By Kieran Rooney, Rachel Eddie and Chip Le Grand
Melbourne’s airport rail link could be open to travellers earlier than expected after the Albanese government pledged an extra $2 billion to the project and the Allan government brought forward part of its existing investment to start work at Sunshine.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said on Wednesday the funding would also go towards works that could enable the long-awaited vision of electrifying the railway line out to Melton, as Labor tries to sandbag its traditional heartland in the western suburbs ahead of the federal election.
An artist’s impression of a new bridge over the Maribyrnong River, to be built as part of the Melbourne Airport Rail project.
Speaking in Melbourne, Albanese said his government was making the investment to accelerate the project, which had been discussed for decades and was hit with significant delays after early works began.
“This is a vital part of delivering better rail services for people in the west going to work, not just the airport,” he said.
Construction will begin at Sunshine early next year and finish by 2030. The western suburbs station is planned to be a major transport hub, while the surrounding area has also been earmarked for key jobs and housing projects.
The project, now worth about $4 billion, will rebuild much of the station and track and untangle one of the biggest bottlenecks in the rail network. It will split freight, V/Line and metropolitan trains across six kilometres of track and onto separate levels, as well as build the section that will connect to Melbourne Airport.
High-capacity signalling, built as part of the Metro Tunnel, will also be extended past Footscray to Sunshine.
“It is the enabler for everything else we do in the west,” a senior transport source, not authorised to speak publicly, told The Age.
The Victorian government had paused early works and pushed back the completion of the airport rail link by at least four years to 2033 after a stalemate with the private owners of the airport over whether the station would be above or underground.
Although the airport capitulated last year, agreeing to an aboveground station in the hopes the rail link could be ready by 2030, Premier Jacinta Allan had insisted the project could not be accelerated again.
But on Wednesday, Allan announced the state would make $2 billion of its total $5 billion commitment to the airport rail available sooner for the Sunshine hub, suggesting it would be possible to beat the delayed timeline.
“What this does mean is that we now have to go through a process of resetting the timeline for delivery of the overall project,” she said.
“We’ve reset the relationship with the airport. I met with the CEO earlier this week. We have a shared commitment that this is an important project for our city and state.”
Melbourne Airport has been seeking compensation for the use of the land it rents from the Commonwealth and these details are yet to be resolved.
The new federal funding takes the total commitment for the airport link to $12 billion, with $7 billion now coming from the Commonwealth and $5 billion from Victoria. The project was estimated at $10 billion to $13 billion in 2021; since then, the government estimates construction costs have risen by about 22 per cent.
Wednesday’s announcement takes the cost of the Sunshine section of rail line – one of three sections to be built – to $4 billion, shared between the state and federal governments.
While Infrastructure Australia said increasing public transport connections was a nationally significant priority, the agency said airport rail was not urgent because the Tullamarine Freeway was not forecast to reach capacity until 2036.
But the Sunshine precinct was found to be a priority project of national significance, connecting to growth areas in the west and generating tens of thousands of jobs.
Brimbank Council said the rail link needed to be built before the airport’s third runway – due by 2031 – opened, or the Tullamarine Freeway would be gridlocked with extra travellers and workers.
“We are committed to working with the state and federal government to ensure that Melbourne Airport Rail is fast-tracked and running before the third runway opens,” Brimbank Mayor Thuy Dang said.
Improving tracks, bridges and signalling around Sunshine station was a key part of Wednesday’s announcement, which Albanese said would enable future upgrades for Melbourne’s growing northern and western suburbs.
This would pave the way for the eventual electrification of the Melton line, first promised by then-premier Daniel Andrews in 2018 as part of the Western Rail Plan. A business case was commissioned, but no further commitments have been made.
An artist’s impression of the third runway at Melbourne Airport.
“The works at Sunshine means that it opens up the opportunity for further investment into the Melton and Wyndham Vale lines as well. You can’t do those projects until you unlock the capacity at the Sunshine station, which is what this project is all about,” Allan said on Wednesday.
On top of the railway funding, Albanese announced an extra $1 billion in federal funding – and $200 million from the state – for suburban road upgrades, including three initial projects in Wallan, Cranbourne West and Carrum.
While state Labor has pushed for greater investment in Victoria’s $35 billion first leg of the Suburban Rail Loop mega project in the east, the Albanese government has been a more vocal supporter of the airport rail link.
The prime minister on Wednesday rejected claims a rift was growing between the levels of government.
Victoria has become a battleground state ahead of the federal election – due by May – following the shock 17 per cent hit to Labor’s primary vote in the state byelection for Werribee on February 8.
The state opposition’s major projects spokesman, Evan Mulholland, said Allan had no choice but to pause SRL East to prioritise airport rail.
“The fact that the premier couldn’t even provide a timeline for airport rail highlights Labor’s lack of urgency in building a project Victorians actually want,” Mulholland said.
Nationals senator Bridget McKenzie said it was hard to take Labor seriously on the project.
“After months of squabbling between the Victorian Allan Labor government and the Albanese federal Labor government, they have finally landed on a position.”
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