Rail link to Tullamarine is logical step in Melbourne Airport's bid for a third runway

MELBOURNE Airport's bid for a third runway should push plans for a rail link to Tullamarine up the Baillieu Government's batting order.

metro train

MELBOURNE Airport's bid for a third runway should push plans for a rail link to Tullamarine up the Baillieu Government's infrastructure batting order.

Passenger numbers are predicted to hit 40 million by the end of the decade, the point at which observers believe a rail link will become economically viable.

Indeed, according to Matt Francis, Melbourne Airport's general manager of corporate and public affairs, ours will be the only airport in the world handling that sort of traffic without a rail link.

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By saying it will spend $500 million, the Australia Pacific Airports Corporation, which owns the airport, is backing traffic to hit 60 million in the next two decades.

The new runway will need to be approved by the Federal Government and is at least eight to 10 years away.

Tullamarine third runway facts

The State Government is spending $6.5 million on a feasibility study on a rail link.

It says the expansion is a vote of confidence in Victoria.

It needs to repay that confidence by making sure the rail link is ready when the first plane lands on the third runway.