17 September 2025
Suburban Rail Loop (SRL) will slash travel times across Melbourne – making it easier for people to travel to the places they want to go.
No matter where you live – whether it’s Frankston, Footscray or Fawkner – SRL will mean faster and easier journeys, creating more time to do the things you love – rather than being stuck in traffic or navigating inconvenient journeys across multiple modes of transport.
As Australia’s largest housing project, SRL will not only deliver faster, more reliable travel for Victorians, it will help deliver thousands more homes where they’re needed – right next door to jobs, services, and world-class public transport.
Works at Burwood are progressing as part of SRL East’s major construction phase. Works to prepare for tunnelling, including site establishment, relocating underground utilities, and preparing the tunnel boring machine (TBM) launch site are underway. TBMs will start to arrive at the end of this year. They will be assembled on site before they are launched towards Glen Waverley and Box Hill.
The site compound at Burwood operates like a mini city—with its own power, water, internal roads and traffic management systems to keep everything running smoothly.
SRL East at Burwood
The SRL East tunnels will run deep underground - at their lowest point, more than 60 metres below the surface.
About 13,000 passengers are projected to use the underground SRL station at Burwood daily when trains start taking passengers in 2035.
The new SRL East station at Burwood will connect locals to key destinations like Box Hill Hospital in just 3.5 minutes saving 12.5 minutes versus public transport. A trip from Deakin University to Cheltenham will take 19 minutes, saving up to 40 minutes of travel time.
Getting ready for tunnelling and the new station
The Burwood site is one of the project’s main tunnelling sites, and will house all the equipment needed to dig out and remove the soil as we build the tunnels.
Site mobilisation
Before tunnelling begins, we’ll set up the Burwood site to support tunnelling works. This work will include building internal roads, installing temporary utilities, and creating safe access for workers and equipment. Site offices, workshops, and water treatment facilities will also be installed to support tunnelling operations.
Tunnel boring machine (TBM) assembly and launch
TBMs will start to arrive by ship in Melbourne at the end of this year. They will be transported to Burwood and assembled on site before being lowered and launched.
A 120-tonne gantry crane is installed to lower the TBMs and other equipment into position. It will also be used to lower concrete tunnel segments into the launch site to feed into the TBMs as tunnelling progresses. The TBMs will be launched from Burwood, first tunnelling east towards Glen Waverley, then heading north towards Box Hill.
Tunnel lining and cross passages
As each TBM moves forward, it installs curved concrete segments to form rings, creating the permanent structure for SRL East tunnels.
As part of the tunnel structure below ground, we will also build cross passages, which are small, mined connections between the twin tunnels positioned at regular intervals along the alignment. They provide emergency access and improve safety for future passengers and maintenance crews.
Acoustic sheds
Three large acoustic sheds at Burwood manage noise, dust and light during construction. Two will cover the TBM launch sites, and one will store excavated soil from the tunnels before it is trucked off site. These sheds are lined with sound-absorbing panels and help reduce disruption to nearby homes and businesses.
What is a gantry crane?
A gantry crane is a large, specialised crane that is used to lift and position heavy equipment including the TBMs and concrete segments into the TBM launch site.
Removing soil from the tunnels
The Burwood site is used to support tunnelling between Glen Waverley and Box Hill. A large acoustic shed stores and removes soil from the tunnels.
When the TBMs start tunnelling, excavated soil will come to the surface on a continuous enclosed conveyor system. The conveyor will carry soil from the TBM launch site to the large purpose-built acoustic shed.
Trucks will enter the shed and be loaded with soil, before being covered and driven away. The acoustic shed operates day and night and is big enough for three double trailer trucks.
You will notice an increase in trucks in the Burwood area as they continuously move in and out of the site.
The shed and conveyor belt systems are acoustically treated and enclosed to contain noise, light and dust impacts to nearby residents.
How we will manage our works
We will minimise impacts to the community by:
- Establishing site buildings, internal access roads, plant storage and away from residents where possible
- Installing hoarding around the site to minimise noise and dust
- Building acoustic sheds to minimise noise, dust and light
- Scheduling works at time when they will have the least impact
- Providing advance notification to community
- Safely removing hazardous materials from site in accordance with Environmental Protection Autority regulations
- Transporting materials from site in covered trucks to minimise dust
- Using water and dust suppressants
- Installing road safety and detour signage
- Pedestrian and cyclist detours in place
- Using noise control equipment and tools where possible
- Maintaining access for emergency vehicles and buses at all times
- Maintaining access to homes and businesses.
Communicating impacts
SRL East contractors are on the ground speaking with affected communities and businesses. Regular works notifications are distributed on a monthly and as needed basis to notify people affected of any upcoming works.