Making travel easier, delivering jobs

Suburban Rail Loop will shape our city and state for future generations, ensuring Melbourne remains one of the world’s most liveable cities.

To be delivered in stages, 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 will connect our growing health, education, retail and employment precincts in Melbourne’s east and south east between Cheltenham and Box Hill.

Built as a standalone 26km underground rail line that is integrated with our existing public transport network, SRL East includes new underground stations at Cheltenham, Clayton, Monash, Glen Waverley, Burwood and Box Hill.

SRL East will slash travel times, create new jobs, housing, and public spaces, enable more direct journeys for regional Victorians and enhance walking, cycling and green spaces.

Connecting Box Hill to the Loop

The SRL East station at Box Hill will make it easier for people to access shopping, education and health services, including Box Hill Central Shopping Centre, Box Hill Institute, and medical facilities including Box Hill Hospital as well as travel to Melbourne's other middle suburbs.

The new station platform will sit around 23m below ground with two station entrances at Market Street and on Whitehorse Road.

The 2-level underground station will include a concourse level and an island platform below with escalators and lifts for passengers. Ticketing and customer facilities will also be located on the concourse level.

At surface level, passengers will be able to easily transfer to the existing Box Hill Station from the Market Street entrance connecting them to broader rail and bus services.

There will also be accessible pick up and drop off areas, taxi bays and bicycle parking located nearby.

Whitehorse Road will be realigned between Nelson Road and Linsley Street to the northern side of the road reserve with 2 traffic lanes in each direction. Whitehorse Road will be further enhanced with new public open space between Market Street and Station Street and a pedestrian promenade linking Whitehorse Road to Box Hill Gardens.

Above ground buildings at the station will accommodate bicycle parking and potential retail tenancies. They will also house essential rail operations and systems equipment including emergency and safety infrastructure.

These 2 to 3 level buildings will consist of:

• A combined station entrance and northern services building.
• A southern services building with an adjacent standalone entrance in Market Street.

About 15,000 passengers are projected to use the SRL station at Box Hill daily when trains start running in 2035, with about 5,700 people interchanging with Lilydale and Belgrave line services.

Benefits for Box Hill

Jobs for Box Hill

SRL East will deliver more jobs closer to where people live. Employment in Box Hill is set to double to 48,500 jobs as a result of SRL East and SRL North. Up to 8000 direct local jobs will be created during construction of SRL East, and it will support many more across the economy.

Better connections

Trains will run every six minutes in the peak, increasing with demand to around every two minutes. A journey between Cheltenham and Box Hill will take just 22 minutes, creating direct connections to major education facilities such as Box Hill Institute, and vital health and medical facilities including Box Hill Hospital.

Vibrant communities

SRL East will build on the qualities and characteristics of the neighbourhoods surrounding stations with new and enhanced recreation spaces, plazas and community facilities, as well as improved walking and cycling paths to cater for our growing suburbs.

Delivering faster and more reliable public transport for Melbourne and regional Victoria, SRL East will generate around 70,000 daily trips, creating a 47% shift away from private vehicle use and easing road congestion.

Station construction

Construction works for the SRL station at Box Hill will be carefully staged to ensure safety and minimise disruption to the community.

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.
• Early Works will also involve building a temporary bridging structure over the station box area to allow for Whitehorse Road to be realigned.
• Ground support and excavation of the station box to create an open trench and using bottom- up construction to build internal structures.
• Structural works including the station entrance and above ground structures as well as mechanical and electrical fit out.
• Station completion including any road and path upgrades, incorporation of public open space and planting and landscaping.
• As Box Hill is the end of the line for SRL East, a draught relief structure is being considered.
  This structure would be built on the northern side of the station allowing air to escape as the train approaches, reducing air speed and pressure, to make the platforms more comfortable for passengers. The need for this structure would be determined during detailed design phase.

Construction timeframes

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.

• 2022 – Initial and early works begin
• 2025 – Main works begin
• 2031 – Main works complete
• 2035 – Commissioning of SRL East

By 2036, SRL East precincts, consisting of an approximate 1.6km area around the new stations, will be home to 192,500 jobs, up from 120,500 in 2018, and 73,000 households, up from 48,500 in 2018.

Traffic and transport

As with other major infrastructure projects, surrounding communities may experience some impacts during construction.

Works will be carefully managed to minimise traffic and transport disruptions to ensure people can still get where they need to go on Melbourne's road and public transport networks.

The following traffic and transport impacts are anticipated in Box Hill:

• Partial closure of Irving Avenue. Alternative access to properties will be maintained via Shipley Street.
• Permanent realignment of Whitehorse Road between Nelson Road and Linsley Street to the northern side of the road reserve with two traffic lanes in each direction.
• Access to the construction site is proposed via Station Street or Whitehorse Road limiting local traffic access to Elland Avenue and Hiltons Lane. Trucks will use designated roads in the area.
• Likely designated construction traffic routes include Station Street, Elgar Road, Middleborough Road, Highbury Road and the Eastern Freeway.
• Relocation of the tram terminus to the west of Market Street will disrupt 109 route tram services during construction.
• There may be some travel time delays to bus services that operate around Whitehorse Road and Station Street during construction.
• Pedestrian and cycling diversions will be put in place around construction areas.

Managing impacts in Box Hill

A range of measures will minimise and manage impacts on businesses and residents, similar to what has been done successfully for other recent major infrastructure projects in Melbourne.

Measures for Box Hill include:

• Developing and implementing a construction transport management plan to minimise disruption to traffic, parking, pedestrians, and cyclists.
• Monitoring dust and air quality in line with Environment Protection Authority (EPA) Victoria requirements and adapting site practices to protect air quality.
• Offsetting the removal of trees and vegetation including measures to minimise tree loss and double tree canopy cover impacted by construction.
• Working closely with businesses to minimise disruption during construction and refining project designs to minimise displacement of local businesses.
• Working to minimise impacts on historical heritage. This includes retaining the former Railway Hotel and developing plans to enhance and conserve the hotel as part of the project.
• Providing advance notice of construction impacts including changed traffic conditions and periods of potential high noise and vibration activities.
• Commissioning of property condition surveys by our contractors before construction begins to record the existing condition of buildings and residences near tunnels and construction sites.

In addition, Suburban Rail Loop Authority has prepared Business and Residential Support Guidelines, which include specific measures to support businesses and residents who may be impacted during the construction of SRL East.

What we have heard about Box Hill

Since mid-2019, Suburban Rail Loop Authority has engaged with more than 20,000 people via online and face to face consultation activities.

What we have heard:

• The shopping precinct is highly valued but there are opportunities to upgrade and revitalise some spaces.
• Access to public transport (rail, tram, bus) and connection to Melbourne’s CBD is important.
• Improved pedestrian and cycling connectivity and enhanced public open space is desired.
• Opportunity to unlock further land for development.

Your feedback is important to planning and developing Suburban Rail Loop and will contribute to making areas around SRL East stations even better places to live, work and visit.

Read our translated fact sheets