Five local children have smiles almost as big as the 130 metre long tunnel-boring machines (TBM) they’ve named and decorated for the Forrestfield-Airport Link.

Congratulated at the future Forrestfield Station site by Transport Minister Rita Saffioti, the kids have playground bragging rights as they came on top of more than 100 students who entered a competition to make their mark on two of only nine TBMs of their kind in the world.

The first 600-tonne TBM has been named Grace, in honour of pre-primary student Grace McPhee who was nominated by her classmates at Edney Primary School in High Wycombe. The students said Grace, who is undergoing treatment for leukaemia, was the toughest person they knew - a toughness the TBM would need to bore through the earth. 

This TBM is decorated with artwork by Year 6 Walliston Primary School student Georgia Fields. 

The second TBM, which will begin work in October, will be named Sandy - suggested by High Wycombe Primary School Year 4 student Sarah Spratt. Sarah was inspired after finding a sandgroper in her backyard, as the local insect (which is also a colloquial name for Western Australians) is 'excellent at tunnelling, just like the TBM'. 

This TBM will be decorated with artwork by Rossmoyne Primary School Year 5 students Faith Brand and Jood Al Jashammi. 

The machines will start tunneling soon and take two years to make the 8-km journey underground to Bayswater, where the rail link will spur off the Midland Line. 

More information is available on the Forrestfield-Airport Link website.