4 October 2022
Connecting suburbs. Creating jobs.
Suburban Rail Loop will shape our city and state for future generations, ensuring Melbourne remains one of the world’s most liveable cities.
The 90km Suburban Rail Loop (SRL) will link every major rail line from the Frankston line to the Werribee line, via Melbourne Airport, improving access to housing, jobs, schools, universities and hospitals for all Victorians.
SRL East between Cheltenham and Box Hill will deliver huge benefits to those in Melbourne's east, south east and regional Victoria, with faster and more reliable public transport and greater access to jobs, health and education.
SRL East includes new underground stations at Cheltenham, Clayton, Monash, Glen Waverley, Burwood and Box Hill, and will be built as a standalone 26km rail line integrated with the existing public transport network.
SRL East will slash travel times, create new jobs and housing closer to home, deliver more direct journeys for regional Victorians and enhance walking, cycling and green spaces.
SRL will be delivered in stages and construction on SRL East began in June 2022. SRL East trains will be running by 2035, taking around 70,000 passengers per day.
Green light for SRL East
The environmental effects for SRL East have been assessed through Victoria’s most comprehensive and transparent planning approvals process – an Environment Effects Statement (EES). The project received planning approvals in September 2022.
SRL East’s EES received more than 360 submissions and saw an independent panel hear from 47 witnesses over 39 days of public hearings and it has resulted in enhanced measures and outcomes that will benefit the community during construction and operation.
The EES was Victoria’s first fully digital EES and will remain online for the life of the project as a reference document.
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 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.
Benefits for Box Hill
A new station at Box Hill
The underground 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 at Box Hill 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 station to the existing metro station at Box Hill Central
- Traffic-free connections to buses and a new 2-track tram terminus.
- There will be accessible pick up and drop off areas, taxi bays and up to 500 bicycle parking spaces located nearby.
The 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.
Fast Facts
- From Cheltenham to Box Hill in 22 minutes.
- Locals saving 40 minutes on a one-way trip between SRL East stations.
- ‘Turn up and go’ services every 6 minutes.
- Transporting around 15,000 passengers from Box Hill daily.
- 70,000 daily trips - reducing congestion on our roads by up to 47%.
Station construction
Construction of the SRL station at Box Hill will be completed in stages and is expected to take approximately 6 years. Disruption at surface level is expected to be shorter than the overall construction time.
Construction stages and activities include:
- Initial Works (outside the scope of the EES) to prepare the site, such as utility relocations
- Early Works involving demolition of existing structures, earthworks to prepare the site, and works to relocate the 109 tram terminus
- Main Works involving excavation of the station box and using a bottom-up technique to build internal structures and building the station structures
- Station completion including any road and path upgrades, incorporation of public open space and planting and landscaping.
For more information on how we plan to build SRL East, including the 26km underground twin tunnels, 6 new stations and supporting infrastructure, read our Building SRL East fact sheet.
Planning approval for SRL East
Following extensive planning and design work, SRL East received planning approvals in September 2022.
The assessment of the SRL East Environment Effects Statement recognised that the project will bring enormous benefits to Melbourne and has resulted in enhanced measures and outcomes that will benefit the community during construction and operation.
At Box Hill, these changes include:
- Delivering alternative open space as close as possible to the areas required for SRL East, including Box Hill Gardens
- Prioritising planning for an underground connection between the SRL station at Box Hill and the existing MTM station at Box Hill Central
- Further assessing the impacts on the Box Hill bus interchange, including additional pedestrian modelling
- Delivering a connection from Box Hill to the Ringwood C1 strategic cycling corridor as part of the project.
What’s next for SRL East?
Construction of SRL East kicked off in June 2022, with Initial Works underway to prepare sites for major construction by 2024.
Initial Works are planned at Clayton, Monash, Glen Waverley, Burwood, Box Hill and at the site of the stabling facility in Heatherton.
Activities are similar to routine infrastructure maintenance and renewal works that happen in our suburbs every day, and involve:
- Relocating and protecting utilities such as gas, electrical, water, sewer and telecommunications services
- Minor road modifications
- Site levelling and ground improvement works
- Establishing the construction sites.
To support construction, there will be temporary facilities set up along the alignment. These will include site offices and worker amenities, car parking, gates, entries and exits, fencing, equipment storage, and environmental, traffic and safety controls.
- 2020 – $2.2b provided for Initial & Early Works
- 2021 – EES exhibited late 2021
$9.3b provided for SRL East Main Works, I&EW contract signed - 2022 – Initial and Early Works commenced
- 2024 – Main Works start for SRL East
- Mid 2020s – Precinct development to commence, with a focus on SRL East
- 2035 – Trains running by 2035 on SRL East
*Ongoing community and stakeholder engagement
More than a rail line
Beyond the rail line, SRL includes strategic land planning and development initiatives in SRL Precincts that will attract and support clusters of new businesses and deliver better local services and additional housing.
SRL will open up exciting prospects for new recreation spaces and community facilities, as well as improved walking and cycling links
that will make Box Hill an even more attractive and vibrant place to live, work and visit.
SRL will support Box Hill’s population growth, which is anticipated to grow to around 77,500 people by 2056. With SRL East and SRL North delivered, employment in the Box Hill Precinct is expected to double to 48,500 jobs.
Get involved
Since mid-2019, we've been speaking with community members online and face to face to understand what locals love most about their areas and how SRL East can help further enhance neighbourhoods.
Feedback from the people who know SRL East precincts best is very important throughout all stages of planning and development.
There will be many opportunities for you to get involved and contribute your ideas on how we can make areas around SRL East stations even better places to live, study, work and visit.
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