Transforming the way people move around Melbourne and Victoria

Suburban Rail Loop will change the way people move around Melbourne and improve the liveability of key growth areas, with better connections to health, education and employment hubs across our suburbs, as well as enhanced links to regional communities.

Suburban Rail Loop will include new stations and connect major railway lines from the Frankston line to the Werribee line via Melbourne Airport.

A dedicated authority has been established to lead the design and delivery of Suburban Rail Loop.

The Suburban Rail Loop Authority is bringing together expertise in planning, social and economic development.

The Authority will work closely with Victoria’s transport agencies to ensure links with other projects, particularly the connection with Melbourne Airport Rail, are carefully planned.

Why do we need Suburban Rail Loop?

Melbourne is Australia’s fastest growing city with population projected to reach almost 9 million people by 2056.

To support the distribution of population and employment in Melbourne, our transport network must evolve to connect people to jobs outside of the CBD.

Suburban Rail Loop helps respond to Melbourne’s growth by connecting major employment, health, education and activity centres outside the city and providing more transport options to get all Victorians to where they need to go.

Connectivity

• Improving travel around Melbourne
• Connecting regional Victoria via three new transport super-hubs at Sunshine, Broadmeadows and Clayton
• Linking Victorians to major health, education and employment centres

Productivity

• Creating 20,000 jobs during construction
• Developing and connecting activity centres
• Growing our economy
• Travel time savings

Liveability

• Improved access to economic opportunities
• Enabling urban renewal and transforming precincts
• Reduced reliance on cars

A new orbital rail link

Suburban Rail Loop will provide a new orbital link that connects key precincts around Melbourne and integrates land use with new transport infrastructure.

Melbourne’s rail system has developed over time and supports people to move between their homes in the suburbs and jobs in the central city. This radial system will face future pressure as our outer suburbs continue to grow.

Our transport network needs to evolve to connect people to jobs and services outside Melbourne’s CBD.

This new orbital rail link will be supported by wider regional transport plans integrating other modes of transport. It will also provide an opportunity to connect metropolitan precincts with regional communities.

Three new transport super hubs at Clayton, Broadmeadows and Sunshine will connect regional passengers to Suburban Rail Loop. This means that people living in the regions won't need to travel through the centre of Melbourne to access jobs in growing economic precincts outside the CBD. They will also have better access to world-class education and health services.

Stage one confirmed – Box Hill to Cheltenham

The preferred alignment and station precincts have been identified for the first stage from Box Hill to Cheltenham.

Consultation is underway with local government, universities and other key institutions and stakeholders to consider options for where stations will be located within these precincts.

Feedback will be used to inform detailed planning and technical work to determine the final scope, alignment and station locations.

You can provide feedback via our Have Your Say page.

Works are planned to commence on the southeast section in 2022 (subject to statutory approvals).

Next steps

The Victorian Government has committed $300 million for planning, investigations and business case development for Suburban Rail Loop.

Geotechnical drilling and environmental investigations have commenced and will continue throughout 2019 and 2020.

Engaging with the community

We’ve started engaging with people about Suburban Rail Loop to understand what they think about the project and what they’d like to hear more about.

We launched an online ‘Have Your Say’ survey earlier in the year and have also been reaching people via our website and social media.

What we've heard

People are interested in hearing more about Suburban Rail Loop including information about the proposed route and station locations, development around stations, and project timelines.

Feedback highlighted a range of potential benefits including easier and more convenient travel around Melbourne, less congestion on our roads and better access to jobs, education and services outside the CBD.

We’ll be continuing to engage with the community and collecting feedback to inform the planning and design of the project throughout 2020 and 2021.

The best way to keep up to date with what’s happening and opportunities to be involved is to sign up for updates.

How many people we've reached

• 232,000+
  social media reach
• 10,080+
  website visits
• 2,300+
  responses via the 'Have your Say' survey
• 7,100+
  interactions in person

85% respondents agree the Victorian community will benefit from Suburban Rail Loop.

The feedback below reflects the survey respondents understanding of the project benefits:

• “Making the rail system more user-friendly for travelling between suburbs”
• “Increase economic activity throughout the outer suburbs”
• “Connecting communities; supporting 20-minute neighbourhoods”