MILAN, May 15, 2019 – Rita Saffioti, Western Australia’s Minister for Transport, has described as “remarkable” the progress that Salini Impregilo had made on the construction of the Forrestfield-Airport Link in Perth.

The Group, along with joint-venture partner NRW, is building the 8.5-kilometre-long light rail line that will connect the eastern suburbs with the city centre. The project is the biggest of its kind in the state in more than a decade.

After nearly a year toiling underground below the Perth Airport’s operating runways, tunnel-boring machine (TBM) Grace recently broke through the wall of the future Redcliffe Station, one of three that will dot the line.

“The tunnelling for Forrestfield-Airport Link is extremely complex, but TBM Grace has now completed 62 per cent of her journey – a remarkable achievement,” Minister Saffioti stated after a weekend visit to the site.

"The last time I saw this incredible machine it had just broken through the wall at Airport Central Station (in June 2018)," Western Australia Premier Mark McGowan told reporters during the visit.

TBM Sandy, which is building a parallel tunnel, is about 500 metres behind Grace and is scheduled to arrive at Redcliffe in early June.

The two TBMs will remain at Redcliffe for about one month for maintenance.

The final leg of their journey will be towards Bayswater Junction, located on the Midland Line.

Once completed, the Forrestfield-Airport Link will allow residents to commute between the suburbs and the centre in 20 minutes each way versus 45 minutes by car, encouraging them to leave their cars at home to reduce traffic congestion and air pollution.