Metro Tunnel Project creates a wealth of opportunity

The Metro Tunnel Project isn’t just building a city-defining train line – it’s also creating jobs and opportunities across the board.

With International Women in Engineering Day recently taking place, two of our trailblazers joined counterparts from other projects across the Big Build infrastructure program to mark the event.

Sarah Jane Malcolm and Livon Joseph both work for the Metro Tunnel’s Rail Systems Alliance (RSA). RSA is responsible for the cutting-edge high-capacity signalling system that will be rolled out on the Metro Tunnel, as well as train and power control systems.

Women are traditionally under-represented in engineering, with just under 13 per cent of qualified engineers in Australia women – but Victoria’s Big Build is giving more opportunities than ever before for women to be part of Victoria’s mega infrastructure boom.

With more than 30 years’ experience in industry and government across Europe and Australia, Sarah Jane has delivered projects for London Underground, Transport for London, BHP and Siemens.

Livon, who was passionate about maths and aircraft from an early age, studied mechanical and aerospace engineering at the University of Queensland, before entering the construction industry through the Thiess Graduate Program in 2012.

Victoria’s Big Build is currently in the middle of an unprecedented construction boom. There are more than 165 major road and rail projects that require a diverse workforce that includes more women.

To help more women succeed in the construction industry, the Victorian Government has developed the Women in Transport Program, with $2.4 million to support women working in construction.

Victoria’s Big Build is actively recruiting women into graduate programs and supporting experienced women to develop through further education and other programs.

Also enabling this pathway into the workforce is the Major Projects Skills Guarantee (MPSG), which Victorian apprentices, trainees, and cadets to make up 10 per cent of the workforce work on high value government construction projects. This policy is about growing the next generation of skilled workers in Victoria.

Minister for Transport Infrastructure Jacinta Allan said, “We are celebrating the hard-working female engineers who work across Victoria’s Big Build.”

“They’re crucial to our success over the past six years – and we’ve created the Women in Transport Program because we want to see many more join our ranks as we get on with building the projects Victorians need.” •