Mega Box Hill station build to cause construction chaos for six years

Box Hill station is the largest and most complex in the Suburban Rail Loop build, with up to 108 homes and 72 businesses to be acquired.

Central Box Hill will become a construction zone for six years while the largest and most complex station for a new Suburban Rail Loop is built.

The eastern suburbs hub will be the terminus for the $30-34.5 billion SRL East, which would link Cheltenham to Box Hill via a 26km tunnel.

New maps in planning and environment impact documents show the breadth of “project land”, stretching from Thames St in the north down to Carrington Rd — via Box Hill Central — about 700m south.

The width of the “project land” runs from Wellington Rd in the west to Linsley St in the east, with dozens of businesses between Box Hill Central and Box Hill Gardens facing disruption.

The government says work will be undertaken across that land “at some point”, but this could include minor works or underground works.

As revealed by the Herald Sun last year, Whitehorse Rd will be shifted and a new linear park built to enable smoother transport connections when the SRL East opens in 2035.

Up to 108 homes and 72 businesses will be acquired — by far the largest impact of any of the station precincts.

Vibration and noise will impact a further 20 homes but hundreds more will face major disruption during the six year construction period, which would result in a daily peak of 230 trucks.

Vernita Zigouras’ home in Elland Ave is one of the properties set to be acquired. Picture: Kiel Egging

The station box will be a massive 400m long in order to have a crossover facility that enables trains to restart in the opposite direction.

This will mean a larger excavation footprint compared to other station construction sites, while high rises in the area will add another level of complexity.

Chief executive and managing director of Box Hill Institute, Vivienne King, said the construction jobs boost for the area would be a shot in the arm.

“We welcome the opportunity to partner with Government to train the generation of skilled workers who will bring the Suburban Rail Loop to life.”

“As Victoria starts to open up, Suburban Rail Loop is an exciting development for people of Box Hill and the thousands of students here at Box Hill Institute, one of Victoria’s oldest TAFE’s.”

A park will help make smoother transport connections around Box Hill station.

Once built, the population of the Box Hill Precinct is anticipated to steadily grow to more than 77,000 people by mid-century — larger than the current population of Shepparton.

The Andrews Government’s investment case says there should be about 48,500 jobs available in the precinct by that time, making it one of the busiest employment hubs in Melbourne.

And a train trip between Cheltenham and Box Hill will take just 22 minutes.

Suburban Rail Loop Authority chief executive Frankie Carroll said most work to build the precinct would be underground but “for a project of this size some impacts are unavoidable”.
“We are doing everything we can to carefully manage construction in these built-up areas to keep community disruption to a minimum,” he said.

Originally published as Mega Box Hill station build to cause construction chaos for six years