Look like the Tullamarine Rail Link will also be taking off and...

Look like the Tullamarine Rail Link will also be taking off and from what I understand there will be no shortage of tunnels

Melbourne airport rail link: Daniel Andrews matches Turnbull's $5bn
Victorian Labor says construction can start before end of next term of government in 2022
Luke Henriques-Gomes
Sun 22 Jul 2018 12.55 AESTLast modified on Sun 22 Jul 2018 13.03 AEST




Taxis line up at Melbourne Tullamarine airport to collect passengers. Victorian premier Daniel Andrews has agreed to match federal funding for a rail link if Labor wins the next state election. Photograph: David Crosling/AAP
Construction of an long-awaited Melbourne airport rail link could start by the end of 2022 after the Victorian Labor government promised to match a $5bn funding pledge from the commonwealth.
The Turnbull government in April declared it was taking the project out of the “too-hard basket”. The prime minister, Malcolm Turnbull, urged the Victorian premier to match the funding.


Assessment of the four preferred routes for the rail line gave the Sunshine option a better performance than going through Flemington, Craigieburn or tunnelling under the Maribyrnong defence site. The detailed business case for the Sunshine route is expected to be completed in 2019-20.
The Victorian public transport minister, Jacinta Allan, said it was expected the travel time would be about 30 minutes, but the business case would confirm that.
The cost range is expected to be $8bn to $13bn and Andrews said the project could be an opportunity to partner with the private sector. However, he could not say whether that would lead to more expensive tickets for travellers.
Turnbull, said he was happy with the announcement and that the commonwealth and Victoria would be “shared partners” of the project.
“I have had a number of very good meetings with the premier, Daniel Andrews, and I’m delighted that today he has confirmed that Victoria will commit the same amount of money, and I’m confident that … $10bn will enable us together to build the rail line from Melbourne to Tullamarine airport,” he told reporters on Sunday.
Victoria’s Liberal opposition has also backed a rail line to the airport but is yet to nominate a preferred route for the project.



The previous Liberal government also promised to build a Melbourne airport rail link before it was turfed out by voters in 2014. The new Labor government then prioritised its Melbourne Metro project, which will create a number of new stations in and around the CBD.
The opposition leader, Matthew Guy, suggested in April that the commonwealth’s $5 billion cash injection could in itself be enough to an airport rail link.
Melbourne airport is currently served by the privately-operated SkyBus service, which carries commuters from Tullamarine to the CBD, bayside suburbs and the city’s west.
Australian Associated Press contributed to this report

https://www.theguardian.com/austral...ail-link-daniel-andrews-matches-turnbulls-5bn