- Published:
- Wednesday 21 September 2022
Melbourne’s new airport rail line will include a brand-new station in the city’s booming west when it opens in 2029.
In a major win for local passengers, the Victorian and Australian governments will build a new station in Keilor East as part of the Melbourne Airport Rail project – linking more than 150,000 residents in the City of Moonee Valley area to Victoria’s rail network for the first time.
The Business Case for the project was also released today, showing Melbourne Airport Rail will deliver wide-ranging economic and connectivity benefits.
Not only will the new line take passengers from the CBD to the airport in around 30 minutes, it will also run through Sunshine Station and the Metro Tunnel – maximising connections to Melbourne’s booming west and south-east, and 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.
The project is expected to increase Victoria’s Gross State Product by up to $17.9 billion. The project will create up to 8,000 jobs during construction and opportunities for hundreds of apprentices, trainees and cadets through the Victorian Government’s Major Project Skills Guarantee.
The Business Case assesses a new elevated station at Melbourne Airport as the best solution for passengers as it will better integrate with the precinct and have fewer impacts on planned future developments at the airport. An elevated station will also be quicker and more cost effective to deliver and reduce disruption to airport users during construction.
It also proposes an elevated rail bridge over the busy M80 Freeway, and major upgrades to Sunshine Station – including a new concourse, improvements to existing station facilities, and car parking.
The Victorian and Australian governments have considered the Business Case and have each committed $5 billion in funding for the project.
Quote attributable to Acting Federal Minister for Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and Local Government Julie Collins
“We’re proud to partner with the Victorian Government to deliver this landmark project– which will not only improve Victoria’s transport network but create thousands of jobs.”
Quotes attributable to Victorian Minister for Transport Infrastructure Jacinta Allan
“This is a world class project for a world-class city – and the addition of this new station will make it even better.”
“The new station at Keilor East means airport rail will truly be a new rail line for Melbourne’s west, connecting hundreds of thousands of people to Melbourne’s train network for the first time.”
“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.”
Quote attributable to Federal Member for Maribyrnong Bill Shorten
“This is a giant win for our local community, a new station in Keilor East will be a gamechanger – by delivering an alternative transport option to get locals where they need to go faster.”
Quote attributable to Victorian Member for Niddrie Ben Carroll
“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.”