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 the 2050s – 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 Burwood
Located near Deakin University and connecting with existing tram and bus services, the new SRL East station at Burwood will make it easier and faster to access the area’s parkland, education and retail services.
The SRL East station at Burwood will better connect students, deliver faster and more reliable public transport, and better connectivity to stations on the metropolitan network.
The station will integrate with local tram and bus services, including the route 75 tram – connecting more people to jobs, health services and study opportunities in one of Melbourne’s fastest growing education institutions.
Station construction
Construction of the SRL East station at Burwood 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 utility relocations
- Early works including demolition of existing structures, earthworks to prepare the site, flood management measures and construction of a tunnel boring machine launch site
- Main works including excavation of the station box, and construction to build the underground station
- Construction of the pedestrian overpass across Burwood Highway. The overpass structure will be assembled offsite and installed using a crane – Station completion including any road and path upgrades, incorporation of public open space and planting and landscaping.
A new station at Burwood
The new SRL East station at Burwood will be located near to Deakin University and close to the Gardiners Creek Trail and Burwood Highway, with a single station entrance facing the university.
The new station’s 94m long platform will sit around 18m below ground, with lifts and escalators connecting passengers to SRL’s ‘turn up and go’ train services.
A new tram stop right outside the station on Burwood Highway, near Deakin University, will make interchanges quick and easy, providing a new rail connection for local workers, students and residents.
A new pedestrian overpass across Burwood Highway will provide safe and uninterrupted connectivity between the station and Deakin University, as well as improved links to Gardiners Creek trail and nearby schools.
There will be accessible pick up and drop off areas, taxi bays and up to 750 bicycle parking spaces located nearby.
Planning around the new SRL East station at Burwood
We’re planning to ensure the area around the new SRL East station at Burwood 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.