Melbourne's airport rail line greenlit after federal funding review
Melbourne's airport rail has been given the green light after a long-awaited review of federal infrastructure funding. A stoush over where to put the train station could lead to further delays and costs to the project with Premier Jacinta Allan accusing Melbourne Airport of making unreasonable demands.
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TVTranscript
00:00 Airport rail has finally been cleared for take-off, but it's far from a smooth ride
00:07 ahead.
00:08 We can't build it until we know exactly where it's going to go and also whether there's
00:11 been an escalation in cost.
00:12 Work on the rail link was paused for 200 days while the Federal Government reviewed the
00:17 nation's big infrastructure projects to rein in spending. It's confirmed it'll split the
00:23 $10 billion bill with Victoria, but there's another battle coming down the line.
00:28 Negotiations have been incredibly frustrating and those negotiations, the stalling tactics
00:34 from the airport have caused delay to that project.
00:38 Victoria's blaming the airport for that delay after a three-year stalemate over where the
00:43 station should go.
00:44 We've offered to give them a car and they're saying we want a Lambo. Like, no, sorry.
00:50 The Government wants the station above ground, but the airport says its preference is underground.
00:56 The airport station must be fit for purpose and future-proof to ensure that passengers
01:01 are well served so that neither the airport precinct or rail line are constrained as Melbourne
01:07 continues to grow.
01:08 As soon as you go underground, the cost for this increases significantly.
01:12 But not everything survived the Commonwealth's infrastructure review. Federal funding for
01:17 12 projects has been axed in Victoria, including the Frankston to Baxter rail upgrade and the
01:23 frequently promised Geelong fast rail.
01:25 To have this dash, to have this promise broken, to have Greater Geelong, 300,000 residents
01:31 abandoned by this promise, is just absolutely devastating.
01:36 The Government says all of the funding set aside for those projects will remain in Victoria.
01:41 [BLANK_AUDIO]