Melbourne's Suburban Rail Loop EES gets the green light

Four years after the project's inception, Victorian Environment Minister Lily D'Ambrosio has endorsed an inquiry's recommendation and found the environmental effects statement for Melbourne's Suburban Rail Loop project is acceptable.

What does this mean?  Effectively, the Suburban Rail Loop has leaped over a major planning hurdle.

It mightn't be much of a surprise given that early works are already underway, however it is a major milestone for the project.

At the time it was revealed to the public in 2018 in the lead up to the Victorian state election of that same year, the project was spruiked as a rail line that would link all except for one of Melbourne's radial railway lines, taking cars off the road and enabling more intensive development in Melbourne's middle ring of suburbs.