Holmesglen tunnelling centre | Melbourne TAFE Courses & Degrees, Victoria

The Victorian Tunnelling Centre is located at Holmesglen Institute’s Drummond Street campus in Chadstone, where it offers specialist training to workers in the construction and operation of a variety of tunnels including rail, road, and utilities tunnels.

The new facility includes a replica mined tunnel and a replica rail/Tunnel Boring Machine (TBM) tunnel similar to the Metro Tunnel, with a full-height entrance, two multi-purpose engineering workrooms and training facilities including tunnel shaft and concrete lining spray simulators, as well as augmented and virtual reality experiences. A cutterhead, a refuge chamber and the only four-motion bridge and gantry crane located in a TAFE also form part of the facility.

The Australian-first tunnelling training centre will train thousands of workers as part of the Victorian Government's planned rail projects. Keep an eye on this page for regular updates on the centre.

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What is the Victorian Tunnelling Centre?

The Victorian Tunnelling Centre (VTC) provides training to people working on Victorian infrastructure projects, such as the Metro Tunnel Project. The VTC trains and upskills local workers in Tunnel Boring Machine (TBM) operation and the construction and operation of tunnels.

Existing Civil Construction, industrial skills, High Risk Work (HRW) training, and Workplace Health and Safety (WHS) training continues to be delivered at the Drummond Street campus and in the VTC.

What does the Victorian Tunnelling Centre contain?

The VTC includes a full-height replica mined tunnel (three truck lanes wide) and a full-height replica Tunnel Boring Machine (TBM) similar to the Metro Tunnel - all above ground. It also provides two multi-purpose engineering workrooms and training facilities including tunnel shaft and concrete lining spray simulators, as well as virtual reality experiences. The VTC contains a full working refuge chamber and the only four-motion bridge and gantry crane located in a TAFE.

The cutterhead
Just arrived, the star of the Victorian Tunnelling Centre is a brand new Tunnel Boring Machine cutterhead made by Herrenknecht in Germany – a prominent and impressive addition to the facility. Weighing in at 80 tonnes, the cutterhead is the front and the heaviest component of a TBM and cuts through rocks to create rail and road tunnels.

Visible from the Monash Freeway, the cutterhead stands 7.2 metres tall and is identical to those used for the Metro Tunnel under Melbourne’s CBD.

The cutterhead will be used to train the next generation of tunnel construction workers, primarily to prepare workers and trainees for tunnel works in servicing techniques such as removal and replacement of disc cutters and cutting knives, and excavation chamber access and monitoring. Together with our full-sized rail tunnel and Augmented Reality (AR) training, this will be one of the leading tunnelling training experiences in the world.

What is happening on the site?

Construction of the VTC began in September 2019 and is now complete, with all major internal equipment installed. The VTC is modelled on London’s Tunnelling and Underground Construction Academy (TUCA)– established as part of London’s Crossrail Project – where more than 15,000 contractors and apprentices have trained.

Leading the development of the Victorian Tunnelling Centre
The project is funded by the State Government through Rail Projects Victoria (RPV). The cost has been shared across the Metro Tunnel, West Gate Tunnel and North East Link projects, which will all use the centre to support their tunnelling operations.

A passionate group of tunnelling stakeholders form the VTC Industry Advisory Group, meet quarterly to guide the ongoing development and utility of the VTC.

Who is involved in the VTC?

A large project like this required the expertise of many organisations and many people. The Metro Tunnel Project’s Tunnels and Stations contractor CYP Design & Construction (a joint venture comprising John Holland, Lendlease and Bouygues Construction) had oversight of the design and build of the facility, with Holmesglen managing the on-site construction and day-to-day operation.

Who will be trained at the VTC?

Training is aimed at all levels, from new entrants, workforce, engineers through to managers. The apprentices, trainees and cadets attending the VTC are the skills pipeline for infrastructure projects and come from across Victoria and Australia to be trained in the construction and operation of tunnels.

What courses are being provided?

Training for workers on the Metro Tunnel project is already being delivered by Holmesglen, including virtual reality tunnelling training technology. Besides existing civil construction, high risk work training and other industrial skills, safety and electrical courses, new courses will include certificate and diploma qualifications for skills required in tunnel construction spanning management, concreting, electrical, plumbing, safety, and more.

Workers with a High Risk Work (HRW) licence are in high demand on major construction projects. For more information and to enrol in one of Holmesglen's public Industrial Skills courses, which include HRW courses, as well as Safety and OHS courses, see our industrial skills courses. Course dates are updated regularly.

How will this centre help young Victorian jobseekers?

The Victorian Government’s Major Projects Skills Guarantee, ensures all Victoria's major publicly funded works employ local apprentices, trainees or engineering cadets for at least 10 per cent of the project's total labour hours. This ensures young Victorians benefit directly from the major infrastructure projects being undertaken in our state.

The Victorian Tunnelling Centre for industry
In addition to the existing training and courses on offer, the VTC is available for hire to organisations keen to organise their own training. It is the perfect place to upskill and train employees in a realistic, safe and controlled environment.

The VTC and rooms at our Drummond Street campus are available to be used for conferences and team meetings. For more information, contact us on 1300 639 111 or email VTC@holmesglen.edu.au

What is the impact of COVID-19 on the VTC?

Holmesglen Institute, including our Drummond Street campus, remains open and is delivering training remotely where possible or with safe social distancing measures in place. The first priority for Holmesglen is the health and wellbeing of our community, including students, staff, industry partners, clients and visitors to our campuses. We continue to follow the advice of the Victorian Departments of Health and Human Services and Education and Training. Should the spread of COVID-19 impact upon the accessibility of the VTC and the availability of courses, we will make every effort to provide timely information via updates to all affected stakeholders.