Dozens of properties set to be acquired for Airport Rail Link

More than 80 properties are likely to be taken over to build the Airport Rail, with new maps showing the land needed for the $10bn project.

Up to 83 properties are set to be acquired for the Melbourne Airport Rail Link

Up to 83 properties are likely to be taken over or demolished to build the Melbourne Airport Rail Link – including dozens of commercial and industrial buildings.

New maps have been released showing the land the state and federal governments need to build the $10bn rail line, which will connect Tullamarine to Sunshine via 12km of new track, before continuing on to the Melbourne rail network.

They show some residential streets will be impacted by the project as well as the scale of works likely around the Western Ring Rd – but the government says no homes will have to be acquired to build the mega project.

Of the 83 properties that will be taken over during construction, which is scheduled to be finished by the end of the decade, 57 are privately owned and likely to be bought out.

The others are public buildings owned by councils or utilities.

Many of the properties are within a public acquisition overlay introduced at the start of this century, when a plan to build an airport rail line was first floated, meaning owners knew the day could come when their buildings would be bought by government.

New maps show the land the state and federal governments plan to use for the Airport Rail Link.

A government spokeswoman said more land could be added to the designs later.

While up to 83 properties are slated for acquisition, no residential homes will be needed.

Construction is on track to start later this year.

A government spokeswoman said there was a potential for more land to be added to designs later, because the project has been “planned and developed with futureproofing so that an additional station can be built on the line in the future”.

“The Melbourne Airport Rail designated project area only covers the area required for the current project scope,” she said.

“This includes all infrastructure required for the delivery of the project including the twin tracks and associated structures and the protection and relocation of critical utility services including electricity, water, gas and telecommunications.”

No business case has been released for the project so far, but the spokeswoman said “construction remains on track to start later this year on this long-awaited project which will connect Victorians to the airport, and the world, for the first time by train”.

The new maps also show the potential for an extra station to be added to the project – as revealed by the Sunday Herald Sunin August – at the border of Airport West and Keilor East that would service thousands of residents.

It is unclear whether that extra station, which is not formal government policy but backed by local members and ministers in state and federal governments, would alter the compulsory acquisition plans for the project.

Project chiefs have previously said there will be no residential acquisitions as part of the plan, which includes a 6km-long rail bridge over the M80 Western Ring Rd and along Airport Drive towards Melbourne Airport.

Services will run every 10 minutes, while a trip to the heart of the CBD is scheduled to take about 30 minutes.