Fight or flight? Conflict with airport looms after government reveals ‘sky rail’ plan

An elevated “sky rail” station at Melbourne Airport is planned as part of the long-awaited $13 billion airport rail link project.

The Victorian government revealed the proposal in its latest infrastructure pitch, which also promises a new station in Keilor East to link 150,000 people in the Moonee Valley area to the Victorian rail network.

An artist’s impression of a new elevated station to connect the $13 billion airport rail link to Melbourne Airport.

The government said the project, which will also include 12 kilometres of new track, an elevated rail bridge over the busy M80 Freeway and major upgrades to Sunshine Station, will be completed by 2029.

An artist’s impression provided by the government shows the new station will connect to the airport near terminals 3 and 4.

But the decision to build an elevated station conflicts with Melbourne Airport’s push for an underground station. The airport has argued that this would connect a future airport rail link to the government’s Suburban Rail Loop project.

The airport rail link business case, to be released on Wednesday, finds it will deliver a positive return of $1.80 for every $1 invested, adding $17.9 billion to the state economy and creating about 8000 jobs during the construction phase.

It finds that an elevated station at Melbourne Airport represents the best solution to integrate with the airport precinct. The state government has also claimed this will be quicker and cheaper to build, with less disruption to passengers during construction.

The rail line, a key part of the government’s already crowded infrastructure agenda, is expected to cost between $8 billion and $13 billion, with the state and federal governments promising to provide $5 billion each.

But the plan could be stopped dead in its tracks by the airport itself, which, under Commonwealth laws, must submit a major development plan that includes a lengthy community consultation process before the project can proceed.

Melbourne Airport chief of ground transport Jai McDermott told The Age the airport had long been one of the most vocal supporters of a rail link to the city and would work in good faith with the Victorian government to deliver the project.

“However, we are yet to agree on station location and design,” McDermott said.

“Melbourne Airport’s preference has been and remains an underground station, which provides a superior passenger experience, safeguards for future connectivity and is appropriate for Victoria’s international gateway.”

McDermott said it was important that the new rail station worked for all airport users, “not just those who arrive by train”.

“One of the key benefits of the suburban rail connection to the airport is that it will provide passengers with a reliable travel time, and given it will operate as part of the suburban system, it makes sense for it to serve people living in the suburbs it will pass through.”

In its long-term planning documents, the airport expects to build new terminals in the “midfield” area between its runways by 2042 to accommodate passenger growth, which could be serviced by a second stop on the airport rail link. However, an elevated first station could make it more difficult to extend the line underneath the runways.

Melbourne Airport is also slated to be the final stop in the proposed second section of the Suburban Rail Loop project, connecting from Box Hill, which the Andrews government said could be built by 2053. It is unclear how that would integrate with the elevated station.

Melbourne Airport has also previously argued that aligning the station to the north of the precinct would allow direct access to regional rail lines and could serve high-speed rail connections.

Public Transport Minister Ben Carroll, whose Niddrie electorate takes in Keilor East, took the unusual step of publicly calling for a Keilor East station last month, with the backing of local federal member Bill Shorten.

Public Transport Minister Ben Carroll has called for a Keilor East station.Credit:Penny Stephens.

“Our community has been calling out for this station for years – and I’m glad that, because of a strong partnership in Canberra, we’ve been able to deliver it,” Carroll said.

The government said the link would take passengers from the city to the airport in about 30 minutes and run through Sunshine Station and the Metro Tunnel. This, it argued, would maximise connections to Melbourne’s booming west and south-east, as well as Victoria’s major regional centres of Ballarat, Bendigo, Geelong and Gippsland.

Trains on the new airport rail line will provide a “turn up and go” service, with trains every 10 minutes. Thirty stations across Melbourne – from as far away as Cranbourne and Pakenham – will have a direct connection to the airport via the Metro Tunnel, and passengers from most other stations in Victoria will only need to change trains once.

Transport Infrastructure Minister Jacinta Allan said a Keilor East station meant the airport rail link would create a new line for Melbourne’s west, connecting hundreds of thousands of people to Melbourne’s train network for the first time.

Transport Infrastructure Minister Jacinta Allan said the new station at Keilor East meant the airport rail would create a new line for Melbourne’s west.Credit:Eddie Jim

“This project stacks up. Not only will it better connect Victorians to our city, our suburbs and the world, it will repay every cent invested in opportunities for local workers and businesses,” she said.

In 2019, a consortium led by infrastructure investor IFM, Melbourne Airport, Metro Trains and Southern Cross Station put forward a privately funded plan to build a $7 billion underground rail link to the airport. However, the Andrews and Morrison governments decided to proceed with their own plan.

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