Suburban Rail Loop East (SRL East) will connect our growing health, education, retail and employment precincts in Melbourne’s east and south east between Cheltenham and Box Hill.

The 26km SRL East corridor will be built as a standalone line that is integrated with the existing public transport network.

A high-tech fleet of energy efficient trains will run on the line, stopping at the six new underground stations in Cheltenham, Clayton, Monash, Glen Waverley, Burwood and Box Hill.

Like other metro systems around the world, SRL East will require a range of supporting infrastructure including an emergency support facility.

The emergency support facility will house important infrastructure, including an intervention and ventilation facility and backup control centre, which are essential to the safe operation of SRL East.

The emergency support facility will be built on High Street Road, Mount Waverley, between Kiers Avenue and Elm Grove.

About the intervention and ventilation facility

The intervention and ventilation facility will provide air ventilation, emergency service access, and an emergency exit point for passengers from the rail tunnels to the surface.

Intervention and ventilation facilities are critical to keep the rail network moving. A number of these facilities already exist across Melbourne to service existing rail tunnels.

This facility will be essential to the safe operation of SRL East, serving several important purposes:

• Ventilation – supplying fresh air to the tunnels to manage temperatures and provide cooling around trains.
• Smoke extraction – in the rare event of an emergency, fans will operate to keep evacuation routes free from smoke.
• Emergency access – for emergency services to access the tunnels in the event of an incident.
• Emergency evacuation – enabling passengers to be guided safely to the surface.

How was the Mount Waverley location chosen?

The intervention facility and backup control centre are co-located to efficiently and effectively manage any incidents that may occur.

The emergency support facility needs to be located at this point due to the length of the twin tunnels in this section.

The site was considered against a range of criteria including engineering design, tunnel operation requirements, the environment, availability of suitable land, and minimising home acquisition and impacts to the community.

What will the facility look like?

The intervention and ventilation facility and the backup control centre will be architecturally designed above-ground buildings, each about the height of a two-storey house. The design of the facility will involve community consultation.

Vegetation will act as soft screening, reducing the visual impact of the facilities for surrounding neighbours.

What will construction of the facility involve?

Work to build the emergency support facility, including the intervention and ventilation facility and backup control centre at Mount Waverley will involve:

• Site establishment and demolition.
• Excavating a rectangular shaft to the tunnels below.
• Construction of underground internal support structures including floors and access.
• Construction of buildings, mechanical and electrical fit-out and landscaping.

What are the operational impacts of the facility?

During normal rail operations, the buildings will not produce significant noise or other emissions. Noise mitigation will be based on requirements as outlined by EPA Victoria (Publication 1826).

This includes assessment of noise levels as well as setting allowable noise limits. Access to the facilities may be required outside of normal working hours for emergency maintenance works.

About the backup control centre

Housing important equipment to operate trains for SRL East, the backup control centre will be ready to go in standby mode should there be an incident that affects the main operational control centre from functioning.

The building will be about the height of a two-storey house.