is committed to ensuring all Victorians benefit from the largest public transport project in the State’s history.

A Tunnel Lining Segment Manufacturing Facility has been purpose-built in Deer Park to supply the Metro Tunnel Project with the 56,000 concrete segments needed to line and build the twin nine-kilometre tunnels. The facility will create 70 new jobs in Melbourne’s west, including targeting the recruitment of priority job seekers such as ex-automotive workers, long-term unemployed, Indigenous job seekers and people of a refugee or asylum seeker background.

As part of the Sunbury Line Upgrade, being delivered by Rail Projects Victoria, the project will support hundreds of local jobs, including up to 30 full-time positions for engineering cadets, trainees, apprentices and priority jobseekers.

The $1.75 billion Regional Rail Revival program is also bringing job opportunities to the western region of Melbourne through the Ballarat Line Upgrade. Ballarat Line Upgrade has created 400 full-time jobs. So far, 1.2 million hours have been worked including 97,000 hours by cadets, apprentices and trainees.