SUBURBAN RAIL LOOP POWERS AHEAD

By Stephen Cauchi, Suburban Rail Loop Authority

Melbourne’s Suburban Rail Loop (SRL) has taken another significant step forward, with Expressions of Interest to open for the next major works package – the contract for design, construction and operation of all tunnel systems and infrastructure for SRL East.

SRL East will deliver 26km twin tunnels and six new underground stations between Cheltenham and Box Hill – transforming public transport in Melbourne’s east and south east and creating up to 8,000 jobs during construction.

The new contract includes the trains, tracks, signalling and communications systems, as well as the maintenance depot and stabling facility. It also includes a 15-year term to operate and maintain SRL East.

Expressions of Interest will open this year, with final selection expected in 2025. It is a major procurement milestone for the 90km orbital railway and follows a tremendous year of progress for Victoria’s biggest-ever infrastructure project in 2022. In September, three global industry leaders were shortlisted to build the twin tunnels for SRL East, with tunnelling to start in 2026.

Early works for SRL East started in Clayton in mid-2022 and will ramp up through 2023, with works to be launched in Glen Waverley, Burwood, Monash, Cheltenham, Box Hill and at the stabling facility in Heatherton.

Two of the four stages of SRL are now underway – SRL East and SRL Airport (being delivered by Rail Projects Victoria) between Melbourne Airport and Sunshine.

Melbourne is growing rapidly and needs a public transport system to meet the challenge. Victoria’s population is expected to reach around 11.2 million by 2056, with Melbourne to be home to around nine million people – a global city the same size as London today. Suburban Rail Loop is the first new suburban rail line in Melbourne since the Glen Waverley line opened in 1930.

SRL will change how people move around Melbourne –setting a new benchmark for modern, convenient and efficient public transport. More than 80 per cent of Melburnians will experience reduced travel times with shorter, faster and more reliable journeys, as well as less congested roads.

Minister for Suburban Rail Loop, Jacinta Allan, said Suburban Rail Loop will create thousands of jobs and deliver the critical wheel on the city’s hub-and-spoke train network.

“Victorians recognise Suburban Rail Loop is the project our growing city and state needs and these major works contracts are a crucial milestone as Suburban Rail Loop steams ahead,” Minister Allan said.

SRL East will deliver six brand new underground stations – at Cheltenham, Clayton, Monash, Glen Waverley, Burwood and Box Hill – with trains running by 2035.