6 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 Monash
The new station at Monash will connect more people to Melbourne’s largest employment and innovation hub outside the CBD – providing students, employees and visitors with a direct train connection to the area for the first time.
The station will improve access to world-class education, health and research facilities, delivering important transport connections to the Monash National Employment and Innovation Cluster.
About 9000 passengers are projected to use the SRL station at Monash daily when trains start running in 2035.
Benefits for Monash
A new station at Monash
The underground station at Monash will be located north of Monash University’s Clayton Campus, between Normanby Road and Ferntree Gully Road, Notting Hill.
Two entrances are proposed, with a southern entrance providing a connection to Monash University and a northern entrance providing a connection to the business precinct.
The new 2-level underground station platform will sit around 20 metres below ground, with lifts and escalators connecting passengers to SRL’s ‘turn up and go’ train services.
New pedestrian and cycling paths will connect the station precinct to Monash University and nearby employment areas.
A new bus interchange off Howleys Road will make it more convenient to access bus services, with accessible pick up and drop off areas, taxi bays and undercover 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
- Monash to Box Hill on public transport in morning peak in 10 minutes, rather than 43 minutes without SRL
- ‘Turn up and go’ services every 6 minutes
- Transporting around 9,000 passengers from Monash daily
- More than 600,000 car trips off roads and freeways every day
Station construction
Construction of the SRL station at Monash will be completed in stages and is expected to take approximately 7 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 to prepare the site and utility relocations. These works will also involve modifications to road intersections, excavation and construction of tunnel access shafts and installation of a temporary power supply substation to support tunnelling activities
- Main Works, which involves 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.
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 Monash, these changes include:
- Further assessing pedestrian and cycle flows across Normanby Road into Monash University
- 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.
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 Monash an even more attractive and vibrant place to study, 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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