Suburban Rail Loop gets greenlight but airport train link delayed

Victorian Treasurer Tim Pallas is pushing ahead with the controversial Suburban Rail Loop, but delays Melbourne Airport train by years.

Treasurer Tim Pallas speaks to the media during the media budget lockup. (Asanka Ratnayake/Getty Images)

Labor has locked in the contentious Suburban Rail Loop, committing $34.5bn for the first stage of the project, but delayed the Melbourne Airport rail link for at least four years.

Unveiling what he described as a “moderated” infrastructure spend, Treasurer Tim Pallas confirmed the government was ignoring calls to cancel or delay the rail project linking Frankston to Werribee.

The budget revealed that $11.8bn in funding had already been announced for the first stage between Cheltenham and Box Hill and revealed the overall estimated cost of this section would be $34.5bn. The overall cost of the SRL is unclear, but is expected to be at least $125bn.

“This (reduced capital spending) doesn’t mean we are going from feast to famine, we still have a strong and sustainable infrastructure pipeline to deliver the projects our state needs,” Mr Pallas said.

The budget reveals the Allan Government is still expecting the Albanese Government to deliver “a matching contribution” to the SRL on top of its initial investment of $2.2bn over three years.

Shadow transport and infrastructure minister David Southwick accused Labor of hiding up $6.9bn in cost blowouts on the SRL’s first stage in the budget.

“Labor cannot manage money, cannot manage projects and Victorians are paying the price,” Mr Southwick said.

“Instead of being transparent with Victorians over their latest multibillion-dollar cost blowout, Labor has buried the true cost of the SRL and cut or delayed other desperately needed rail projects to pay for it.

“Premier Jacinta Allan continues to put all our eggs in one basket, and communities across western Melbourne, growth corridors and regional Victoria continue to pay the price.”

While pressing ahead with the SRL, Mr Pallas all but cancelled the $10bn rail link to Melbourne Airport and launched a scathing attack on the private operators, describing the company as a “big carpark operator”.

“We have made the sensible decision in acknowledging the Melbourne Airport rail link is now at least four years delayed, with the airport indicating it is not prepared to drop its demand for compensation and an underground station, and believe me, we are doing neither of those things,” he said.

“Of course, were the airport operator to see reason and maybe become a good corporate citizen instead of being a big carpark operator then perhaps we might be able to move it forward.”

Part of the Suburban Rail Loop can now be seen on the corner of Collins and Swanston streets in Melbourne’s CBD. Picture NCA NewsWire / Ian Currie

Melbourne Airport defended its position on Tuesday, saying it was part of a consortium that offered up to $7bn towards building an underground airport station and express tracks from Sunshine.

“The state government rejected this,” a spokesperson said.

“The timing of this project has always been a matter for government.”

Public Transport Users Association committee member Daniel Bowen says the status of Melbourne’s Airport Rail Link is disappointing and that the government should consider building the project underground.

“It’s somewhat disappointing, but not surprising to see the Airport Rail Link delayed, we knew that was coming because of the current dispute over the design,” Mr Bowen said.

“But we need to get that sorted out and get that project back on track as soon as possible.”

Victoria Tourism Industry Council boss Felicia Mariani says the Melbourne Airport Rail Link must go ahead if the state wants to be compared to global cities like London and New York.

“We were very disappointed to read that, but again not a surprise … that there would not be funding for the Melbourne Airport Rail Link,” Ms Mariani said.

“The reality is if Victoria wants to class itself as a global city, if we want to be up there with the likes of London and Paris and New York, we’ve got to figure out how we’re actually going to compromise and get over this.”

Ms Mariani said the station must be built underground.

“You can’t have people walking out of your airport and probably having to take a bus, to carry their bags to the rail station,” she said.

“It needs to be underground and we need to figure out how we get this happening.

“And it can’t wait another four years for those discussions to take place.”