Suburban Rail Loop PPP project (SRL) has advanced in its planning stage with the release of the Business and Investment Case, providing information on how it will deliver jobs, services and access to housing in Victoria, Australia.

The Case shows SRL will support 24,000 jobs across Victoria and connect people to around 550,000 jobs in the precincts around the stations. The first trains are expected to run in 2035. Other facts about the project mentioned in the Business and Investment Case include:

• The project will take 600,000 car trips off the roads every day;
• It will cut public transport travel times by an average of 40 minutes for a one-way trip;
• The project is expected to stimulate AUD58.7 billion (US$42.1 billion) in economic, social and environmental benefits to Victoria state, with a positive benefit-cost ratio (BCR) range of 1.1- 1.7.

The SRL project involves the construction of a new 90-kilometer orbital rail line and strategic land planning and development initiatives in SRL Precincts, which is the 1600 m zone around stations. The project is divided into SRL East — between Cheltenham and Box Hill and SRL North — from Box Hill to the Melbourne Airport. With the estimated cost of AUD 30-34.5 billion (US$21.5- 24.7 billion) for the period of 14 years, the SRL East will be complete in 2035. Planning works for the SRL West will continue, and once both parts of the rail loop are operational, they will attract more than 160,000 additional jobs to the broader station precincts.