Melbourne Airport Rail Link Study

What's happening?

On Wednesday 13 March the Minister for Public Transport released the findings of the Melbourne Airport Rail Link Study Report.

The study assessed 80 alternatives to the 2001 'Albion East' alignment to determine the best route for a Melbourne Airport Rail Link.

An altered Albion East alignment outperformed the assessed alternatives and is the recommended alignment for an Airport rail link.

The new Albion East design follows the 2001 route from the airport boundary via new tracks through reserved land and a freight corridor, but will use the existing rail tracks from Sunbury within the Sunshine corridor and connect with the Melbourne Metro rail tunnel, extending the link to Melbourne's east.

This alignment outperformed options which connected the Airport with the CBD via a direct tunnel, a connection via Craigieburn and a connection via Flemington.

Since the Albion East alignment was reserved more than 10 years ago, air passenger trips and patronage on trains have both grown by an unprecedented 70 per cent.

This review confirms the best alignment for a Melbourne Airport rail link, taking into account Melbourne's growth and changes in planning for Melbourne's rail network.

Project benefits

The rail link would alleviate traffic congestion on the busy route to the airport and provide travellers with more options to easily travel to and from the airport.

The recommended alignment would provide a direct connection from Melbourne’s east and CBD via the Melbourne Metro rail tunnel, with connections in the west at Sunshine and Footscray.

The proposed Airport rail line would run to a 10-minute frequency, with the journey time from the CBD to Melbourne Airport expected to take around 30 minutes.

Reports

Melbourne Airport Rail Link Study – Final Technical Report (PDF) 4.15 MB

Melbourne Airport Rail Link Study – Executive Summary (PDF) 1.05 MB

Melbourne Airport Rail Link Study – Overview (PDF) 720 kB

Maps

Melbourne Airport Rail Link Study: recommended alignment map (PDF) 597 kB

Melbourne Airport Rail Link Study: shortlisted alignments map (PDF) 717 kB

Media release

Coalition to plan for a better public transport network

Melbourne Airport rail link route confirmed

Contact us

For more information, please call Public Transport Victoria on 1800 800 007.

You can provide feedback about the Melbourne Airport Rail Link Study by completing an online enquiry form.