Melbourne Airport Rail Link

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<h2>Comment</h2>

In 2015, the first new railway line to be built in Melbourne in many decades opened to passengers. Known as the Regional Rail Link, the project sought to begin separating metropolitan and regional services, giving trains to Victoria's regional cities their own set of tracks all the way into Southern Cross station.

A new track pair was built between Southern Cross and Sunshine station which included a new bridge over the Maribyrnong River, a flyover to separate regional and Werribee/Williamstown line metropolitan services and Footscray and Sunshine stations saw major works with the addition of two new platforms.  

The new track railway corridor from Deer Park to West Werribee was built through rural properties and, at the time, fledging development occurring around Tarneit, Truganina and Wyndham Vale.

Fast forward to today and patronage has boomed on the Geelong line, mostly due to the stations built on the new railway corridor that attract passengers from the newly built suburbs.

<figure><a class="colorbox colorbox-insert-image" href="https://res.cloudinary.com/dz9xllyip/image/fetch/q_auto:good/https://s3-ap-southeast-2.amazonaws.com/www.urban.com.au/s3fs-public/pictures/article-images/geelong_line_patronage_boom1.png" rel="gallery-all" title="Geelong Line patronage has boomed thanks to suburban passengers at Tarneit and Wyndham Vale. Image: bigbuild.vic.gov.au"><img alt="" class="image-article-full-width-580px" height="459" src="/s3/files/styles/article_full_width_580px/public/pictures/article-images/geelong_line_patronage_boom1.png?itok=t853WqKV" title="Geelong Line patronage has boomed thanks to suburban passengers at Tarneit and Wyndham Vale. Image: bigbuild.vic.gov.au" width="580"></a>

<figcaption>Geelong Line patronage has boomed thanks to suburban passengers at Tarneit and Wyndham Vale. Image: bigbuild.vic.gov.au</figcaption></figure>Last year's state election saw the ALP release a policy - the Western Rail Plan - one month out from the election to invest even more money into more heavy rail public transport services for the west that would achieve two goals: separating regional and metropolitan services further through the growth areas and speeding up services to Geelong and Ballarat.

In 2019's state budget, $100 million was set aside for the business case/reference design.  This work is underway in parallel with the business case for the Melbourne Airport Rail Link which will be released in 2020.

Published documents on the Victorian Government's Big Build <a href="https://bigbuild.vic.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0003/333705/Western-Rail-Plan.pdf">website</a> highlight the complex inter-relations with the Melbourne Airport Rail Link, Suburban Rail Loop and Western Rail Plan and recent reporting elsewhere indicates stakeholders are debating whether to build an enabling component for the wholesale upgrade of railways in Western Melbourne.

<figure><a class="colorbox colorbox-insert-image" href="https://res.cloudinary.com/dz9xllyip/image/fetch/q_auto:good/https://s3-ap-southeast-2.amazonaws.com/www.urban.com.au/s3fs-public/pictures/article-images/western-rail-plan_pdf.png" rel="gallery-all" title="Heavy rail public transport projects in Melbourne. Image: bigbuild.vic.gov.au"><img alt="" class="image-article-full-width-580px" height="356" src="/s3/files/styles/article_full_width_580px/public/pictures/article-images/western-rail-plan_pdf.png?itok=u_UcMIIH" title="Heavy rail public transport projects in Melbourne. Image: bigbuild.vic.gov.au" width="580"></a>

<figcaption>Heavy rail public transport projects in Melbourne. Image: bigbuild.vic.gov.au</figcaption></figure>The bone of contention - or more to the point: the one certain stakeholders want to debate through mainstream media - is the extra track pair labeled "New Sunshine to CBD access" in the map above.

Melbourne Airport Rail Link and faster trains to Geelong and Ballarat have an emphasis on speed, making journeys as quick as possible.  The Western Rail Plan has an emphasis on new, targetted services that will, like the Airport Link and less so the faster regional services, require more track to access the city.

The Geelong line's patronage figures since the opening of the Regional Rail Link have been boosted, fundamentally, by Melbourne Metropolitan commuters in outer Western Melbourne.  The Western Rail Plan seeks to shift those outer suburban passengers on to train services that are more appropriate: metropolitan services.

With those broad parameters in mind, it's been speculated that a tunnel from Sunshine to the city is the best solution to enable fast journeys to the regions and the airport while existing track - the regional rail track pair and the existing Sunbury line - then have room for expansion. For instance, the new Melton and Wyndham Vale services could possibly share the existing regional rail track pair with Bendigo V/Line services while Geelong, Ballarat and airport services use the new tunnel.

One can understand the desire to explore other options - like not building a tunnel and running more services on the existing track pairs - however we need only look to the Regional Rail Link and how it struggles to deal with outer suburban patronage growth.  Cool heads need to think clearly the long-term and what impact not building a tunnel will do to a metropolitan area whose centre of population is moving westward.

<a href="https://www.urban.com.au/news/an-overview-of-western-melbourne-precinct-structure-plans">On Monday we look</a> at the greenfields areas in Western Melbourne that will drive patronage growth.
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Alastair Taylor

Western Melbourne's complex rail plan needs to be done right

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<h2>Comment</h2>

The Victorian Government, freshly re-elected a year ago for another term, has a very large program of public transport projects that will impact on various suburban centres over the next few decades. 

Arden, Sunshine and Box Hill are three suburbs developers, property buyers and renters should keep an eye on.

The redevelopment of Arden will centre around a public transport project already under construction (Melbourne Metro) and Sunshine and Box Hill, based on publicly available information, will attract intense focus from projects that have their respective business cases underway (Melbourne Airport Rail Link and the Suburban Rail Loop).

The Melbourne Metro project that was initiated during the first term has recently entered the primary tunneling phase with two of four tunnel boring machines now working their way westward under the city.  The launching pad for the first two TBMs is located at the site of the future North Melbourne (née Arden) station, an area where the state government is a major landholder and one the state government has expressed an interest in 'doing things differently'.

In 2018 the Victorian Planning Authority released the <a href="https://vpa.vic.gov.au/project/arden/">Arden Vision</a> which outlines how the "Victorian Government and the city of Melbourne are committed to preparing in partnership land use and transport planning frameworks to coordinate and guide planning to 2050".

According to the vision document, North Melbourne station will open in 2025 and major development of the land surrounding the new station will begin shortly thereafter.

<figure><a class="colorbox colorbox-insert-image" href="https://res.cloudinary.com/dz9xllyip/image/fetch/q_auto:good/https://s3-ap-southeast-2.amazonaws.com/www.urban.com.au/s3fs-public/pictures/article-images/arden_vision_2018.png" rel="gallery-all" title="The Arden Vision. Image Vic.gov.au"><img alt="" class="image-article-full-width-580px" height="409" src="/s3/files/styles/article_full_width_580px/public/pictures/article-images/arden_vision_2018.png?itok=kC-25X3b" title="The Arden Vision. Image Vic.gov.au" width="580"></a>

<figcaption>The Arden Vision. Image Vic.gov.au</figcaption></figure>Apart from the ongoing level crossing removal program, all other major public transport projects that are likely to leave an impact on land surrounding new stations are in various stages of planning and design.

Extending the Frankston railway line to Baxter has a business case under development expected to be completed by 2019.  Construction to duplicate the Cranbourne line will begin in 2021 with completion scheduled for 2023; the state government has also said this project is required before work can get underway to extend the Cranbourne line to Clyde.

The Melbourne Airport Rail Link, the Suburban Rail Loop, the Western Rail Plan and initiatives to speed up trains to Geelong and Ballarat are four inter-related projects that have all been appropriated funds from the state budget that will see reference designs and business cases completed over the next 12-18 months.

<h2>All railways lead to Sunshine</h2>

We've said it before, and we're saying it again - cast your gaze westward to Sunshine.  Excluding central Melbourne, no other suburb in metropolitan Melbourne will see as much intensive new rail infrastructure and services in the foreseeable future.

The Regional Rail Link project from a decade ago routed connections to Victoria's second, third and fourth-largest cities through Sunshine and the Western Rail Plan looks set to expand on regional and metropolitan rail separation possibly through the quadruplication and (partial) electrification of railways between Sunshine and Deer Park, Deer Park to Wyndham Vale and Deer Park to Melton.

The Melbourne Airport Rail Link had its route confirmed via Sunshine and what's known as the 'Albion corridor' (the stretch of railway used primarily for freight between Albion station and Broadmeadows station) and Sunshine likewise appears on maps for the Suburban Rail Loop.

<iframe frameborder="0" height="500" scrolling="no" src="https://www.urban.com.au/developments/sunshine-vic?embeddable=list-map" width="100%"></iframe>

If the Melbourne Airport Rail Link, Suburban Rail Loop, Western Rail Plan and higher-speed trains to Geelong and Ballarat proceed - whether all at the same time or in a sequential fashion - Sunshine will have the best suburban connectivity to other parts of the metropolitan area and regional Victoria.

<h2>Box Hill is already flying high</h2>

Box Hill has always garnered our interest.  The railway lines that run through Box Hill on their way to the city are unlike other major corridors like Dandenong and Sunshine because there will be minimal greenfields development within the Lilydale and Belgrave branch catchments.

In short, the only population growth throughout the whole eastern corridor can only be catered for through higher-density development.  And the numbers speak for themselves.

Box Hill has at least 35 projects contained within a 1 square kilometre grid centred around the Box Hill station and Box Hill Central shopping centre.  Further up the line at Ringwood, where both Lilydale and Belgrave lines converge to provide a very high frequency of service all the way through the inner and middle rings of eastern Melbourne, has at least <a href="https://www.urban.com.au/developments/ringwood-vic">19 high-density projects</a> in the pipeline.

<iframe frameborder="0" height="500" scrolling="no" src="https://www.urban.com.au/developments/box-hill-vic?embeddable=list-map" width="100%"></iframe>

The Victorian Premier has already publicly announced the Suburban Rail Loop, despite its business case and reference design currently underway, will be split in two phases through the east and north of the metropolitan area.  The first phase will run from Cheltenham on the Frankston line to Box Hill, servicing Clayton, Monash University and employment precinct, Glen Waverley and Deakin University located just south of Box Hill.

The second phase of the Suburban Rail Loop extending from Box Hill to Tullamarine Airport would then create a major node, accessible to and from the north, south, east and west via heavy rail, in an area that already has a large concentration of jobs and retail activity and an area that already supports major increases in residential density.

We'll be watching the release of each public transport business case with great interest.

Lead image credit: metrotunnel.vic.gov.au
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Arden, Sunshine and Box Hill: three Melbourne suburbs to watch 

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Regardless of which party is able to form government after this Saturday's Victorian election, Sunshine and Melbourne's west stand to win when it comes to the Melbourne Airport Rail Link.

Various media reports cite the Federal Government having informed the State Government that Canberra supports the Sunshine, also known as Albion, route for the rail link to Tullamarine.  Likewise the Federal Opposition has also expressed support for the Sunshine corridor option.

To have both major parties at both the state and federal level more or less in agreement on an alignment is an achievement in and of itself.  The question now, however, is what form will the rail link take?

The state ALP see the Melbourne Airport Rail Link as the start of the western side of its Suburban Rail Loop - an election policy that would see a 90km long rail line orbit metropolitan Melbourne through the middle ring of suburbs.

State Liberal and opposition leader Matthew Guy has also thrown support behind the Sunshine-Albion route and it's likely the link - the extra track between the city and Sunshine - would play a major role in the development of the Liberal party's election policy of higher-speed rail to the regions.

Sunshine is one of the Victorian Planning Authority's <a href="https://vpa.vic.gov.au/project/sunshine-employment-cluster/#">National Employment and Innovation clusters</a>.  Draft framework plans were published in March 2017 and the VPA's website states finalisation of the plans are still ongoing.  

It is likely the rail services on the Melbourne Airport Rail Link will only have one intermediate stop between the city and the airport at Sunshine and coupled with the planning work from the VPA, Brimbank council, we're likely to see intensive development in and around Sunshine station.

<iframe frameborder="0" height="420px" src="https://www.urban.com.au/developments/sunshine-vic?embeddable=map" width="100%"></iframe>

The ALP have been referring to Sunshine as a future 'super-hub' with published renders depicting an airport-like experience for passengers who will be changing services in the region.

Already Geelong, Ballarat and Bendigo line V/Line services pass through the station as well as metro services to Watergardens-Sunbury and if re-elected, the ALP as part of its Western Rail Plan, would study, as presumably build, extra track from Sunshine to Melton while electrifying one pair to enable metro services to run from Melton to the City.

Metro services from Sunbury - and if it proceeds, Melton - would stop all stations and the Melbourne Airport Rail Link, whether it turns out to be something similar to the unsolicited AirRail Melbourne proposal or not, will provide an express service to the city from Sunshine, and naturally to the airport.

In short, Sunshine will become one of the best-connected suburbs of Melbourne.

A business case is underway for the rail link to Tullamarine however given the rare political alignment across tiers of government and across the major parties on the transport side of the equation, focus should now shift back to the VPA and Brimbank council and what's in store for Sunshine in a wider planning-sense.
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Sunshine in the hot seat as federal and state political parties settle on Melbourne Airport Rail Link route

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In case you missed it: when Melbourne Airport held its stakeholder event for 2018 earlier in October, not only did it outline its future vision for its terminals, but it also provided a lot more context to the <a href="https://www.urban.com.au/news/consortium-proposes-market-led-super-train-for-melbourne-airport-rail-link">AirRail Melbourne proposal</a>.

37 million passengers passed through the airport's terminals in the most recent financial year and the airport expects that to top 70 million by 2038.  Expanded runways, on-site renewable energy generation, Terminal 3 (Virgin Australia) as well as Terminal 2 (International) upgrades add to new ground transport upgrades that will all occur at the airport over the next decade.

Not only do we have a clearer picture of the terminal changes that will occur over time (see video below) but we also now have a far clearer vision of where a station might be located.

Remember when a consortium led by the Melbourne Airport operator unveiled it's proposal for <a href="https://www.airrailmelbourne.com.au/">AirRail Melbourne</a> and posted a render of the airport station interior?

<figure><a class="colorbox colorbox-insert-image" href="https://res.cloudinary.com/dz9xllyip/image/fetch/q_auto:good/https://s3-ap-southeast-2.amazonaws.com/www.urban.com.au/s3fs-public//pictures/article-images/airrail_melbourne_airport_station.jpg" rel="gallery-all" title="AirRail Melbourne Airport Station render. Image: Melbourne Airport"><img alt="" class="image-article-full-width-580px" height="326" src="/sites/urban.melbourne/files//styles/article_full_width_580px/public/pictures/article-images/airrail_melbourne_airport_station.jpg?itok=Lv8f4FDd" title="AirRail Melbourne Airport Station render. Image: Melbourne Airport" width="580"></a>

<figcaption>AirRail Melbourne Airport Station render. Image: Melbourne Airport</figcaption></figure>This is where it is located, according to the AirRail Melbourne proposal, unveiled as part of the Airport's own expansion plans.

<figure><a class="colorbox colorbox-insert-image" href="https://res.cloudinary.com/dz9xllyip/image/fetch/q_auto:good/https://s3-ap-southeast-2.amazonaws.com/www.urban.com.au/s3fs-public//pictures/article-images/mel_air_station_vision1.jpg" rel="gallery-all" title="Render of T2 and station located in forecourt. Image: Melbourne Airport"><img alt="" class="image-article-full-width-580px" height="324" src="/sites/urban.melbourne/files//styles/article_full_width_580px/public/pictures/article-images/mel_air_station_vision1.jpg?itok=CHb1U9vt" title="Render of T2 and station located in forecourt. Image: Melbourne Airport" width="580"></a>

<figcaption>Render of T2 and station located in the forecourt. Image: Melbourne Airport</figcaption></figure>Of course, the AirRail Melbourne proposal is just that - a proposal - and with a state election underway whose result will have a major impact on the Melbourne Airport Rail Link, what the airport operator's have produced might not be the actual outcome.

Regardless, the money invested in the early design that's clearly been undertaken gives a clear indication on the thinking involved with future ground transport options at the airport.

Note that in the render above, other than the station located outside Terminals 3 &amp; 4, the other major change is the departure and arrival car lanes for private vehicles will divert away from the existing forecourt and it appears the existing departure ramps and car lanes will be given over to pedestrians.

See the video below for a wrap up of the future plans for Melbourne Airport.

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AirRail Melbourne - Airport Station location revealed in stakeholder presentation

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When governments are willing to commit upwards of $10 billion and the private sector is willing to tip in a further $5 billion, it's safe to say Melbourne Airport's long-awaited airport link will happen.

What shape or form the link will take is another question altogether.

Securing the best corridor for the track, placing an appropriate amount of stations along the line and figuring out an optimal frequency of service are all important tasks, however another is setting the correct fare level and ensuring there's enough connectivity to make the link a success from day one.

Many people would be familiar with how fares are set for Sydney and Brisbane's airport trains - Sydney has an airport access fee ($14.30 on top of the distance-based fare) and Brisbane adds a surcharge on top of its zone-based fare system - but there are also relevant &amp; recent international examples of new airport rail links.

In 2015 Toronto was scratched off the <a href="https://www.ptua.org.au/2015/10/29/busiest-airports-rail/">list the PTUA maintains</a> of large airports without a rail link when it opened the Union-Pearson Express; a four station service between Union Station in central Toronto, two suburban stations which connect with various other public transport services and the final station at Toronto's Pearson International airport.

It's a dedicated airport service running on a frequency of four trains an hour - every 15 minutes - and the journey takes 25 minutes.  As I've <a href="https://www.urban.com.au/transport/2014/10/14/is-torontos-airport-rail-link-a-model-for-melbourne">written before</a>, the similarities between Melbourne &amp; Tullamarine and Toronto &amp; Pearson are uncanny. The service is operated by the Ontario provincial level agency Metrolinx which is similar to PTV.

When it began operating, one-way fares were set to an eye-wateringly high $27.50CAD if you paid with cash or if you used the local smart card, called Presto, the fare was $19.00CAD. The Australian and Canadian dollars for the past decade have ebbed and flowed around parity, the current exchange rate is $1AUD = $0.94CAD.

Local and <a href="https://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/toronto/union-pearson-express-ridership-slumps-to-all-time-low/article28634074/">national Canadian press</a> back in early 2016 reported on the patronage slump after the Pan-American games were held in Toronto (2015) citing fare levels as culprit.  A year after substandard patronage performance, fares were slashed by over 50% to $12.00 CAD if paying by cash or $9.,00CAD if using the local smart card.

Not surprisingly patronage trebled after the fare cuts and more people started using the service between the two intermediate suburban stations and Union in central Toronto.  

The AirRail Melbourne proposal unveiled last weekend came with a projected fare that is likely to be 'under $20'.  The current skybus fare is $18.  Compare with a myki money zone 1 &amp; 2, 2 hour fare: $4.30 (or a daily $8.60).

It's not inconceivable that the overwhelming majority of people who will use the Melbourne Airport Rail Link will use another public transport service to get to an Airport Link station and therefore will either be paying the 2 hour or daily myki fare as well as the fare to the airport - just like how passengers need to pay the myki and skybus fares separately now.

A $20 airport link fare plus $4.30-$8.60 is putting the total cost of getting to the airport via public transport into the mid 20s, almost $30 category, similar to the fares that Toronto started with (for balance, Toronto's TTC subways, trams and buses operate on pay-per journey basis, it costs $3.00CAD for each journey).

Aside from fares, there are other lessons to learn from the Toronto experience, as outlined in <a href="http://humantransit.org/2016/03/keys-to-great-airport-transit">this article</a> by Jarrett Walker.  Although the Melbourne Airport Rail Link will likely tick Jarrett's a few boxes on that articles list - namely ensuring the rail line serves more than one destination.

However should the Melbourne Airport Rail Link as we understand it to run from the city to Sunshine and the airport also extend to Broadmeadows to maximise connections from day one?

"Combine air travelers and airport employees on the same train/bus" is one of Jarrett's key points - Sunshine ensures employees living immediately west of the airport will have an easy connection, adding Broadmeadows will ensure airport employees living anywhere between Moonee Ponds and Craigieburn have an easy connection. 

The Suburban Rail Loop would extend that connectivity to both employee and passenger alike to the rest of northern and north-eastern Melbourne.

Lead image credit: <a href="https://railgallery.wongm.com/metro-trains-melbourne-northern-group/E108_4197.jpg">Marcus Wong</a>.
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Is $20 a reasonable fare for the Melbourne Airport Rail Link?

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It might have appeared to slip under the radar, but the IFM Investors-led consortium's<a href="https://www.urban.com.au/news/consortium-proposes-market-led-super-train-for-melbourne-airport-rail-link"> AirRail Melbourne proposal</a> has already had a long life, with work commencing over a year ago.

IFM Investors was set up by industry super funds to manage their investments.  It has stakes in Asia Pacific Airports which owns the lease and operates Melbourne Airport, and IFM also own the 30-year concession for Southern Cross Station.

The consortium behind the AirRail Melbourne proposal unveiled on the weekend, also includes Metro Trains Melbourne who in turn is majority-owned by Hong Kong's MTR corporation with John Holland and UGL Rail rounding out the minority shareholders.

The consortium brings substantial rail and aviation experience in addition to institutional finance to the table, with a spokesperson confirming the proposal had not appeared out of thin air, having undertaken a year's worth of work before the unveiling.

Speaking to Urban.com.au, a spokesperson confirmed that IFM Investors expects to use the Victorian Department of Treasury and Finance's <a href="https://www.dtf.vic.gov.au/infrastructure-investment/market-led-proposals">market-led proposal process</a> which should it progress toward the end of Stage 2, we're likely to see far greater detail released into the public domain.

The proposal is rail technology agnostic at this stage and the corridor and references to other government or election initiatives are deliberately open, owing to the many moving parts, chief of which is the state election in a few months time and the Melbourne Airport Rail Link business case which is currently underway.

It was only last week that the state government called for expressions of interest to participate in the Melbourne Airport Rail Link (MARL) and it will be interesting to see if any other well-rounded proposals such as AirRail Melbourne come to light.  

<h2>Comment</h2>

One can't help but focus on the main organisation which is leading the consortium - they're in the investment and superannuation business. 

Committing a further $5 billion on top of the Federal and State Government's $10 billion is likewise interesting because it's like the Southern Cross, Sunshine and Airport stations, tunnels and tracks and rolling stock will not cost $15 billion. This throws up the opportunity for the joint commitment of $10 billion to be reallocated between the Airport Rail Link and projects like quadruplications in the west.

Remember, as part of the initial Melbourne Airport Rail Link announcement by the State Government in July, part of the business case was to investigate how to get 'high speed rail' to Geelong.  What high-speed actually means is anyone's guess, but the AirRail Melbourne documents published to date hint at it: it's about further separating metro and V/Line services in the west.

The groundwork for Melton electrification is currently underway with track duplication from Deer Park to Melton, and the Regional Rail Link unable to handle both Geelong and outer Melbourne suburban passenger commutes for much longer.

The Regional Rail Link was built for $3.65 billion; quadruplicating Sunshine-Deer Park-West Werribee won't cost as much - but rebuilding Sunshine station along with its rail junction won't be cheap. 

If it costs $15 billion to get the Melbourne Airport Rail Link, with its dedicated tracks between Sunshine and the city boosting rail capacity even further, as well as adding even more track (and services) to the outer west, we're looking at widespread benefits.

We'll have to wait for the outcome of the state election and the release of the business case, but the AirRail Melbourne proposal (or a competing proposal if the market-led process eventually turns into a tender) has appeared at a good time.
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IFM's AirRail Melbourne proposal helps other projects to get financed

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Mere days have passed since the Andrews Government <a href="https://www.urban.com.au/news/registrations-of-interest-to-participate-in-the-melbourne-airport-rail-link-project-open">called for expressions of interest</a> from organisations wishing to participate in the Melbourne Airport Rail Link and on Sunday morning a consortium led by IFM Investors has gone one better unveiled a market-led proposal to do the link.

The consortium is led by IFM Investors which has a stake in the entities that hold the assets and operate both Melbourne Airport and Southern Cross station (both the airport and station appear on the list for the consortium in their own right).  Metro Trains Australia is also listed on AirRail Melbourne webpage - it is the operator of Melbourne's rail network, which is a brand-name for consortium headlined by Hong Kong-based MTR.

The AirRail Melbourne proposal, as the consortium has dubbed it, would include 27km of new dedicated tracks between Southern Cross, Sunshine and the Airport with two sections of tunnels - between West Melbourne and West Footscray, and the 'last mile' into the airport precinct and an underground airport station.

The proposal seeks to align itself with state government initiatives - utilising Sunshine as a hub for multiple interchange opportunities (Vlines from Ballarat, Geelong &amp; Bendigo as well as Metro tunnel services to the south-east) and the consortium says it is happy to stump up $5 billion of private money to add to the already publicly committed $10 billion.

20/10 are the key numbers to remember - a 20 minute journey with a peak frequency of 10 minutes.  A media release from the consortium said it envisions tickets to be integrated into the myki ticket system with a 'fair' price of less than $20.

Read more at <a href="https://www.airrailmelbourne.com.au/">airrailmelbourne.com.au</a>

<figure><a class="colorbox colorbox-insert-image" href="https://res.cloudinary.com/dz9xllyip/image/fetch/q_auto:good/https://s3-ap-southeast-2.amazonaws.com/www.urban.com.au/s3fs-public//pictures/article-images/airrailmelb_fact.png" rel="gallery-all" title="AirRail Melbourne proposal overview - image: IFM Investors"><img alt="" class="image-article-full-width-580px" height="628" src="/sites/urban.melbourne/files//styles/article_full_width_580px/public/pictures/article-images/airrailmelb_fact.png?itok=szXe5cwE" title="AirRail Melbourne proposal overview - image: IFM Investors" width="580"></a>

<figcaption>AirRail Melbourne proposal overview - image: IFM Investors</figcaption></figure><iframe allow="autoplay; encrypted-media" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" scrolling="no" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/Uwe3Dzh0S8Y" width="100%"></iframe>

<h2>Comment</h2>

Despite a lot of money being spent on visualisations for what looks to be the start of a reference design for stations, there are some other key concepts outlined in documents released on Sunday which point to a more fluid assessment process.

Chief among them is how this link might integrate with the Suburban Rail Loop - a key election proposal for the Andrews Government.  Maps published on Sunday depict the SRL connecting at Melbourne Airport but a question of what is trying to be achieved must be answered.

The Andrews Government has made it clear that should they be re-elected in November the SRL will kick-off the planning and business case process with a $300 million commitment in 2019 and to date, the state government has been referring to the Melbourne Airport Rail Link as the north-western section of the entire loop line.

Having a private section of the line might make things more complex - for instance should the private proposal from IFM Investors get up in some shape or form, has that locked in the rail technology for the rest of the Suburban Rail Loop line?

There are many moving parts, the most important of which is the state election, and IFM's claim that building the link could start 'within 2 years' might be true if the Airport Rail Link was to be built in isolation, however there's now a much grander rail vision for Melbourne than just the Airport Rail Link and the decisions made on this private proposal will have ramifications for the Suburban Rail Loop or any other proposal the opposition may come up with.
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Consortium proposes market-led 'Super Train' for Melbourne Airport Rail Link

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Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews and Minister for Public Transport Jacinta Allan have announced that registrations of interest to participate in the Melbourne Airport Rail Link (MARL) have opened.

Seeking to "help the government assess which organisations have the experience and capability to help bring the project to fruition, as well as gauging the interest of potential private sector investors and operators," the ROI period has opened before a finalised business case for the project has been completed.

Spring Street has previously confirmed it will contribute up to $5 billion to the project, matching the commitment from the Federal Government under the stewardship of former Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull.  

Rail Projects Victoria lead the registration of interest campaign while the full business case continues to be developed after the State Government settled on the route - from the City to Airport via Sunshine - a month ago.

The Melbourne Airport Rail Link will form the north-western section of the Government's latest election promise, the Suburban Rail Loop (SRL) and when the business case for the MARL is complete, we're likely to have a better picture of what the wider SRL will look like - if the Andrews Government is returned in November.

<figure><a class="colorbox colorbox-insert-image" href="https://res.cloudinary.com/dz9xllyip/image/fetch/q_auto:good/https://s3-ap-southeast-2.amazonaws.com/www.urban.com.au/s3fs-public//pictures/article-images/marl-sunshine-map.jpg" rel="gallery-all" title="The route of the Melbourne Airport Rail Link. Image: bigbuild.vic.gov.au"><img alt="" class="image-article-full-width-580px" height="340" src="/sites/urban.melbourne/files//styles/article_full_width_580px/public/pictures/article-images/marl-sunshine-map.jpg?itok=rHskQrPt" title="The route of the Melbourne Airport Rail Link. Image: bigbuild.vic.gov.au" width="580"></a>

<figcaption>The route of the Melbourne Airport Rail Link. Image: <a href="https://bigbuild.vic.gov.au/projects/airport-rail-link">bigbuild.vic.gov.au</a></figcaption></figure>The Registration of Interest <a href="https://metrotunnel.vic.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0009/327969/MARL-ROI.pdf">form</a> seeks input from three specific industry sectors - designers, engineers, rail systems providers and manufacturers; financiers; and property developer - in order to develop an understanding of organisations that are interested in the MARL.  The registration form also makes a clear point that the "ROI process is not a pre-qualification for any formal procurement process."

In the property space, Rail Projects Victoria wants to hear from "master developers with experience in large-scale mixed-use precinct developments and developers with experience in integrated property development which may include a combination of retail, commercial or residential development, on or around transport infrastructure."

Despite an election to be held in November which will determine if the Suburban Rail Loop proceeds - as the MARL and the SRL have been linked by the Andrews Government - the outcomes of the MARL business case will no doubt set the tone for the SRL's business case which pending re-election would commence in 2019.

For more information, see <a href="https://metrotunnel.vic.gov.au/rail-projects-victoria#utm_source=rpv&amp;utm_medium=redirect&amp;utm_content=railprojects&amp;utm_campaign=shorturl">Rail Projects Victoria</a>.
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Registrations of Interest to participate in the Melbourne Airport Rail Link project open

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The Rail Futures Institute has called on the State and Commonwealth Governments to keep one eye on the long-term and get the route and operations of the Melbourne Airport Rail Link 'right' in the first instance.

A statement from the rail lobby group says "we have long advocated that the Airport route should be from Southern Cross Station via a single stop at Sunshine where a major rail interchange would provide easy connections with the Melbourne Metro corridor and the regional lines that pass through Sunshine."

"We therefore strongly endorse the Premier’s announcement that the preferred route will include a new Sunshine Super-Hub and pave the way for fast trains to Geelong and Ballarat"

As the Premier mentioned on Sunday, rail tunnels will be used for the Melbourne Airport Rail Link and RFI re-iterated government needs to get it right.

"The major infrastructure needed to provide the Airport Rail Link is likely to include long tunnels and be designed for a useful life of 100 years or more. It is therefore of critical importance that the detail of the new corridor design and operation is right in the first instance."

The Rail Futures Institute advocates for what it has dubbed the AirTrain concept - a dedicated set of tracks linking Southern Cross, Sunshine, Melbourne Airport and in a later, second, phase, linking the airport with the Bendigo and Seymour-Shepparton regional lines.

There would be a dedicated shuttle service operating between Southern Cross, Sunshine and Melbourne Airport and all Bendigo/Echuca/Swan Hill and Seymour/Shepparton V/Line services would run along the route.

Shifting the regional services out of the existing Sunbury and Craigieburn corridors in turn frees up space to allow metro to run even more services on those lines in the long run.

RFI refines its concepts from time to time with the latest depicting three separate tunnels between the City and Melbourne Airport and they have designed track geometry to allow trains to operate at much higher speeds (hence the 15-20 minute journey time).

<blockquote>
Travel time to the Airport will be a critical factor in its success. It must be faster than any private car, taxi or bus alternative. Rail Futures is confident that a suitably designed and operated rail corridor can readily achieve travel times in the range of 15 to 20 minutes, inclusive of the Sunshine stop.
<cite>Dr Bill Russell, Rail Futures Institute Secretary</cite>
</blockquote>

After the weekend's announcement on route selection, the Victorian Government added the Melbourne Airport Rail Link to its re-election pitch.  

Routes via Craigieburn, Maribyrnong and Flemington have now been ruled out and the business case for the project will now focus on the route via Sunshine and the government said the business case will be completed in 2019.

As part of the Victorian Government's Regional Rail Revival program, the Ballarat line has come into focus with duplication of track from Deer Park to Melton.  On more than one occasion, the language surrounding the Melton duplication has pointed toward eventual electrification and operations shifting to Metro.

The 'Sunshine super-hub' concept for the Melbourne Airport Rail Link also applies to Melton electrification.  Sunshine station was upgraded as recently as 2014 as part of the Regional Rail Link.

<figure><a class="colorbox colorbox-insert-image" href="https://res.cloudinary.com/dz9xllyip/image/fetch/q_auto:good/https://s3-ap-southeast-2.amazonaws.com/www.urban.com.au/s3fs-public//pictures/article-images/rfi_airtrain_1.png" rel="gallery-all" title="The Rail Futures Institute's AirTrain concept"><img alt="" class="image-article-full-width-580px" height="376" src="/sites/urban.melbourne/files//styles/article_full_width_580px/public/pictures/article-images/rfi_airtrain_1.png?itok=3ct0ie3c" title="The Rail Futures Institute's AirTrain concept" width="580"></a>

<figcaption>The Rail Futures Institute's <a href="http://www.railfutures.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/180530-Airport-Brochure_v7.pdf">AirTrain concept</a></figcaption></figure>
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Rail Futures Institute reiterates calls for long-term thinking on Melbourne Airport Rail Link

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A rail service to Melbourne's Tullamarine airport is a step closer with the State Government announcing it will join the Commonwealth in proceeding with a rail link that will run via the <a href="http://vpa.vic.gov.au/project/sunshine-employment-cluster/">National Employment and Innovation Cluster</a> (NEIC) in <a href="https://www.urban.com.au/new-apartments/sunshine-vic">Sunshine</a>.

Premier Daniel Andrews and Minister for Public Transport Jacinta Allan announced a route options assessment undertaken by Transport for Victoria has resulted in the Sunshine route - also known as the Albion (East) route - has come out on top.  The strategic appraisal has now been <a href="https://bigbuild.vic.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0007/318571/MARL-Sunshine-Route-Strategic-Appraisal.pdf">published</a> on the government's Big Build website.

In the route selection process, the Victorian Government has reaffirmed what previous studies have resulted in - from a connectivity and constructability point of view, the Sunshine (Albion) corridor has the greatest merit.

The other three routes, via Flemington, Maribyrnong and Craigieburn have all rated lower than the Sunshine corridor.  Constructability and cost penalise the Maribyrnong and Flemington routes with the strategic appraisal estimating 8-10 years and $15-$20 billion via Flemington and a whopping 10-12 years and $20-$25 billion via the Maribyrnong defence site.

The Craigieburn route scored the best on lowest cost ($5-$10 billion) and had a similar constructability and delivery time (7-9 years) as the preferred Sunshine route ($8-$13billion).   Sunshine won out over Craigieburn in connectivity and reducing travel time to key economic centres.

<figure><a class="colorbox colorbox-insert-image" href="https://res.cloudinary.com/dz9xllyip/image/fetch/q_auto:good/https://s3-ap-southeast-2.amazonaws.com/www.urban.com.au/s3fs-public//pictures/article-images/marl_routes1.png" rel="gallery-all" title="The routes that were assessed - again. Image: Transport for Victoria"><img alt="" class="image-article-full-width-580px" height="803" src="/sites/urban.melbourne/files//styles/article_full_width_580px/public/pictures/article-images/marl_routes1.png?itok=G4XN0p9L" title="The routes that were assessed - again. Image: Transport for Victoria" width="580"></a>

<figcaption>The routes that were assessed - again. Image: Transport for Victoria</figcaption></figure>A new super-hub station will be created at Sunshine for facilitating greater interconnection with the Ballarat and Geelong regional lines.  

Reflecting the position we're in with regards to the electoral cycle - Spring Street goes to an election on the last Saturday in November - the language from the Premier and Minister for Public Transport is starting to sharpen up.

"Only Labor has removed the level crossings and is building the Metro Tunnel – and only a re-elected Labor Government will deliver the Melbourne Airport Rail Link," the Premier said.  "The Andrews Labor Government will build the airport link via Sunshine, so that all Victorians can access the airport by rail, no matter where you live," the Minister for Public Transport said.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-partner="tweetdeck">
BREAKING NEWS: Airport Rail is finally happening. We've spent the last few years removing level crossings, and building the Metro Tunnel. Now we'll get this done. Watch how. <a href="https://t.co/JxxXCBmQ8l">pic.twitter.com/JxxXCBmQ8l</a>
— Daniel Andrews (@DanielAndrewsMP) <a href="https://www.propertyobserver.com.au/https://twitter.com/DanielAndrewsMP/status/1020813444327485440?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 21, 2018</a>
</blockquote>

<h2>Analysis &amp; Comment</h2>

All (rail) roads certainly do lead to Sunshine.

There's still a long way to go before shovels hit the ground.  The Strategic appraisal sets out a timeline over the next four years and now that the route has been selected, a detailed business case on that route will be conducted and finalised by '2019/2020'.

"This strategic assessment will now inform the development of a full Business Case," the documents published today say - and hopefully when the business case is finished we'll know why the line is expected to cost $8-$13 billion.

Noting that maps released today state city access options are to be explored, I'd expect the full business case to now focus on different levels of quality. 

Quality in the sense the Airtrain concept from the <a href="http://www.railfutures.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/180530-Airport-Brochure_v7.pdf">Rail Futures Institute</a> would be at the upper echelon because it's as strategic as the 1960s-era act of locating Tullamarine where it now stands and by comparison simply building a branch line to the airport from the metro tunnel track pair would be significantly lower in quality.

The Government's language is headed in the right direction - even though the new infrastructure is located entirely within metropolitan Melbourne, there are just as many benefits for regions outside the capital as well.

Another hope for the full business case would be that the powers-that-be take a more holistic approach to public transport planning for the airport. 

Beyond the headline heavy rail link this would including looking at the benefits/costs of extending the #59 tram to the airport from its current terminus at Airport West - therefore servicing the jobs located on airport land to the south of the terminals and connecting passengers (and employees!) who live in the inner-middle north-west with the airport.

We also have a robust freeway network that is going to see a lot of changes in the north-east very soon - taking a detailed look at a strategy to get faster/express bus services into the areas to the east of the airport on dedicated lanes on the Western/Northern Ring Road should also be studied.
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