15 September 2025
More transport, more homes, more jobs
Our city and state are growing. Melbourne will be a city of 9 million people by the2050s – the size of London today
We need more transport and more homes in the right places – and Suburban Rail Loop (SRL) will deliver both.
As a transport, housing and urban planning project, SRL will slash travel times, ease congestion, and connect our suburbs, ensuring our city grows in the right places. It will support the delivery of more homes and housing choice where people want to live – on the doorstep of world-class public transport, services, jobs, schools, parks and cafes.
Linking every major train service from the Frankston Line to the Werribee Line via Melbourne Airport, SRL will transform our public transport network - better connecting Victorians to employment, hospitals, universities and each other.
Construction of SRL East from Cheltenham to Box Hill is powering ahead, creating up to 8,000 direct local jobs. Tunnel boring machines to build the SRL East tunnels will arrive in late 2025 and launch in 2026. Major construction is underway, and SRL trains will be taking passengers in 2035.
SRL East at Box Hill
Located in the heart of Box Hill’s activity centre, the new SRL East station will make it easier and faster to access the area’s thriving retail, dining, education and health services.
The new underground SRL East station at Box Hill will be one of the busiest and most well-connected stations on the metropolitan network.
The station will provide a convenient connection to the existing Box Hill Station on the Belgrave/ Lilydale line and will integrate with local tram and bus services – connecting more people to jobs, health services and study opportunities in one of Melbourne’s fastest growing education and medical precincts.
Station construction
Construction of the SRL East station at Box Hill will be completed in stages. Disruption at surface level is expected to be shorter than the overall construction time.
Construction stages and activities include:
- Initial works to prepare the site, such as moving underground services
- Early works including demolition of existing structures, earthworks to prepare the site, and works to move the 109 tram stop
- Main works involving excavation of the station box, and construction to build the underground station
- Station completion including any road and path upgrades, incorporation of public open space and planting and landscaping.
A new station at Box Hill
The underground SRL East station at Box Hill will be located in the heart of Box Hill with 2 station entrances at Market Street and north of Whitehorse Road.
The new station’s 94m long platform will sit around 23m below ground, with lifts and escalators connecting passengers to SRL’s ‘turn up and go’ train services.
Changing between SRL and metro trains, trams and buses will all be done without having to cross traffic – making it safe, easy and quick. To allow for these seamless connections, Whitehorse Road will be realigned between Nelson Road and Linsley Street to the northern side of the road reserve, so we can create:
- A pedestrian promenade, linking SRL and Whitehorse Road to Box Hill Gardens, with enhanced public open space
- A ground-level link from the SRL East station to the existing metro station at Box Hill Central
- Traffic-free connections to buses.
- There will be accessible pick-up and drop-off areas, taxi bays and up to 500 bicycle parking spaces located nearby. The SRL East station will also include buildings to accommodate ticketing and customer facilities and potential retail tenancies, operational equipment and rail systems, and essential emergency and safety infrastructure.
Planning around the new SRL East station at Box Hill
We’re planning to ensure the area around the new SRL East station at Box Hill benefits from an improved range of infrastructure and services, providing better connections to jobs, open space and community facilities.
We’ve been speaking to local communities for several years about how SRL can help meet the challenges of population growth and housing supply. We have written to the community, spoken with thousands of people at pop-up events, information sessions, webinars, and by phone and email. We’ve received over 10,000 community responses and submissions, which helped shape the structure planning process.
A structure plan guides the development of an area over time – helping to achieve sustainable growth and positive social, economic and environmental outcomes. Together with the broader planning framework, structure planning for SRL East precincts is an important part of the Victorian Government’s strategy to address housing affordability and supply with access to jobs, services and opportunities near good public transport.