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A secret package of works worth billions of dollars has been developed by the Suburban Rail Loop Authority to navigate the complex task of connecting the new stations to existing transport hubs.
Alongside six work packages that split up the construction and technical work of the $34.5 billion Suburban Rail Loop East, an underground rail line from Cheltenham to Box Hill, this masthead can reveal a seventh project is also under way that has not been publicly outlined.
The secret package involves delivering the complicated connections between existing Metro stations and new SRL stations, including in Glen Waverley.Joe Armao
Three construction industry sources, speaking anonymously to detail confidential discussions, estimated the station interchange works could be worth between $4 billion and $6 billion, and included some of the most challenging parts of the project. A Suburban Rail Loop spokesperson disputed that estimate, as they said the project was “on time and on budget”.
At its surface, the project seems simple. The successful bidder will create the connections between the new SRL East stations and the existing Metro stations and bus routes that sit above them, a key feature of the project’s pledge to create an orbital rail line rather than a “hub-and-spoke” system that requires travelling into the CBD to access other rail lines.
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Public transport advocates say commuters should not have to touch on and off to get from an SRL station to an existing Metro station. But this is difficult in practice, given some stations will be hundreds of metres apart and there is a complex urban environment separating them.
Board minutes from the Suburban Rail Loop Authority, obtained by this masthead under freedom of information laws, not only confirm the existence of the package but highlight some of these technical difficulties.
“Management provided the Board with more detail on each of the SRL East station works, noting existing infrastructure at Glen Waverley requires upgrading, and the complexities of the location within the shopping centre at Box Hill,” the minutes from an April 29 meeting said.
One of the SRLA’s biggest headaches, the sources said, would be the interchange at Box Hill.
The current Box Hill station platforms sit at the bottom of a busy shopping precinct, and the SRLA has promised a “convenient connection to the existing station”. But a tunnel between the two looms as a logistical nightmare if it is pursued, creating a complex challenge to navigate the foundations of the shopping centre without having to shut down shops and restaurants.
This is one of the challenges being assessed as part of the SRLA’s secretive work. Avoiding a tunnel altogether was a real option, the sources said.
The existing Box Hill station sits under a busy shopping centre.Eddie Jim
At another stop on the SRL East line in Glen Waverley, the authority has already decided on an alternative. Rather than pursue an underground connection, the SRLA has told the City of Monash that the old and new stations will not officially connect.
Commuters will need to leave the underground SRL station to connect to the above-ground Metro line, crossing Coleman Parade, which separates the two sites.
The SRLA wants to close part of this road to enable easier movement for pedestrians, but the council has pushed back on this plan, arguing it would direct more traffic onto neighbouring Kingsway, a street it would like to make the pedestrian-friendly centre of the SRL precinct to encourage housing and retail.
“This is a real threat to the future of Kingsway and Glen Waverley,” the council said.
In Glen Waverley, project bosses have decided the existing station and the new SRL station will not be linked underground.Joe Armao
Instead, the council wants to lower the existing Glen Waverley station below ground, a move that would create options for an underground link to the SRL station and allow Myrtle Street to continue above the railway line, easing traffic concerns.
On its website, Monash said the SRLA had given little weight to this proposal, and it did not appear to be supported by the Department of Transport. If it were pursued, it would probably add to the price tag of the station interchange works.
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These challenges are being weighed by the SRLA board. According to the April minutes, they discussed “alternative approaches” to delivering the station interchange works.
Public Transport Users Association spokesperson Daniel Bowen said connections between stations needed to be as quick and easy as possible to match the ambition of the rail loop to connect to the city’s existing network.
“That’s what you see around the world internationally,” he said. “The big cities where they have different train systems all connecting, it’s not an issue as long as it is convenient to step off one train, walk down a passageway, and hop on another.”
Bowen pointed to how passengers at Flinders Street Station and Melbourne Central could transfer to the new Metro Tunnel entirely within a paid area, without having to touch off.
“You’re inside all the way, so you’re protected from the weather,” he said.
Bowen said it was possible commuters would not see this level of connection on the SRL, which would be a “great shame”.
“It does mean that the new line will not be as beneficial to passengers as it otherwise could be,” he said.
In an example of the importance of these connections, transport authorities were forced to scramble when a technical issue threatened to undermine the opening of the Metro Tunnel.
The new State Library station was designed to connect to Melbourne Central and act as a combined interchange, but myki machines treated them as separate stations. A commuter who entered State Library, changed their mind and then exited via Melbourne Central would have been charged.
The SRL station interchange works will involve significant electrical and technical work, as well as building tunnels, footpaths and bridges. Contract documents obtained by this masthead for SRL’s “linewide” contractors, the consortium tasked with building the tracks, trains and stabling yard, show they will have to work closely with the interchange team.
This includes collaboration on an interchange hall at Cheltenham station to serve as a connection between the paid areas of the rail loop and the station at Southland. How this will work remains an open question, with a dedicated pedestrian overpass across Bay Road required to link the two.
At Clayton, an underpass across Carinish Road is expected to connect the above-ground station to the underground SRL stop.
The package will also include establishing efficient links to bus stops and walking paths to ensure the project benefits more than just those who live within the vicinity of the stations.
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One possible challenge could involve the SRL station at Monash, which is about one kilometre from the Victorian Heart Hospital and key parts of Monash University. In Burwood, a pedestrian bridge will be built over the busy Burwood Highway and funnel students to Deakin University.
Construction industry figures have been confused about why the government has not disclosed the contract publicly, allowing time for builders to prepare bids for the work.
But sources inside the SRL, speaking anonymously to detail internal matters, said it was justifiable because the government was still negotiating contracts for digging and building the six stations.
The final results of those negotiations, including the confirmed design of each station, will heavily influence the work needed for interchanges.
The SRLA said the interchange works would be part of the main station contracts, but a job ad for a commercial manager at the authority posted last year also described a “separate brownfields package of works to establish paid-area connections” between new and existing stations.
“We are continuing to plan the station designs to ensure that connections between SRL and existing stations will be fast and easy,” the spokesperson said.
Opposition major projects spokesman Evan Mulholland said: “This secret package is yet another opportunity for Labor to funnel billions through the CFMEU to bikies and crooks, while desperately needed infrastructure in our growth areas and regional Victoria is left behind.”
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