This article is part of a daily series of MegaProjects articles. If you want to know more about PPP projects with a considerable size visit our MegaProjects section. You can receive them by email on a daily basis.

The Government of Victoria (Australia), through Public Transport Victoria, has launched a request for expression of interest (RFEOI) to hire a firm to act as an Independent Reviewer for the Melbourne's rolling stock PPP project.

The selected advisor will be appointed prior to the project's commercial closure to perform pre-contract close services, and jointly engaged by the state and project company during the delivery phase of the project.

Last November we reported that a total of three teams had been shortlisted to carry out the project. The shortlisted teams are:

• Bombardier - comprising Bombardier Transportation Australia, Macquarie Bank, ITOCHU and Infrared Capital Partners
• Eureka Rail - comprising Alstom, the Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ and John Laing
• Evolution Rail - comprising Downer EDI, Changchun Railway Vehicles and Plenary

The shortlisted parties will be requested to submit a formal proposal in the second quarter of 2016. The tender process is expected to be complete before the end of 2016, with the first train to be delivered for testing in late 2018.

The A$1.3 billion (US$914.2 million) investment in 37 high-capacity trains is the largest investment in new rolling stock in Victorian history.

The high-capacity trains will run on the Cranbourne-Pakenham line, Melbourne's busiest. Together with signalling upgrades and the removal of every level crossing between Dandenong and the city, the new trains will boost capacity on the Dandenong corridor by 42 percent, to carry 11,000 extra passengers every morning peak.

See more information about the tender process here.