The Victorian government says its plan for an elevated “sky rail” at Melbourne Airport means the rail link will open a year earlier and cost $1 billion less to build compared to an underground station.

Plans for the long-awaited airport rail connection were revealed on Wednesday along with a business case forecasting a budget of $8 billion to $13 billion and a 2029 opening date.

An artist’s impression of a new elevated station to connect the $13 billion airport rail link to Melbourne Airport.

But the government’s preference for an elevated station is a blow to the airport’s long-held vision of an underground station, which it argues is better for passengers and safeguards future rail connections.

Transport Infrastructure Minister Jacinta Allan said the government would “continue to work with the airport” on the new plan, which has $5 billion funding from both the state and federal governments.

“Saving up to a billion dollars is a big reason to deliver an elevated station, but also to making sure that it’s delivered more quickly and with less disruption,” she said.

Allan said it “doesn’t matter whether you’re coming up an escalator or down an escalator from the station” and that an elevated station was the best way to deliver good passenger connections.

Public Transport Users Association spokesman Daniel Bowen said the final above-ground design needed to prioritise quick and easy transfers to the terminals.

“We really just want a short walk undercover and not too many stairs or escalators,” he said.
“So said whether it’s above ground or below, it just needs to be as quick and easy as possible.”

The 288-page business plan confirmed that an underground station would likely be more comfortable for passengers by providing an air-conditioned passage to platforms and the concourse.

But it considered an elevated station would provide more options for connecting to the proposed Suburban Rail Loop, which could be built from Box Hill to the airport around 2050.

Above ground would also cost half as much and shave about 21 months off construction, the business case said.

Bowen said it was also crucial that fares to the airport were affordable for travellers and suggested discounts for people who worked at the airport to encourage patronage.

Allan said fares would be determined closer to the opening date, but the business case was based on assumptions that fares would be comparable to Sydney Airport train station, where it costs $19.53 to board or alight at the gateway in peak times.

The government has also promised to build a new station in Keilor East along the 12 kilometres of new track branching from Sunshine Station, linking 150,000 people in the Moonee Valley area to the Victorian rail network.

The extra stop will add around two minutes to the 30-minute journey time between the CBD and airport. The business case assumes that as Melbourne grows and congestion on the Tullamarine Freeway worsens, driving to the airport from the CBD will take 40 minutes by 2031 and just over an hour by 2051.

The Victorian Auditor-General’s Office on Wednesday said that the airport rail business case may have overstated the project’s benefits and could not support a “fully informed” investment decision because it did not follow government guidelines for calculating economic returns.

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