The state government did something quite remarkable this week. It carved a veil in stone. At least that’s what they would have us believe.

We are referring to the commuter rail loop. Prime Minister Jacinta Allan announced on Sunday that the $1.7 billion contract to build twin 10 kilometer tunnels between Glen Waverley and Box Hill had been awarded to the Terra Verde consortium. Construction giant WeBuild would lead the project, she said, under a “locked-in” contract, with tunnel work due to begin in 2026. “We’re not wasting a moment,” she said. -she declared. If only we could be as confident about other waste, Prime Minister.

It is not uncommon for large infrastructure projects whose value is accepted to end up costing more than was initially declared. But SRL occupies an undesirable niche in which costs have increased even before its value to the state is established.

The concerns surrounding it are not secondary issues: they are crucial to its viability and relevance to the city and, more broadly, to the state.

The SRL was announced by then Prime Minister Daniel Andrews in 2018 via Facebook, during the “phoney war” months before the November election that year. Allan was then Minister of Transport. The loop, if completed, would link Cheltenham to Werribee, a distance of 90 kilometers.

Age welcomed the idea, as a concept, with reservations about funding and details. Six years and several investigations later – including by the Victorian Ombudsman, the National Audit Office, the Parliamentary Budget Office And Age – tpipe reserves have become alarming.

The Prime Minister’s announcement of the signing of a $1.7 billion contract this weekend follows a predictable trajectory for the SRL stages, where intentions are big and details are light.

At the most basic level, the government cannot say how it will be financed. How can the Prime Minister, in good conscience towards her voters, sign a contract when the money intended for the megaproject is not blocked?

Two months ago, Age reported that the Allan government had still not convinced the Commonwealth of the value of the project and as a result was retaining the $2.2 billion that Anthony Albanese had pledged for the project just before the 2022 federal election Two years later, Victoria has still not presented a credible case for this money.