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.

SRL East at Glen Waverley

Located in the heart of Glen Waverley’s activity centre, the new SRL East station will provide faster and more convenient access to the vibrant retail and hospitality area and quick journeys to universities, employment and hospitals to the north and south.

The new underground SRL East station at Glen Waverley will be one of the most well-connected stations on the metropolitan network.

The station will provide a key transport link to the Glen Waverley line and will integrate with local bus services – connecting more people to jobs, retail, restaurants, and entertainment nearby, as well as travel to Melbourne’s other middle suburbs.

Benefits for Glen Waverley

A new station at Glen Waverley

The underground station at Glen Waverley will be located in the heart of Glen Waverley with a single station entrance orientated towards Coleman Parade and the existing MTM station.

The new station’s platform will sit around 17m below ground, with lifts and escalators connecting passengers to SRL’s ‘turn up and go’ train services.

Changing between SRL and metro trains and buses at Glen Waverley will be fast, easy and efficient. A new station plaza opposite Coleman Parade will enable passengers to easily connect with bus services and other surface transport options.

New pedestrian laneways and cycling paths will make it easier to move around and access Kingsway and the Glen Waverley Activity Centre.

There will be accessible pick up and drop off areas, taxi bays and up to 600 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

  • 15 minutes from Glen Waverley to Cheltenham
  • ‘Turn up and go’ services every 6 minutes
  • Transporting around 7,000 passengers from Glen Waverley daily
  • More than 600,000 car trips off roads and freeways every day

Station construction

Construction of the SRL station at Glen Waverley 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 to prepare the site, such as utility relocations
  • Early Works, involving demolition of existing structures, earthworks and utility relocations to prepare the site. These works also include the realignment of Myrtle Street between Coleman Parade and Montclair Avenue
  • 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.

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.

View the digital EES

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 Glen Waverley, these changes include:

  • Ensuring construction minimises the duration of the closure of Coleman Parade and maintains some traffic flow whenever possible
  • Reviewing and further assessing the permanent closure of Coleman Parade when the Urban Design Landscape Plan (UDLP) is prepared
  • Further assessing the transport network arrangements around the new SRL East station, including optimising the quantity and location of pick-up and drop-off parking areas and bus interchange.

Read more about Planning

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 Glen Waverley an even more attractive and vibrant place to live, work and visit.

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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