The Victorian Tunnelling Training Centre is under construction

10 October 2019


Australia - The construction of the Victorian Tunnelling Training Centre (VTC) is set to start in Melbourne. The VTC will be located at Holmesglen Institute’s Drummond Street campus in Chadstone and will take the first students during Semester 1 over the next year.

The AUD 16M centre will train around 3,500 local workers in TBM operation and underground construction each year, ensuring they are equipped to work on the Andrews Labour Government’s pipeline of major tunnelling projects.
These Victorian workers will be trained to build the Metro Tunnel, West Gate Tunnel and other major transport projects.
The centre will include both mined tunnel and TBM replica tunnels, enabling workers to familiarise themselves with the different tunnelling methods required to build major infrastructure projects.
The TBM replica tunnel will be the exact diameter of the Metro Tunnel, while the mined replica tunnel will be as wide as a three-lane freeway.

Basic training for workers on the Metro Tunnel project is already being delivered by Holmesglen, including virtual reality tunnelling, mined and bored tunnel inductions and self-rescue techniques. The VTC will take this specialist training to the next level.

The centre is modelled on the Tunnelling and Underground Construction Academy established as part of London’s Crossrail and the Tunnel Training Academy in Kuala Lumpur.

The Metro Tunnel is also receiving AUD 3.3M funding from the Labour Government’s Workforce Training Innovation Fund to deliver a virtual reality training program to offer Victorians skills in underground construction, tunnel boring and use of heavy equipment and technology.

Holmesglen Institute will give both existing and new courses at the tunnelling centre, including Certificate and Diploma qualifications as well as safety-based training for working underground.

Six TBMs are required to build the West Gate Tunnel and Metro Tunnel projects, with the Metro Tunnel’s first TBM recently launched from North Melbourne.

Minister for Transport Infrastructure Jacinta Allan, said: “We’re giving workers the skills they need to build our unprecedented pipeline of transport projects.”

Minister for Training and Skills Gayle Tierney adds: “The Victorian Tunnelling Centre will not only create jobs and help build our state but it will ensure Victorians are at the forefront of tunnelling skills and innovation.”