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The Australian and Victorian governments will accelerate plans for a rail connection to Melbourne Airport, including a new Keilor East station and a 7.4-kilometre line from Albion. Site investigations and procurement are expected to begin within weeks, while major construction is scheduled for 2028. The broader project is expected to be completed by 2031, with the final airport station still lacking a clear completion date.
By Allanah Sciberras and Eleanor Wilson An elusive rail development to Australia’s second-largest airport is to be accelerated, with a date set to lay the first tracks from the city.
It will connect the Sunshine superhub, in the city’s outer west, to the airport via a new Keilor East station, in the premier’s marginal electorate.
“A new Keilor East station will give locals direct access to the city via the metro tunnel,” Carroll said on Wednesday. Stage two will include a 7.4km rail line from Albion to the edge of the airport precinct via the new Keilor East station. Site investigations and procurement will begin within weeks, but major construction is not slated to start until 2028.
Labor predicts that Keilor East station will connect an estimated 5200 passengers to the city each day.future, unlocking capacity to run more trains, more often and ensuring we have a train line to Melbourne Airport,” Albanese said. The $12 billion joint commitment from the Albanese and Carroll Labor governments is expected to be completed in 2031, one year after stage one of the project is earmarked to be ready.
The $4.1 billion first phase is touted to untangle six kilometres of track between West Footscray and Albion into a six-platform superhub connected through Sunshine station. The final stage of the project, which encompasses an above ground station at the airport precinct, remains without a clear completion date. Establishing an airport rail in Melbourne has been toyed with since the 1960s but has been plagued by decades of backflips and delays.
Construction for the project was paused in 2023 after Melbourne Airport Rail became entangled in a protracted federal infrastructure review. When the review finally gave it the green light to continue, the airport and state government were at loggerheads over whether the planned station at Tullamarine should be underground or elevated. Mediator Neil Scales was hired to end the dispute and found the underground station should no longer be an option, prompting the airport to relent.
Construction at Sunshine started in February, and marked the most complex part of the project, the government has previously said.
Melbourne Airport Rail Keilor East Station Victorian Infrastructure Rail Development Sunshine Superhub
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