“It’ll leave regional passengers stranded because building Sunshine is all about making sure regional communities can connect into Airport Rail, and it sends a very loud message to the Melton community that you can forget about electrification under a Peter Dutton government because of his cuts to the Sunshine station project.”
State Transport Infrastructure Minister Gabrielle Williams said Dutton did not understand the significance of the Sunshine hub.
Loading
“It is stage one of Airport Rail, and what he is proposing puts all of its benefits at risk,” she said.
Williams said the Melbourne Airport Rail and Suburban Rail Loop were “not an either/or proposition”.
Allan would not say how much it would cost to cancel contracts on SRL East if it could not be progressed, while SRL Minister Harriet Shing refused to rule out signing any more contracts before the May 3 federal election, adding that negotiations on further packages continued.
The Victorian government is still relying on the federal government to hand over another $9 billion towards the $35 billion SRL East connecting Cheltenham to Box Hill by 2035, the first stage of the orbital rail link.
Infrastructure Australia last month warned the Albanese government against putting more Commonwealth cash towards SRL East until it was re-costed and more information was provided about how the state proposed to fund it. The Victorian government says one-third would be funded through unspecified value-capture.
An artist’s impression of a proposed above-ground station at Melbourne Airport.
Federal Labor’s $2.2 billion commitment to SRL has been restricted to funding “tangible elements” that could provide benefits even if the project does not go ahead.
Dutton and infrastructure spokeswoman Bridget McKenzie said SRL East was a “cruel hoax”, and that a Coalition government would prioritise Airport Rail instead.
“It will bring Melbourne up to the same status as many of the great airports across the world, including here in Australia, that already have a rail link project. And we know they work effectively,” Dutton said on Tuesday.
He said all federal funding he would pull from the SRL East and Sunshine hub if elected would stay in Victoria, suggesting any surplus could be used to extend the Frankston train line, duplicate Donnybrook Road or for planning work to extend the Upfield line in Melbourne’s north.
Federal Transport Minister Catherine King warned Victorian voters to not let “Peter Dutton short-change Victoria again”.
Federal and state Labor have committed a combined $12 billion to Airport Rail, $7 billion from the Commonwealth and $5 billion from Victoria, following the extra $2 billion pledged in February to the Sunshine hub.
Loading
The governments and private owners of the airport signed a peace deal last month, committing to progress the link, which was delayed four years from 2029 because of a since-settled dispute over whether the airport station should be above or below ground.
The project was estimated at $10 billion to $13 billion in 2021. Since then, the government estimates that construction costs have risen by about 22 per cent.
But Williams on Tuesday said the cost estimates stood.
