Cade Lucas
A train line to Avalon Airport could be built in two years if funding is secured its chief executive has declared.
Tony Brun said a rail connection to Victoria’s second international airport situated between Melbourne and Geelong, could be built much quicker and much cheaper than the long awaited train line to Melbourne Airport.
Mr Brun was responding to a suggestion from state treasurer Tim Pallas that a train to Avalon could be given priority if negotiations with Melbourne Airport about the location of an airport station, remained stalled.
The $14 billion project was delayed by another four years in Tuesday’s state budget due to a dispute over whether the station be built above ground as the government prefers, or underground, the more expensive option favoured by airport management.
“I’m getting increasingly concerned about whether or not as a state, we shouldn’t be putting an each way bet around Avalon [Airport] and starting to think about what they can do in terms of provisioning for our transport needs going forward,” a frustrated treasurer told reporters on Wednesday.
“Either they [Melbourne Airport] sort out this problem and they make it a priority … or the government is going to have to look at better provisioning for airport passenger transport than what is available from Melbourne Airport.”
Tony Brun said discussions with the state government about a possible rail link to Avalon had already taken place and they were ready to go.
“Our proposal is one per cent of the cost of a rain to Tullamarine,” said Mr Brun of the plans which involve a replica of the recently built Hoppers Crossing train station being constructed at Avalon and connected to the nearby Geelong to Melbourne rail line.
“Stage one gets us to Southern Cross (station) via Sunshine. Our second stage is then to extend the Werribee electrified line down to the new station and we would provide the land for free for the new stable yards,” he said, adding that with the Werribee line changing to the Frankston line at Flinders Street, huge swathes of the city would have direct rail access to the airport.
While the treasurer mentioned building a rail line to Avalon as alternative to Melbourne Airport rail, Tony Brun said it would benefit both airports as well as passengers.
“We don’t argue against the Tullamarine train, we need competition,” he said.
“A $14 billion project is going to take a long time to build and to fund and we can do this much quicker and much cheaper and fill the gap in the interim.”
