Back in the 1970s, even alongside the City Loop! Really glad that this is on its way and hope for no dodgy contractors sucking away wages and infrastructure investment for their own greedy pockets.
@@michaelrapson Thank the Car&Taxi lobby, who might have greased the current State Government of the late 1960s, "that soon trains will be a matter of the past in Australia", while every major airport in Europe in anticipation of the Jumbo Jets constructed new terminals with train stations UNDERNEATH. Tullamarine started on an absolutely blank ground and could have built a station shell for future connection like a lot of European cities expanded their subway networks. One wants to ram their head (or the politicians' ones) into the wall in frustration, when "Prime Minister" Tony Abbott during his 2 year stint, even as a local Sydneysider, had his hesitations of building a train link to the new Western International Airport of that city. It is about time we are forming a National Building Authority of non-political alignment organising infrastructure projects based on demand without any pork barrelling interference for Federal and State Elections, but getting things done for the nation. The High-Speed Rail Network could be more advanced than being talked up for critical electorate portfolios for decades of the PAST. Retreat Australia Fair is not our national anthem.
@@thies7831 Both Sydney and Brisbane have had airport trains for decades, and Perth just finished one for themselves. The Gold Coast/Sunshine Coast train will soon be extended to the airports in both cities. It's a little strange Melbourne has left it for so long.
This is not an ordinary link in the public transport. Nobody is showing us, what has been signed in the backrooms of politics under the pressure of certain lobbies. A ticket using the airport station will still cost somewhere above 20 AuD, depending on the inflation over the years. Just look at Sydney. One can use the train line passing under the current airport for the ordinary low-cost fare. However, getting from the station platform into the airport terminals, which is the main purpose of having a train to the airport, a special ticket has to be purchased, pushing the trip expense close to using a taxi. THAT is NOT PUBLIC (tax payer subsidized) transport. In Europe, stopping all station trains linking to an airport, are not charged with luxury priced tickets. Everyone is getting a chance to fly including a low cost link to the airport. Big losers are taxis and parking lot administrators, profit suckers at their best.
@@ChannelTwentyTwo Actually, there used to be a tram line from the city ALL the way to the airport. Although, it was closed because a tram is a suburban vehicle, not regional.
Weird logic is that if it isn't faster than a super fast car, then it cannot be justified in doing. They fail to note it costs about $100 AUD by taxi to get to Melbourne city centre. A standard rail ticket of 10 bucks would be fine, even if it took 2 hours to get to the airport, which is the reality of a taxi in peak traffic at 100 bucks minimum. Make it happen, even if you need to take over a chunk of the Tulla Hwy.
The airport train is about convenience, not speed. No one is in a super rush to get to the airport as they usually arrive hours in advance. It just would be nice if coming by train from the suburbs to exit at Flinders Street or Southern Cross station and walk to another platform to pick up a train to the airport. There was a private proposal for a monorail along the Tullamarine Freeway about 10 years ago for $1.5b. It was rejected, presumably because it would not be public infrastructure or use union labour. The proposed line from Sunshine Station would cost $10b, if not more. A heavy rail proposal would be very expensive, hence, they went for the Sunshine option. Personally, just extend the line from Broadmeadows Station. There's already a bus connection with the 901 bus, so a rail option is logical and would be cheap (probably $2b, at the most $3b).
Now "under review" by the Australian government. In other words, the Victorian State government is broke and has cancelled the project (it was 50/50 funding). While I supported this route during the proposal phase, clearly the best idea is to make a short extension from Broadmeadows Station on the Craigieburn line to the airport. Currently there's a bus option (route 901), which I use all the time and takes 15 minutes at the most, so a short rail extension is logical and a fraction of a cost. It's 30 minutes from the CBD to Broadmeadows, so add 10 more for the final bit, which is just 10 minutes longer overall than the Sunshine proposal. Remember, most people travel to the airport hours in advance so don't need a super fast connection, only a convenient one.
In its present state, the Craigieburn line is a silly idea. The Craigieburn line cannot handle much more than a train every 10 during the peak because V/Line services use the corridor. And they will need to remove many level crossings as well. That is why the Somerton link, which will shift V/Line trains from the very busy Broadmeadows corridor on to the far less busy Upfield corridor is a matter of priority.
Yes this project is needed but not via sunshine. Most train airport services around the world run directly to the city but no a massive diversion to sunshine that is highly inefficient and takes double the amount of time it should. This should have been a extension of the Flemington line underground to the airport. Airport to Southern Cross.
Disagree. If you want to go directly to the city you can take the shuttle bus. This line will help the communities along the route. As a tourist, wouldn’t you want to see how actual people live? And wouldn’t that just mean we stuck with what we got now if you want to go to airport? If I have to travel to city or whatever and turn around again. What’s the point of that?
That proposal was rejected due to the vast cost. Most airport trains around the world actually run on existing local lines, with perhaps an extension to the airport. The only exception I can recall is Narita in Tokyo, which actually has a local line, plus an express private line (Keisei), and a semi express JR line (NEX). At 60 km out from the Tokyo central, the NEX takes 70 minutes. Keisei terminates north of Tokyo and takes 45 minutes. Travelling to the airport is usually done with plenty of time to spare, so to save 10 minutes is meaningless in that context. In hindsight, now that the project is "under review" (essentially cancelled), the Victorian government should have went with the cheapest proposal by making a short extension from the Broadmeadows Station. There's already a connecting bus option (route 901), and it's the route I always take. I'm already using a train to reach the city, so it's just a platform change and Flinders or Southern Cross. This extension would make for a 40 minute trip, so only 10 minutes longer than the Sunshine Station option and 20 minutes longer than a brand new line.
@@dusk1234567890it’s an airport train. The CLUE is in the name. It’s not meant to be a commuter train line. No airport user at peak hour wants to cram on a train with 2 kids and 4 pieces of luggage. Gawd the public in this country never cease to amaze me.
@@xr6lad Well to be honest I do not want to spend lot of coin for an Airport express. Sod that. Make it bog standard commuter line serving Keilor East Sunshine North and Airport West or do not build it at all. After all some are willing to catch an all stations service to Broadmeadows and catch a 901 bus which runs every 30 mins during the weekend.
@@khg675bt There can be Express and Local Trains, given modern signal technology having trains running end to end. Level crossings removed will guarantee no interference of those transport modes. A lot more is possible than politicians want to reveal to us, having to follow their party donors, who are calling the shots on large projects.
It’s an airport train. It’s not meant to be crammed full of commuters at peak hour so people with suitcases can’t get on and off. And why would you run ‘local’ trains for what, 3 stations? Sunshine, Keilor East and your Airport West.
The loop connection won't be made for a long time to come as it's such a large project. The line they show in the video is the earlier rail line connection that's supposed to be built connecting it towards the centre of the city via the Sunbury line. The plan is to have these two different train lines both running to/through the airport.
It would be a regular train, not a bullet train. The idea for an airport train is more or convenience, so you can easily join the rest of the rail network and at a low overall cost. Currently you pay $5 for a train to the city, then $25 for the Skybus. The airport train probably would add a $5 surcharge to cost $10 overall. Note that a direct route to the CBD was rejected for the enormous cost. Personally, they should have went the cheapest option and extended from Broadmeadows Station. There's already a bus connection (route 901), and this is route I always take.
That costs $25. Currently I take the train to Broadmeadows Station and then the 901 bus to the airport. Costs zero because I've already paid to reach the city by train so am just continuing my journey. The airport train idea (which likely would include a $5 surcharge on top of the regular train charge) was always about convenience and to confirm Melbourne as a modern city. Clearly it's as backwards as ever.
An ABOVE ground station at the airport? WHO’s totally stupid idea was that. Let’s crowd and already crowded surface area with even more concrete and track supports. Let’s do every thing on the cheap despite it costing a fortune. Oh and who has Dan awarded the contract to? CCP owned John Holland yet again.
"about 30 min" 30 min from the CBD is a long time for a train, it takes about that much by car. it should just be one or two stations between southern cross and airport, too much BS from the government... and sunshine of all suburbs... great choice
This is a terrible design for the airport train station. This announcement has near universally disappointed experts, commuters and airport users. It seems to be a hastily made decision by the Gov because of the State election in November. They have dropped the ball on this project. Where is the consultation? Not even the airport itself wants this design. Shame on Dan Andrews and his lack of care in what matters!
It's been under consultation since 2018??? What are you on about mate? Have seen multiple routes and designs drawn up for the past few years, it's not ideal and won't be able to reach its full potential. But the route north of Sunshine is okay. There are definitely lots of disappointing parts of this project, mainly the Sunshine "super hub", not enough platforms there and its integration with Metro Tunnel/not allowing a more direct/faster route. But it is competitive a lot of the time.
@@TrebleSketch Really I hope the Sunshine alignment is 'temporary' (20-30 years) and will eventually be replaced with the Highpoint tunnel after Metro 2 is built and money is available. Current plans for the Rail loop will likely allow trains to continue going from the Airport to Sunshine but not then continue to the City.
That’s great. Airport Train. Peak hour. Keilor East stop. Crowded train. Suitcases. Airport passengers trying to push on with kids and multiple cases. Makes perfect sense: way to go Dan.
@@jincheyit’s an AIRPORT TRAIN. The clue is in the name. It’s not a suburban rail line for commuters. If it’s overcrowded with John Smith going to Broady then guess what. People will drive.
