Status of the airport rail link.
Melbourne Airport Rail — a long-planned rail link between Melbourne CBD and Melbourne Airport (Tullamarine) — has an approved corridor, signed funding, and a chequered political history that continues to shape delivery. Melbourne remains one of the few major cities globally with a large international airport not connected to its metropolitan rail network.
The approved alignment runs from Sunshine Station via a new rail corridor to Tullamarine, integrated with the Melbourne Metro Tunnel to allow direct trains from the CBD to the airport. Journey time is projected at 27–30 minutes from Southern Cross Station to Tullamarine terminals. Trains would run at 10-minute peak frequencies.
Original targets aimed for a mid-2020s opening. That has slipped repeatedly. The most recent joint Commonwealth-State communiqué targets a 2033 opening, following resolution of the long-running dispute between the state, the Commonwealth and Melbourne Airport over the design of the airport-end station (elevated versus underground).
Design resolution reached in 2024 favoured an elevated station forecourt integrated with the airport's Terminal 4 masterplan. Enabling works at the Sunshine end are progressing in parallel with the Melbourne Metro Tunnel's integration works.
Total project cost is estimated at $13bn, split roughly 50/50 between the state and Commonwealth. Melbourne Airport contributes to the airport-end infrastructure through the station and forecourt works. The Commonwealth contribution was reconfirmed by the 2025 federal budget, reflecting ongoing bipartisan commitment despite past disputes over station design.
SkyBus continues to operate the main bus link between the CBD and airport, plus increasingly direct services from key suburbs. Journey times vary widely with Tullamarine Freeway traffic — 20 minutes off-peak, over 60 minutes in serious congestion. Taxi and rideshare fares to the airport typically run $65–$95 depending on demand and time of day.
Melbourne Airport handled roughly 39 million passengers in 2025, close to the pre-pandemic peak. Airport parking, drop-off congestion and freeway pressure make the case for a rail link steadily more visible each year.
Community and political advocacy has periodically resurfaced alternative alignments — Broadmeadows-based, Craigieburn extension, direct Southern Cross tunnel. The state's Business Case has consistently supported the Sunshine alignment on grounds of network-integration benefit and cost, and construction is now sufficiently advanced that redesign is not on the table.
The tunnel-boring machine launch on the main alignment (scheduled for early 2027), the airport-end integrated masterplan approvals, and any further disputes between the state, the Commonwealth and Melbourne Airport over cost escalation or scope changes. On the current trajectory, Melbourne will finally join Sydney, Brisbane and Perth in having direct rail airport access — nearly two decades after the first serious business case.