Plan to build extra station as part of the $10bn Melbourne Airport Rail Link

A new train station is to be built in this chronically under-serviced suburb as part of the Melbourne Airport Rail Link project.

Melbourne Airport Rail Link will connect Tullamarine to Southern Cross Station.

The $10bn Melbourne Airport Rail link looks set to get an extra station added to its route, servicing tens of thousands of people in the city’s northwest.

A Keilor East station is understood to have been assessed as part of a government business case for the mega project, pushing up its expected price tag by at least $200m.

But a major boost in patronage would be expected from local residents and workers who are currently chronically under-serviced by public transport, while there could be additional value capture from any nearby developments tied into the project.

Moonee Valley residents in favour of the airport rail link through their suburb. Picture: George Salpigtidis

The current plan for the airport link is to run trains direct from Tullamarine to Sunshine, before heading to Footscray and new Metro Tunnel stations in the heart of the CBD within 30 minutes.

An extra station should add about two minutes to the expected journey times when trains stop at all stations.

Victoria’s Public Transport Minister Ben Carroll and Federal Government Services Minister Bill Shorten have both broken ranks to spruik the benefits of the extra station, signalling that both tiers of government that are funding the mega project are supportive.

The station, proposed for Roberts Rd on the border of Keilor East and Airport West, would be within Mr Carroll’s state seat of Niddrie and Mr Shorten’s federal electorate of Maribyrnong.

The Keilor Station would be added before Sunshine Station.

Mr Carroll took the unusual step of raising the need for the station in parliament before his own government – in which he is public transport minister – had endorsed the plan.

“There will never be a better opportunity to connect Melbourne’s northwest to Victoria’s rail network than through the Melbourne Airport rail link,” he said on Thursday.

Mr Shorten told the Sunday Herald Sun“I am supportive of Mr Carroll’s push on this and I think Airport West and surrounding areas would benefit greatly”.

Moonee Valley Council also supports the plan, and has run a campaign backing a “Western Gateway Station”.

Public Transport Users Association spokesman Daniel Bowen said putting in a station before Sunshine made sense because it would be used by airport workers and residents starved of public transport.

“For one station the additional running time is only one or two minutes,” he said.

There may also be opportunities to claw back time by better design in other areas of the project, he said, bringing the trip time to the heart of the CBD back to 30 minutes.

“You are boosting patronage on the line, which makes it more worthwhile,” he said.

Originally published as Plan to build extra station as part of the $10bn Melbourne Airport Rail Link