VIC Suburban Rail Loop reaches new major project milestone

Victoria’s biggest infrastructure investment to date – the Suburban Rail Loop – marks a new major milestone that takes it even closer to being built and generating thousands of jobs. 

With the release of the Business and Investment Case, Victorians now have a clearer picture of how the project will deliver more jobs as well as better services and access to housing as the state population grows. 

The Victorian Government has been busy planning, designing and consulting on the Suburban Rail Loop project to ensure Melbourne has a rail network equivalent to that of the world’s largest cities. 

“Victorians voted for Suburban Rail Loop and we’re going to get on with it – it'll change the way our city travels, ensuring every Victorian has access to housing, education and jobs as our state continues to grow. 

“The City Loop, West Gate Bridge, City Link and Western Ring Road are all projects that have shaped Melbourne and where people have been able to live and work. Now it’s time for Suburban Rail Loop to help shape a better future for our growing city and state,” Minister for Suburban Rail Loop Jacinta Allan said. 

The full Business and Investment Case highlights that the project will: 

• Support 24,000 jobs across Victoria and connect about 550,000 jobs in the precincts around the stations 
• Take 600.000 car trips off local roads every day 
• Slash public transport travel times by an average of 40 minutes for a one-way trip 
• Stimulate $58.7 billion in economic, social and environmental benefits to our state 

The Surburban Rail Loop project will deliver a 90-kilometre orbital rail line as well as strategic land planning and development initiatives to the 1,600-metre zone around the stations, taking Victorian jobs and homes closer to a train line. 

This new transport infrastructure is going to be delivered in three sections, namely: 

• SRL East between Cheltenham and Box Hill – featuring a 26-kilometre twin tunnels and six new stations linking to some of Melbourne’s growing health, education and employment centres 
• SRL North between Box Hill and the Airport 
• SRL West between Melbourne Airport and Werribee – will be integrated to other transport infrastructure in the west, including Metro Tunnel, Melbourne Airport Rail and the Western Rail Plan 

In addition, Suburban Rail Loop will also deliver significant lifestyle and environmental benefits through the creation of 3,450 cycle parking spaces across the six stations for SRL East and 15 kilometres of new and upgrades cycling and walking tracks within the neighbourhood surrounding the stations. 

Project map (source: Suburban Rail Loop)

The Business and Investment Case found that SRL East and SRL North are projected to deliver up to $58.7 billion in economic, social and environmental benefits to Victoria along with a positive benefit-cost ration (BCR) range between 1.1 and 1.7. On the other hand, planning will continue on SRL West. 

SRL East and SRL North are anticipated to create a long pipeline of work during the delivery phase and once completed, will attract over 160,000 additional jobs to the broader station precincts. 

Upon the completion of SRL North, the new rail line between Cheltenham and Melbourne Airport is expected to cater to more than 430,000 passengers and remove over 600,000 car trips from local roads each day. 

The rail line is also expected to provide a fast, convenient and direct link to and from Melbourne Airport for about 30,000 passengers daily. 

SRL East is estimated to cost between $30 billion to $34.5 billion across 14 years. 

Community and stakeholder consultation has been ongoing since 2019 and Victorians will continue to have opportunities to provide feedback as the project progresses, including as part of the formal planning and approvals processes. 

The full Business and Investment Case can be viewed here. 

In May of this year, shortlisted builders for Stage 1 works were announced. You can read more about it here. 

Source: Premier of Victoria – Media Centre; Suburban Rail Loop (1, 2, 3); Australia New Zealand Infrastructure Pipeline