Suburban Rail Loop will transform Victoria’s public transport system, connecting our suburbs and making travel easier and more convenient. It will link with every major train line from the Frankston line to the Werribee line via Melbourne Airport, improving access to housing, jobs, schools, universities and hospitals in Melbourne’s middle suburbs.

Suburban Rail Loop East (SRL East), with construction starting from 2022, will connect our growing health, education, retail and employment precincts in Melbourne’s east and south east between Cheltenham and Box Hill.

It will include:

• Twin 26km rail tunnels
• Four new stations with connections to existing stations at Cheltenham, Clayton, Glen Waverley and Box Hill
• Two new stations at Monash and Burwood
• A train stabling facility at Heatherton
• Supporting infrastructure for the operation of the new tunnels and stations
• A dedicated fleet of high-tech trains.

What we’re up to now

Technical, planning and design work is well advanced, and community and stakeholder engagement is continuing along the SRL East corridor.

Geotechnical drilling and engineering assessments across SRL East areas have helped to refine critical elements including tunnel alignment and station footprints and entrances.

These on-the-ground activities, along with expert technical assessments and stakeholder and community engagement, are informing planning and design work and preparation of the Environment Effects Statement (EES).

Engagement program

To support the successful planning, development and delivery of SRL East (Cheltenham to Box Hill), Suburban Rail Loop Authority is engaging a diverse range of stakeholders including residents, businesses,community and interest groups, local government, institutions, utility providers, government departments, commercial landholders and developers.

The engagement program includes several engagement phases, each with a different focus.

Phase Three engagement: Supporting development, design and planning of SRL East rail infrastructure

Engagement during this phase focused on raising awareness about Suburban Rail Loop, while building understanding of the planning approval process and capturing feedback about impacts to help inform planning assessments and SRL East design. Engagement with stakeholders continued, updating them on broader scope items including supporting infrastructure required for SRL East.

During this time the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic had a big and unavoidable impact on the lives of individuals and communities.

Due to ongoing public health restrictions during 2020 and 2021, online tools were the primary method of engaging with local communities in SRL East areas. Some community drop-in information sessions were able to be held from June to July 2021.

This report provides a summary of key findings and feedback received as part of Phase Three engagement for SRL East from mid-2020 to mid-2021. Activities commencing in Phase Three go across multiple phases and have been summarised in this report to provide an overview of key themes and feedback.

Overview of engagement activities and participation

Engagement activities included a variety of online platforms as well as some face-to-face engagement including:

• Station and shopping centre pop-ups
• Drop-in community information sessions
• Virtual information room Doorknock of impacted properties
• Station surveys
• Supporting infrastructure surveys
• Tunnel alignment Q&A activity
• Property enquiries form

Pop-ups and drop-in information sessions

From June to July 2021, the project team interacted with more than 2,400 community members during nine pop-up information sessions held at train stations and shopping centres, and 10 drop-in information sessions at venues along the SRL East alignment. Two further drop-in information sessions were planned — one in Burwood and one in Glen Waverley — but had to be cancelled due to reimposed public health restrictions.

Online engagement

SRL East (Cheltenham to Box Hill) stations and supporting infrastructure engagement ran from 15 February to 31 August 2021. It included a series of activities on the Engage Victoria online engagement platform.

Participation from communities in and around the SRL East areas was achieved via the following activities:

• Surveys regarding the underground stations for each of the six SRL East precinct areas. Through these surveys we sought feedback on what is important to consider when designing the station and the impacts that concern people most.
• Surveys regarding supporting infrastructure including the stabling facility, intervention and ventilation facility and power supply substation. We sought feedback on what is important to consider in planning and design of these facilities and the impacts that concern people most.
• A moderated Q&A activity regarding the tunnel alignment. We sought feedback on the construction of the SRL East tunnels, including what is important to consider in planning and design of the tunnels and the impacts that concern people most.

We also enabled people to ask questions about their individual residential or business properties via a property enquiry form in our virtual information room.

This report provides a summary of key findings of the feedback received via both the face-to-face engagement and online engagement activities for each of the 6 SRL East precincts.

In total, more than 11,000 people have visited our virtual information room and around 10,500 people have visited the Engage Victoria page. This has resulted in 691 contributions to the underground station surveys, 923 contributions to the supporting infrastructure surveys and 29 questions submitted to the tunnel alignment Q&A activity. We have also received 97 property enquiries via our virtual information room.

SRL East station engagement survey results

• Cheltenham – 243 surveys completed
• Clayton – 53 surveys completed
• Monash – 69 surveys completed
• Glen Waverley – 68 surveys completed
• Burwood – 141 surveys completed
• Box Hill – 117 surveys completed

SRL East supporting infrastructure survey results

• Train stabling facility – 864 surveys completed
• Intervention and ventilation – 51 surveys completed
• Power supply substation – 8 surveys completed

What we heard

SRL East station engagement

Cheltenham

• In total 243 participants completed the Cheltenham survey.

Key themes

• Protection and enhancement of natural environment and open space, particularly at Sir William Fry Reserve
• Maintaining traffic flow, on Nepean Highway, Highett Road and Bay Roa as much as possible during construction
• Easy access and connectivity, between different modes of public transport and local facilities, including Southland Station and Southland Shopping Centre.

Clayton

• In total 53 participants completed the Clayton survey.

Key themes

• Seamless connections between different modes of transport, making it easy for commuters to access the new SRL station, the existing Clayton station and local bus services
• Improved pedestrian and cyclist connections,with a strong focus on access to local facilities including Heart Hospital, Monash University, Monash Health and CSIRO
• Mitigating construction impacts to the surrounding community, including roads and businesses as much as possible, with a desire for early notification of works.

Monash

• In total 69 participants completed the Monash survey.

Key themes

• Need for easy access, between the SRL station and local facilities such as Monash University and CSIRO.
• Mitigating construction impacts, and providing advanced notice to local businesses, residents and Monash University students and staff.
• Improved pedestrian and cyclist connections, around the area to encourage active transport in the community.

Glen Waverley

• In total 68 participants completed the Glen Waverley survey.

Key themes

• Need for easy and efficient connectivity, between the new SRL station and existing Glen Waverley Station and bus interchange
• Seamless integration, with the local character of the area
• Mitigating construction impacts to the community, including local residents and businesses, with a desire for early notification of works.

Burwood

• In total 142 participants completed the Burwood survey.

Key themes

• Protection and enhancement of natural environment and open space, particularly around Gardiners Creek, is highly desired.
• Improved pedestrian and cyclist connections, with a strong focus on better access and connectivity to the education precinct, particularly Deakin University and local schools.
• Maintaining traffic flow along Burwood Highway and access to Deakin University and local side streets during construction is highly desired.

Box Hill

• In total 117 participants completed the Box Hill survey.

Key themes

• Seamless connections between different modes of transport, making it easy for commuters to access the new SRL station existing Box Hill Station, and local bus and tram services
• Mitigating construction impacts to the community, including local residents and businesses, with a desire for early notification of works
• Maintaining traffic flow along Whitehorse Road and providing detours and early notification of major traffic changes during construction is highly desired.

SRL East supporting infrastructure engagement

Intervention and ventilation facility

• In total 51 participants completed the intervention and ventilation survey.

Key themes

• Visually appealing design so the facility blends into the local residential area
• Mitigating construction and operational impacts, especially noise, given the proximity to residents is highly desired
• Managing potential environmental impacts to the surrounding environment including wildlife, pollution, air quality and vegetation.

Power supply substation

• In total 8 participants completed the power supply substation survey.

Key themes

• Mitigating environmental impacts to parks, local vegetation and the surrounding area and implementing renewable energy sources for operation is highly desired
• Providing information about the operation of the substation, including energy and power requirements
• Designs should reflect the character of the area, with landscaping and urban design elements to be in keeping with the local park feel is highly valued.

Train stabling facility

• In total 864 train stabling facility surveys were completed.*

*Note: some individuals completed the survey multiple times.

Key themes

• Questioned whether the train stabling facility could be located at an alternative site
• Disappointment that the site may preclude the delivery of a proposed Chain of Parks concept in the area and a strong focus on mitigating potential environmental impacts
• Designs should reflect the character of the area, with landscaping, urban design elements and visual screening to ensure visual amenity is maintained for local residents.

Tunnel Alignment

• In total we received 29 questions through the SRL East tunnel alignment moderated Q&A activity.

Key themes

• Impacts the tunnels may have on properties above, including potential construction damage and mitigation measures, property values and compensation eligibility
• Tunnel locations, with questions over why the alignment is underneath residential properties rather than main roads
• Operational impacts, with questions on what the ongoing noise and vibration may be and what mitigation measures will be in place.

How feedback is helping shape Suburban Rail Loop

The community has an important part to play in the development and delivery of Suburban Rail Loop and it is our priority to consult widely, ensuring Victorians are informed of updates and can have their say.

Community and stakeholder feedback plays an important role in helping us to understand what is valued by communities and what improvement opportunities could be considered as part of Suburban Rail Loop.

We have used feedback from this phase to inform development and planning of SRL East. Feedback captured also continued to inform the rail and infrastructure design, and impact assessments to prepare for planning approvals.

There will be many more opportunities for people to get involved and have their say on Suburban Rail Loop. We would like to thank everyone who has contributed feedback to date.