Slow public transport options are all that’s left from airport-city with $13bn rail project on hold

A slow, little-used bus route from Melbourne Airport to the city is all that’s available to flyers now that the Andrews government has put its massive rail project on pause.

Melbourne Airport Rail (SRL Airport) concept image of the railway station at Melbourne Airport. Picture: BigBuild.vic.gov.au

The decision to put the $13bn airport rail project on hold will leave a slow, little-used bus and train route as the only public transport option from Tullamarine Airport to the city.

The 70-minute trip, by bus to Broadmeadows then train to the CBD, takes more than twice as long as what the Andrews government had proposed under the rail link.

The bus departs from an unsightly bus stop next to Terminal 4.

When the Sunday Herald Sun rode the bus this week, just four other passengers were on board, three of them airport workers who wanted to avoid paying through the nose for parking at work.

Not a single traveller was using the service.

Airport worker Nila said she caught the bus to work regularly, and occasionally saw lost-looking families struggling with luggage while trying to save money by catching the bus and train.

An artist's impression of Melbourne Airport with an underground rail station as well as a new road link to its car parks. Picture: Melbourne Airport

She said Melbourne should have affordable public transport between the airport and the city.

“On the SkyBus, when it’s a large family, it’s at least $80. For a family of five, it’s expensive,” she said.

At grubby Broadmeadows station, the 901 stops outside a strip of permanently closed shops that lead to a dim arcade, where the floor is pockmarked with years of spat-out chewing gum.

Another passenger, Amit Chaudhary, was trying to get home to Doncaster after dropping off a rental car, and said public transport to the airport should be cheaper and better.

Mr Chaudhary said buses were too often delayed in traffic.

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Victoria's $13 billion Airport Rail Project delay leaves travellers with grubby public transport options melbourne victoria airport airportrail transport

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Airport worker Jean-Luc Ruiu said catching the bus to the airport from his home in Pascoe Vale was the only way to avoid $40 Uber fares each day.

“At the moment, it’s the easiest way to get home,” he said.

He said the airport rail link “like Sydney” would be a “beneficial thing to have”.

Sydney’s 9km, $900m rail line built for ahead of the 2000 Olympics whisks passengers to Central station in 22 minutes.