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Melbourne Airport Rail
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Melbourne Airport Rail
Melbourne Airport Rail is an under-construction heavy rail airport mass transit link project connecting the Melbourne central business district to Melbourne Airport in Tullamarine. The rail link will run through the existing Sunbury line and Metro Tunnel, running 27 km (16.8 mi) from the airport to Town Hall station in the Melbourne city centre with 12 km (7.5 mi) of new track between the airport and Sunshine station. The project is being delivered by the Victorian Infrastructure Delivery Authority through the Level Crossing Removal Project.
A rail link to Melbourne Airport has been proposed since the airport opened in 1970. In 2018, the Victorian state government under then Premier Daniel Andrews announced its intention to proceed with a link running via Sunshine station, in partnership with the Australian federal government. A preliminary business case was completed later that year, and in early 2019, the federal government partially agreed to fund the project. In 2020 it was announced that the link would run through the city via the Metro Tunnel.
Early construction initially began in 2022, but the project was paused and construction delayed until 2025. In April 2023, then Deputy Premier of Victoria Jacinta Allan said that due to a lack of agreement in negotiations with the airport operator, Australia Pacific Airports Corporation (APAC), over the design of the Airport station, the opening of the rail link would be delayed. In May 2023 construction contracts were paused while a federal review took place. An independent mediator was appointed in April 2024 by the federal government to resolve the ongoing dispute between the state government and the airport. In July 2024, Melbourne Airport agreed to an elevated airport station rather than an underground one.
In 2025 the federal and state governments recommitted to the project and it resumed. Works are expected to begin in 2026 on a first stage to rebuild tracks around Sunshine station, with this stage planned to be complete by 2030.
Melbourne Airport is located 23 kilometres (14.3 mi) north-west of the Melbourne City Centre adjacent to the industrial suburb of Tullamarine. In the 2016–17 financial year, 34.8 million passengers and 237,000 aircraft movements were recorded, making it the second-busiest airport in Australia by passenger numbers.
The airport is served by the Tullamarine Freeway, which connects to the Melbourne city centre via the CityLink tollway. An express bus service, SkyBus, connects the airport to Southern Cross railway station, a main railway terminus, with a 20–40 minute travel time and various private bus services also serve the airport precinct. SmartBus route 901 connects to Broadmeadows railway station with a one-hour journey time to the CBD at regular public transport fares.
With the appointment of a panel to examine the aviation needs of the growing city of Melbourne in 1958, and its recommendation of a site at Tullamarine on the city's north-western outskirts in 1959, the earliest suggestions for a railway line were made by stakeholders in the new facility's success. The City Development Association proposed connecting any new airport to the public transport as early as 1958, and Trans Australia Airlines proposed tunnelling directly between the CBD and the airport when the site was announced. Reg Ansett, however, another direct beneficiary of the new airport, envisioned helicopters and freeways becoming the primary modes of transport for passengers and staff.
The first legislative attempt at a rail link to the new airport was made in 1965, while it was still under construction. Under the Liberal state government led by Henry Bolte, Minister for Transport Edward Meagher introduced the Glenroy Tullamarine Rail Construction Bill 1965 to the state parliament, proposing the construction of a link between the Broadmeadows line at Glenroy and the new "jetport". During the bill's reading in the Lower House, Meagher estimated the new line's cost at £1.5 million, and suggested that it ought to be constructed in conjunction with a third track into the city along the existing line, works which formed part of the Victorian Railways 10-year strategic plan at the time.
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Melbourne Airport Rail
Melbourne Airport Rail is an under-construction heavy rail airport mass transit link project connecting the Melbourne central business district to Melbourne Airport in Tullamarine. The rail link will run through the existing Sunbury line and Metro Tunnel, running 27 km (16.8 mi) from the airport to Town Hall station in the Melbourne city centre with 12 km (7.5 mi) of new track between the airport and Sunshine station. The project is being delivered by the Victorian Infrastructure Delivery Authority through the Level Crossing Removal Project.
A rail link to Melbourne Airport has been proposed since the airport opened in 1970. In 2018, the Victorian state government under then Premier Daniel Andrews announced its intention to proceed with a link running via Sunshine station, in partnership with the Australian federal government. A preliminary business case was completed later that year, and in early 2019, the federal government partially agreed to fund the project. In 2020 it was announced that the link would run through the city via the Metro Tunnel.
Early construction initially began in 2022, but the project was paused and construction delayed until 2025. In April 2023, then Deputy Premier of Victoria Jacinta Allan said that due to a lack of agreement in negotiations with the airport operator, Australia Pacific Airports Corporation (APAC), over the design of the Airport station, the opening of the rail link would be delayed. In May 2023 construction contracts were paused while a federal review took place. An independent mediator was appointed in April 2024 by the federal government to resolve the ongoing dispute between the state government and the airport. In July 2024, Melbourne Airport agreed to an elevated airport station rather than an underground one.
In 2025 the federal and state governments recommitted to the project and it resumed. Works are expected to begin in 2026 on a first stage to rebuild tracks around Sunshine station, with this stage planned to be complete by 2030.
Melbourne Airport is located 23 kilometres (14.3 mi) north-west of the Melbourne City Centre adjacent to the industrial suburb of Tullamarine. In the 2016–17 financial year, 34.8 million passengers and 237,000 aircraft movements were recorded, making it the second-busiest airport in Australia by passenger numbers.
The airport is served by the Tullamarine Freeway, which connects to the Melbourne city centre via the CityLink tollway. An express bus service, SkyBus, connects the airport to Southern Cross railway station, a main railway terminus, with a 20–40 minute travel time and various private bus services also serve the airport precinct. SmartBus route 901 connects to Broadmeadows railway station with a one-hour journey time to the CBD at regular public transport fares.
With the appointment of a panel to examine the aviation needs of the growing city of Melbourne in 1958, and its recommendation of a site at Tullamarine on the city's north-western outskirts in 1959, the earliest suggestions for a railway line were made by stakeholders in the new facility's success. The City Development Association proposed connecting any new airport to the public transport as early as 1958, and Trans Australia Airlines proposed tunnelling directly between the CBD and the airport when the site was announced. Reg Ansett, however, another direct beneficiary of the new airport, envisioned helicopters and freeways becoming the primary modes of transport for passengers and staff.
The first legislative attempt at a rail link to the new airport was made in 1965, while it was still under construction. Under the Liberal state government led by Henry Bolte, Minister for Transport Edward Meagher introduced the Glenroy Tullamarine Rail Construction Bill 1965 to the state parliament, proposing the construction of a link between the Broadmeadows line at Glenroy and the new "jetport". During the bill's reading in the Lower House, Meagher estimated the new line's cost at £1.5 million, and suggested that it ought to be constructed in conjunction with a third track into the city along the existing line, works which formed part of the Victorian Railways 10-year strategic plan at the time.
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