Connecting Melbourne Airport to our rail network

A rail link to Melbourne Airport has long been talked about and is now a reality, with planning, investigations and design development underway.

The Victorian and Australian governments have announced Melbourne Airport Rail will run from a new station at Melbourne Airport via Sunshine Station, where it will then travel through the Metro Tunnel. There will be direct connections to 5 inner city locations, including Parkville, St Kilda Road and the heart of the CBD.

Melbourne Airport Rail will provide passengers with 10-minute turn-up-and-go services and an under 30-minute journey into the CBD, and continuing on to the Cranbourne and Pakenham lines.

This provides the quickest trip for the majority of passengers with the least number of interchanges required.

Construction will begin in 2022, with a target opening date of 2029.

The Victorian and Australian governments have committed $5 billion each to deliver the project, which will support up to 8000 jobs during construction.

Rail Projects Victoria (RPV) is part of the Major Transport Infrastructure Authority (MTIA) and is leading the design and delivery of Melbourne Airport Rail.

Delivering benefits for all Victorians

Melbourne Airport Rail will provide a reliable, viable alternative to road travel for all Victorians, without the need to worry about traffic delays or parking.

Through connections at Sunshine, the Metro Tunnel or along the Cranbourne and Pakenham lines, the majority of passengers will be able to travel to Melbourne Airport with only one interchange.

Passengers to the state’s north east will also benefit from Melbourne Airport Rail through its future integration with the Suburban Rail Loop, which proposes a new connection at Broadmeadows.

• 10 minute turn-up-and go services from Melbourne Airport
• Under 30 mins continuous journey into the CBD
• Direct access from 30 metropolitan stations to Melbourne Airport, single change for all other metropolitan and regional lines
• Enhanced connectivity to key health, research, education, business and employment precincts
• Up to 8000 jobs supported during construction, including more than one million hours of work done by apprentices, trainees and cadets
• Target opening date 2029 (subject to relevant Victorian and Federal planning, environmental and other government approvals).

Project timeline

2018

• Sunshine route announced for Melbourne Airport Rail

2019

• Site investigations commenced
• Community and stakeholder engagement underway

2020-2021

• Melbourne Airport Rail route via the Metro Tunnel announced
• Business case and design development
• Statutory planning approval process
• Market engagement
• Procurement process

2022

• Start of construction

2029

• Target opening (subject to relevant Victorian and Federal planning, environmental and other government approvals)

Getting the train to Melbourne Airport

Sunshine route

In 2018 the Victorian Government announced the selection of the Sunshine route as the preferred option for Melbourne Airport Rail, based on a number of factors, including earlier deliverability at a lower cost and superior connections to more areas of regional Victoria and Melbourne.

Melbourne Airport Station

Melbourne Airport Rail services will connect to Melbourne Airport via a new premium station.

New dedicated tracks will be constructed along the existing Albion-Jacana rail corridor between Sunshine and Airport West. The tracks will then cross the M80 Ring Road and head towards the airport following Airport Drive, before arriving at the new station at Melbourne Airport.

Additional stations between Sunshine and the airport are being considered as part of the current planning and design process.

Through the Metro Tunnel

The route through the Metro Tunnel ensures the benefits of this transformational project are delivered to Victorians as quickly and efficiently as possible.

This solution delivers the best connections for all Victorians, getting people to where they want to go with easy transfers to all regional lines and trips into the heart of the CBD in under 30 minutes.

Cranbourne/Pakenham line passengers can board at any station along the line for an uninterrupted trip to Melbourne Airport.

Travel times

Please note, journey times are indicative and will be verified in the development of the business case.

Metropolitan precincts

Approximate travel time via Metro Tunnel to/from Melbourne Airport:

• Footscray Precinct: 18 minutes ((Healthcare, education and training)
• Sunshine Precinct: 11 minutes (Healthcare, manufacturing, education and training):
• Anzac Precinct: 60 minutes (St Kilda Road residential and employment precinct)
• Town Hall Precinct: 29 minutes (Employment and business, shopping, Federation Square and connection to City Loop services at Flinders Street Station)
• State Library Precinct: 27 minutes (Shopping, education, connection to City Loop services at Melbourne Central)
• Parkville Precinct: 24 minutes (Employment and business activity centred around medical, research and tertiary education)
• Arden Precinct: 22 minutes (Arden Urban Renewal Precinct with a focus on technology, life sciences, health and education)
• Clayton/Monash: 60 minutes (Employment and business activity centred around medical, research and tertiary education)
• Caulfield: 42 minutes (Tertiary education and residential)

Regional lines

Approximate travel time via Sunshine to/from Melbourne Airport:

• Bendigo line: 2 hours
• Geelong line: 60 minutes
• Ballarat line: 90 minutes
• Traralgon line: 3 hours

Please note, journey times are indicative and will be verified in the development of the business case.

The Metro Tunnel

The Metro Tunnel will create a new end-to-end rail line from Sunbury in the west to Cranbourne and Pakenham in the south-east, with high capacity trains and 5 new underground stations: Arden, Parkville, State Library, Town Hall, and Anzac.

It creates capacity for an extra 500,000 train passengers across the network in peak periods every week.

Faster services for Geelong via Werribee

Geelong is Victoria’s fastest growing regional city with a population expected to grow by almost 50% to approximately 485,000 by 2051.

New dedicated tracks along the Werribee corridor between Werribee and Laverton will deliver faster Geelong services, with a 50 minute travel time via Werribee to/from Southern Cross Station. This also frees up room for more trains to Melbourne’s west and regional Victoria including Wyndham, Melton, Ballarat and Bendigo via the Sunshine corridor.

Victoria’s Big Build

Victoria is currently in a transport construction boom with 165 major road and rail projects being delivered and approximately $80 billion invested. It’s not just about current works, with significant planning also underway for a number of projects that are set to transform the way Victorians travel.

Victoria’s Big Build continues to create thousands of jobs across Victoria, through record investment in transport infrastructure projects that connect communities and get Victorians where they need to go safer and sooner.

Have your say

To help plan Melbourne Airport Rail, we want to know more about what’s important to you.

This could include station facilities, walking and cycling connections, open space and other key features near the rail alignment.

You can have your say by visiting our website to complete the interactive mapping exercise and the online survey.

You can also visit our virtual information session to learn more about the project.

Stay up to date about future opportunities to get involved by signing up to the Melbourne Airport Rail e-newsletter.