The Suburban Rail Loop will be a twin-tunnel, standalone line that will fully integrate into our existing public transport network, and include a dedicated fleet of quick, high-tech trains to transform how Melbourne moves.

Marking a year since the Andrews Labor Government was re-elected, Premier Daniel Andrews joined Minister for Transport Infrastructure Jacinta Allan to announce new details of the Suburban Rail Loop, following 12 months of intensive technical, planning and design work.

The 90-kilometre rail ring will connect every major rail line from the Frankston line to the Werribee line, making it quicker and easier to get to Melbourne’s major health, education and employment centres.

It will be built as a separate rail line, meaning it can use state-of-the-art systems from around the world without having to retrofit technology into the existing network – saving time and money.

Passengers will be able to easily transfer across both networks, with the same ticketing system servicing both and up to 12 new stations connecting the existing rail system with the new standalone line.

Being a dedicated line also means the design of the trains that use the line won’t be constrained by the requirements of Melbourne’s hundred-year-old train network.

As a result, the new trains will be four to five carriages long and faster than the existing fleet. Being smaller, means they can turn up more often, and that the platforms will be shorter – reducing the distance passengers need to walk at the station each day to get on the train.

Pre-construction work on the Stage One route from Box Hill to Cheltenham is gathering pace, with geotechnical drilling well underway. Fourteen boreholes have already been dug, with close to 100 to be drilled by mid-2020.

The information collected will help determine the final alignment and station locations for the project, and how it will be built.

Community consultation and market engagement will ramp up next year and construction on Stage One of Suburban Rail Loop is expected to begin in 2022. For more information, visit suburbanrailloop.vic.gov.au.