Melbourne Airport rail link information

Melbourne Airport Rail
Map of Melbourne Airport Rail.
Overview
Status	Paused
Owner	VicTrack (projected)
Locale	Melbourne, Victoria
Termini	East Pakenham, Cranbourne Melbourne Airport
Stations	2
Service
Type	Commuter rail
System	Melbourne railway system
Operator(s)	Metro Trains Melbourne (projected)
Rolling stock	HCMT
History
Planned opening	2033[1]
Technical
Line length	27 km (17 mi)
Track gauge	1,600 mm (5 ft 3 in) broad gauge
Route map Legend Sunshine-Dandenong corridor to CBD, East Pakenham or Cranbourne 13.5 Sunshine ●●●●●●●●● 13.6 Hampshire Road Multiple lines via Deer Park 13.3 Anderson Road 14.9 Albion 15.0 Ballarat Road Sunbury, Bendigo, Echuca & Swan Hill lines to Sunbury 15.4 Stony Creek 16.7 McIntyre Road 17.3 McIntyre Sidings 18.8 Maribyrnong River Viaduct over Maribyrnong River 18.8 Keilor Park Drive 21.5 Calder Freeway Keilor East Albion–Jacana line to Jacana Western Ring Road Melbourne Airport This diagram: view talk edit

Melbourne Airport Rail is a proposed rail link from the Melbourne CBD to Melbourne Airport at Tullamarine. Since October 2022, the project has also been considered as part of the Suburban Rail Loop (SRL) and branded as SRL Airport. The rail link will run through the under-construction Metro Tunnel, running 27 km from the airport to Town Hall station in the city centre with 12 km of new track between the airport and Sunshine station.^[2] The link will be a new branch of the Melbourne Metro rail network and run High-Capacity Metro Trains at a 10-minute frequency.^[2] The project is being delivered by the Victorian state government agency Rail Projects Victoria.

A rail link to Melbourne Airport had been proposed in multiple forms at various times in the history of the airport. Most such proposals had been for a heavy rail line between the airport Melbourne CBD, often as an integrated component of the Melbourne rail network. Some plans, however, have utilised alternative forms of mass transit or suggested a segregated and dedicated public transport link to the airport. Relieving traffic congestion and creating better access to the airport are frequently cited as reasons for the development of the link. Businesses that would be negatively impacted by an airport rail link include Transurban, whose CityLink toll revenue would be affected, and Melbourne Airport, whose revenue from car parking would be reduced.^[3]

In 2018, the Victorian state government under then Premier Daniel Andrews announced its intention to proceed with a link running via Sunshine station, in partnership with the Australian federal government led by then Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull. A preliminary business case was completed later that year, and in early 2019, the federal government partially agreed to fund the project. In 2020 it was announced that the link would run through the city via the Metro Tunnel.

Early construction began in 2022, while major construction was expected to start in 2023 with an estimated completion of 2029. However in April 2023, then Deputy Premier of Victoria Jacinta Allan said that due to a lack of agreement in negotiations with the airport operator, Australia Pacific Airports Corporation (APAC), over the design of the Airport station, the opening of the rail link would be delayed.^[4] In May 2023, due to a federal government review on major infrastructure projects, the Victorian government put the project on indefinite pause. The awarding of new contracts had been paused until the review was completed and confirmation that the project would proceed with federal funding.^[5]

In November 2023, following the review the federal government reaffirmed its matching $5 billion commitment towards the project. However, Premier Jacinta Allan confirmed there would likely be further delays to the project due to the stalled negotiations with the airport.^[6] An independent mediator was appointed in April 2024 by the federal government to resolve the ongoing dispute between the state government and the airport.^[7] In May 2024, Victorian Treasurer Tim Pallas confirmed in the state budget that the project would be delayed by at least four years, with completion not expected until 2033 at the earliest.^[8]