Premier Daniel Andrews says he will not shy away from taking the Metro Tunnel's builders to court if a fight over who pays for the project's multibillion-dollar blowout is not resolved.

Mr Andrews came out swinging at the project's construction consortium on Tuesday, as two tunnel-boring machines sat idle for a second day amid a dispute over who is responsible for up to $3 billion in blown-out costs.

Metro Tunnel's first tunnel-boring machine. Credit:Jason South

The Premier claims the companies in the Cross Yarra Partnership – Lendlease Engineering, John Holland, Bouygues Construction and Capella Capital – have shut down tunnelling in an "obvious tactic" aimed at squeezing money out of Victorian taxpayers.

"We have a message for those building companies," Mr Andrews said. "These tactics will not work.