Click to open in a new tabThe new 90km rail line and stations will connect people to key destinations across the city – major job centres, health services and education institutions. People living in regional Victoria would no longer need to travel through the centre of Melbourne to access jobs in growing economic precincts outside the central business district (CBD).
Suburban Rail Loop is much more than a transport project. Beyond the transport infrastructure and improved connectivity, it has the ability to transform Melbourne into a ‘city of centres’ – supporting vibrant precincts outside the CBD to provide more diversity in jobs, additional housing options, and green and open space in well-connected neighbourhoods.
Collaboration was key to generating the reference design for the project as the Aurecon, Jacobs, Mott MacDonald Joint Venture (AJM-JV) provided technical and engineering services, project visioning, planning advice, urban design, sustainability and environmental services, landscape architecture, precincts planning, digital data and advisory, business advisory, integrated transport and mobility, and communication and stakeholder engagement strategy services.
Two stages are now under construction. Work is now underway on SRL Airport from Melbourne Airport to Sunshine and is expected to be open by 2029. SRL Airport is being delivered by Rail Projects Victoria.
Construction is also underway on SRL East – consisting of six new underground stations, 26km of twin underground rail tunnels, a train stabling facility and associated infrastructure. This section is expected to carry approximately 70,000 commuters daily upon completion.
Stakeholder and community engagement
To support the reference design development of SRL East, the Suburban Rail Loop Authority, supported by the AJM-JV, engaged a diverse range of stakeholders including residents, businesses, community and interest groups, local government, institutions, utility providers, government departments, commercial landholders and developers.
More than 20,000 people were engaged with by the team, through online and face-to-face consultation activities. These included workshops, meetings, surveys, virtual information room doorknocks, community information sessions, and station or shopping centre pop-ups.
Community and stakeholder feedback played an important role in helping to define what was valued in terms of infrastructure and the development of precincts, and what improvement opportunities could be considered during all stages of the project’s planning, development and delivery.
The concept of being able to live, work, learn and play within close proximity came through as key themes in the stakeholder and community feedback, centred around the future need for easy and convenient connectivity.
Precincts shaping Suburban Rail Loop
For some years, high population growth on Greater Melbourne's expanding urban fringe has meant that households are becoming further distanced from employment, health and education centres, leading to longer commutes, increased congestion and more crowded public transport. The COVID-19 pandemic accelerated some of these demographic and land use trends and behaviours.
Therefore, the scale and nature of this project has a precincts-based approach. Beyond transport connectively, it supports local job opportunities, and neighbourhood development. It will help to make locations more attractive, catalysing urban renewal in some areas, while easing pressure on others.
The scale of the opportunity is not only in providing choice of mode of transport for individuals, but also offering the amenities of the 20-minute city concept, and facilitating the connection to peri-urban and regional areas.
Considering every facet of the railway
Focused on meeting the needs of the people of Victoria, the AJM-JV considered every facet of the railway in the reference design, to ensure the best possible customer experience – from the ground level architecture to station depth, platform size and interchange, through to the type of trains, the seating arrangements, doors and the train stabling facilities.
The project would make travel easier, faster and more convenient to access Melbourne’s fastest-growing precincts that will provide access to employment, health, education, retail and more for future generations. It’s a part of Plan Melbourne’s 2050 vision of a well-connected and polycentric city, that aligns transport investments with precinct plans and potential precinct development projects.