Why MELBOURNE AIRPORT has no trainline
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- Опубліковано 13 вер 2023
- Melbourne's Airport rail link just had some bad news. What's happening to the project, when will we get a rail link, and what's been completed? I visit the main construction sites to see what's been completed in terms of new stations, new lines, and a new link to the International Airport.
Concept videos and some footage taken from the Big Build Victoria website (bigbuild.vic.gov.au/projects/...) and the Rail Projects Victoria UA-cam channel ( / @railprojectsvictoria )
It’s almost like one of Australia’s richest people owns the car park at tulla… and they might not wanna loss all that revenue….
macquarie bank founded by governor macquarie is that person -
That, and Citylink collecting extortionate tolls on all the road traffic to the airport.
@@allenjenkins7947 tulla freeway isn't a toll road
Nope Melbourne gov has paused spending because of fed review, plus blowout, due labor shortage and materials cost have gone up significantly compared to when it was initially budgeted.
Additionally because of SRL and increase interest rate, likelihood of more money being put into this by borrowing further into deficit, is pretty slim. Vic Gov have behind the scenes been trying to cut projects (commonwealth games to become a regional fund), modified projects to keep within cost (Melbourne Metro signalling, airport rail preferences for sky rail instead of underground), privatised Vic roads and raised taxes, to balance their budget.
The Age and AFR have cover this topic over several articles if you want to go read.
Increasing airport traffic over the next 20 years forcasted would make any loss revenue insignificant.
Also you talking as if the airport station won't have access fees to the airport. Which in all likelihood will do
The parking lobby needs to be legislated out of existence. Their greed sets back the state significantly. They shouldn't be permitted to oppose a necessary train line.
Never heard of a "parking lobby" is that shit fr???
@JohnFromAccounting. It hasn't been opposed. The state is broke
you mean the taxi lobby?
@@justaguy6216 That would be Australia Pacific Airports who owns and operates MEL (including all the short and long term car parks and access fees for offsite parking operators). They have a vested interest to make public transport to the airport as inconvenient as possible. The Operators of Skybus also will be pleased as well
ALWAYS FOLLOW THE MONEY...........Politicians will ALWAYS do anything for a buck, the Magic word is KICKBACKS.........You scratch my back,I’ll scratch yours..........
Amusing that you had beautiful weather everywhere except Sunshine.
Irony
The locals know it as Scumshine……
Where it never rains.
When I visited Melbourne I was impressed by the trams in the city and the rail options to other areas. Rail to the airport would be extremely valuable for tourism and hopefully for the local residents.
And Melbourne’s international airport used to have a tram line to the terminal - then they moved the airport.
@@allangibson8494 they should have had the rail line from day 1 in 1970.
It's about 6km from the end of the Airport West tram line to the passenger drop-off area at the airport. They may be slow in comparison to fast rail, but they always get there.
Trams are just a tourist gimmick, they are more of a burden to Melbourne than they are useful.
@@allenjenkins7947 You can theoretically get a bus to the nearest tramline but not if it is dark and you do not know your way around. Second best was the airport bus and a tram (free) down Bourke Street. That worked well both ways.
As a person that had driven trams for well over 20 years. I was staggered how many times I had heard of tram-lines being extended to the Airport... and I heard it, and heard it, and heard it, etc.
On a side note - such a well put together video, Stef's World. I could imagine how complex it was to put this all together, and the idea's needed to get all that B-Roll footage together in a cohesive video. Well Done Stef's World.
Thanks for helping us get around the city SVR. And thanks for the kind feedback. I really enjoyed making this video and am glad you enjoyed watching. cheers, all the best, stef
I came with my family from the UK in December 1970. Tullamarine was new. We flew in on a 707. I was nine. So 62 now. Will it happen in my lifetime.? Will I even travel much longer. Who knows. Australia is not very efficient at getting things done. Cheers.
I live in Melbourne and it's fucking disgusting how slow and backwards this country is.
Nonsense!
We’re bloody efficient here.
Check out our deforestation, reef destruction, and species extinction rate.
We’re world leaders!
And only in a couple of hundred years.
India STILL hasn’t killed off all its tigers, when Tasmania had gotten rid of theirs a century ago.
Super efficient!
When they built it they did a study (a very car-centric study but still) which predicted that a train station wouldn’t be needed until 2019, and then decades later another study after 2001 that said they had even longer because 9/11 meant people weren’t flying… as if they haven’t spent billions expanding the freeway since then! There’s technically no issues with the current project, but the freeway and the airport are both privatised and they’re doing everything they can to stop it because they make a lot of money from them, so they’re making the project more expensive by drawing it out. Legally the companies can’t stop the train line if it’s for passengers, although the government stupidly included terms about not having a freight rail line to the airport when they first gave out the leases, even though the new train line will use an existing freight line and there’s a lot of freight that goes through the airport!! We needed this train line a long time ago
@@SagealeenaMelbourne’s tollways were built with clauses that if the government or other org builds infrastructure that could take drivers off the freeways, they have to be compensated for the loss of business. In fairness to the developers, it shows how economically defunct freeways are and there state government couldn’t entice anyone with the tender alone. Airports, ports, stations, rail yards, etc. can all be done profitably and competitively. Freeways can’t and their biggest advocates are proof of it.
Another great way to get there is the 901 smart bus. No massive sky bus fare and connects to a number of rail lines.
Good to know, thank you for sharing that.
The 901 is genuinely useful for anyone travelling to/from the airport in the northern suburbs (eg. Epping), since the Skybus (and Airport Rail to a large degree) is only really useful for people travelling to/from the CBD and beyond.
Or if you just want to save a bit of money.
It's a fairly quick trip on the 901 between the airport and Broadmeadows station. The biggest issue in the past has been finding the terminus for the 901 at the airport, but I think that's improved in the years since the 901 began.
Broadmeadows Station is just 15 minutes from the airport on the Craigieburn Line, and the bus doesn't have to travel along congested sections of the Tullamarine Freeway to get you to and from Broadmeadows. It's about a half hour train trip from the Melbourne CBD to Broadmeadows. All for the price of a regular Zone 1 and 2 Myki fare. Even cheaper if you've got a concession card.
@@zoomosisyears ago it was literally a pole in a random strip of grass past terminal 4 (no footpath either), now it's in a proper bus terminal and well signed
Yes, some years ago we just used the public bus from Broadmeadows station. I think there are other ones, apart from the 901. I think Skybus, etc would prefer everybody to be ignorant of this option!
The Airport and airport parking juggernaut has been left to it's own devices for too long and it is crazy how big the long term carpark is now. Entire suburbs or an additional airport could've been built on the space. In future it will become a major issue for liveability and the difficulty in getting to/from the airport will drive business down for airlines
But they have 17 bus stops ?????? One of which I use all the time.
Meanwhile Singapore's Changi Airport replaced its open-air carpark with a luxury shopping mall
Considering the government has been talking about airport rail since the 60s, I reckon It'll be at least another 50 years until we actually get trains to the airport.
In the meantime, if you want to save a bit of money, instead of using the skybus to get from the city to the airport, you can take a train to Broadmeadows and then the 901 bus to the airport, the 59 tram to Airport West and then the 478/479/482 bus to the airport or if you live out west like I do, take a train to Sunbury and then the 479 bus to the airport. Just a normal $5 two hour myki fare instead of the ~$20 for the skybus
At last someone really giving us relevant information. You never see this advertised anywhere and I pay a lot of money to park the car due to regular travel. It would be great to post this as a sign in the main thoroughfare of the airport and watch the fun. Thank you
I just use the sky bus, it's straight forward and no transferring involved
Blame the Liberal party.Labour starts the projects.and Liberals.abort them.Libs don't do.anything for.the people.
These public transport links are very sparse or non existent late at night or on public holidays so you need to ensure your flight is at a suitable time.
When Perth gets something (anything) before Melbourne, you know something is going wrong. 😂
Perth's passenger numbers on said line is dreadfully and utterly low to the point you see 1 or 3 users an hour.
@@Auxodiumfake news, there's heaps of passengers between Claremont and Bayswater (on both the airport line services and the Midland line services, even if they are counted separately)
Watch Perth build its first circumferential line before Melbourne
@@illiiilli24601 lol that because that is two existing lines lol. Youre conflating there.
"awaiting the results of a major Commonwealth review of the country's infrastructure pipeline" is code for "the state Government has no money left, let's hope the Feds will give us some"
Labor Dan & his cunning plan
No, its code word for needing to keep inflation in check, by increasing the unemployment rate by suspending such projects. Even though the douche-bag politicians love spending other people's money, macro-economics dictate that the bottom line of the big four banks is imperative.Having also run down the state coffers for corporate welfare, during the penal incarceration jab fest, doe-eyed Dan is your man.
Yep, that’s code for ‘We’re broke’
The Commonwealth Games was about to send the state pretty much broke blowing out to $7billion dollars.. Now that pressure from the Commonwealth Games has eased, the state Gvt could prioritise this project?
Is code for Danny boy has put Victoria in massive debt
I'm a born and bred Melbourneian but recently having visited Sydney, our city needs to take notes on their airport rail network and their entire rail network to be honest. Sydney's network is perhaps the best in the world in efficiency and scope and Melbourne needs this infrastructure right now!
Sydney has a great new system to get out of the city. Opal cards are brilliant. Not to forget getting anywhere from the airport. We are so far behind.
best in Australia, I don't think it's close to being best in the world
@@SpektrikMusic it is one of the best - was anyway. We have been left behind the last 8 + years. Promises made and cancelled
There are several flaws that Sydney have to address to be highly efficient like the Singaporeans. The South Western Sydney railway proposals are absolute rubbish, they should have connected both airports together within one track. But that's just my opinion to make transfer flights more convenient. But they didn't. Northern Sydney is still very isolated due to locals not wanting a railway. But overall much better than rival cities in Aus.
@@jeffreytang2000 Singaporean here & I guess an advantage here is that labour is cheaper, so construction is done more quickly by employing more workers. To be fair we extended a rail link to our main airport only after it was open for ~20 yrs, & while its cheap it doesn't have much seating (you'll also be crowding with commuters to/from a business park nearby). We plan to build a 2nd rail link by 2040 to serve an extension of the airport, but sadly it'll have infrastructure only for local-only service despite many of it stations being in less populated areas, so its not a lot faster (30-35min). We also have commuter buses to the airport from various suburbs but they can be jammed packed with other commuters heading elsewhere along the route instead of to the airport, & it was a bit short-sighted for us to put the airport's bus stops beneath the terminals (except for T4) as higher-capacity double-decker buses are too tall to enter them (while we worry that articulated buses take up too much space). For security reasons the buses also have to spend extra time being searched by security guards for unattended items before they can enter each of those bus stops. We'll probably never have a public coach service from airport to downtown as the gov't will probably be worried that it'll canibalize ridership from our rail link
I was speechless when recent news claimed that Melbourne Airport's reason for not wanting a rail link is because they will lose revenue from all the car parking. I was so appalled, it's pathetic and ridiculous. I can't believe they were serious.
I worked on that job for a bit. A few things I wanted to mention. Building the actual stations is often the least time consuming thing. Usually because they are done in what we call "occupations". Where we shut down the rail for X time, bring in lots of extra workers, with works occurring 24/7. The max length is usually 3 months. The smaller the station the less time.
You are very much correct in saying that much of the work goes unseen. An example is the utilities. The Underground utilities near the rail can be a nightmare. The older the area, the worst it is. Utilities must be located and often moved before the occupation. This process can take years if its a large job, but it is a slow burning process. Usually limited crews and multiple short occupations (each about 2-7 days). Sometimes with these smaller occupations they only close the rail for a few hours at a time, usually only at night.
With this job specifically. Many times crews would turn up for work and get almost no work done because trains kept coming, even though though they were meant to have a few hours of no trains. In fact, I think for almost all of my shifts with occurred.
People just stopped caring. I'm sure that project is over budget. The guys that have been working there have known for awhile now that it had a large chance of being cancelled.
That all said, I do believe the project will start up again down the track as much of the prep work is now done. Also with an actually end point/goal of the project set I'm assuming it would run more smoothly.
Probably the most important part of this story is that, of all things, Perth Airport Link was approved in 2014 and opened for passengers in 2020.
It includes two underground stations and there are more trains running there than on Melbourne's Upfield line.
Just 6 years??!! What is this sorcery?!
And it’s great and affordable. Love it.
I reckon Airport central is the best station on the perth network
@@andrewmiller8268Agreed! I’m 7mins walk from Bayswater station and 7mins on the train to airport central! Absolutely love it for catching train to and from FIFO job. Hopefully they will run trains earlier for people who are much further away.
@@becsterbrisbane6275 I totally agree, this is some sort of miracle!
Okay so I think you may have slightly glossed over the reason as of why it's been paused, so if anyones interested..
firstly melbourne airport is a major stakeholder in kinetic, the company that operates skybus, they also in their fy23 report listed a 230 million in revenue from ground transport which includes rideshare and mostly parking from the very large car park.
Now the government has faced many delays with the West gate tunnel, being over budget and late, with tunnelling issues being a major contributor, so from their perspective having a elevated rail is much cheaper thanks to a simpler construction method, but they've also had experience with all the level crossing removals, so it would be that bit more efficient.
Anyways this has lead to a disagreement between the airport and state/federal government as the government doesn't want to spend extra money it doesn't necessarily have or need too and the airport doesn't want to loose the big fat cash cow in airport parking from a train station being in the middle of it. Elevated rail also prevents rail access to any future development between the current terminal precinct and any future developments that may come from the expansion and addition of the new runway. Melbourne airport also would loose revenue from skybus, which would potentially take the same time and cost the same. Unless they have some deal in place with the government and ptv then they loose that revenue. So overall Melbourne airport really has no need to cater to the government's requests, the longer this drags out the more money they keep for themselves.
The ridiculous thing is that you’ll have multiple tiers of airport travel just like anywhere.
1. Sky bus, takes around 60 mins. Aimed at budget travellers, maybe some families.
2. Airport train, takes around 15-30 mins. Business travellers, someone who goes between MEL/CBR/SYD/BNE on a regular basis. Travellers with a higher budget, families.
3. Taxi(includes Uber and private car hire) , higher end business traveller, people on a even higher budget, families with lots of shit
4. Drive yourself and park, families going for a longer time, families with lots of shit
They’ll still get revenue from car parks but it won’t be as high BUT the revenue from the train will bridge that gap eventually.
The state is broke - no funds to finish or really update anything. Let alone hospitals....
The airport needs to suffer in order for the public to benefit. Their greed cannot be allowed to sabotage the state.
Honesty it's crazy how Brisbane and Sydney went ahead with a rail link to the airport which I'm surprised Melbourne didn't follow suit in the late 1990s
What was absolutely crazy was that there was no rail link made when Tullamarine was built (it replaced Essendon airport which DID then have both train and tram links). It would have cost almost nothing compared to the cost of the freeway. As a little kid in Melbourne I can remember how proud the city was of its "modern new freeway", as being "just like in America".
And take a look at Adelaide, which does not even have regional rail...SAD i KNOW
The Tullamarine airport was built with room for a railway station under the airport terminal building in 1970 (there is a basement specifically designed for it).
Perth opened it's airport rail line opened last year too, an 18min ride to the city top speed 130km/h through tunnels with the majority of the new line tunnelled under the river and existing roads. It isn't privately owned so the fare is capped to a maximum of around $5 to anywhere on the network including the 80km+ travel to Mandurah. In Bris/Syd its something like $17-20 just to the city.
@@haydencooper_ same in canberra. this bus route from the airport to the city (and through to belconnen) is part of the regular network and its like $2 with a MyWay card, its great!
Yep. Urban legend is there's already an underground train station already built under Tullamarine.
My father was one of the engineers who designed it…
The more recent terminal expansions have blocked access and the station was designed to be a spur line from Broadmeadows - but that was blocked by the local member of Parliament (Bob Hawke).
I used to drive from the eastern burbs to get to work at the airport every day. A train network or increased speeds on the freeways would have been fantastic. Thanks for exploring this topic Stef.
Many people moved to the eastern burbs in the 80's because of the promise of the 'train' - touted for up the middle of the Eastern Freeway - but alas, just like the East / West link, nada. We have buses and that's it!
Sadly will always be but a pipe dream. My heart breaks for what this state has become :(
@@melissanoonan3301 the sad truth of how victoria has started to fall behind the world
@@atcJ All that it takes is to vote for it to catch up.
From what I understand the 90-day infrastructure review mainly focuses on a ballooning number of small projects that the federal Coalition announced funding for while in government. I'd be a bit surprised if Airport Rail construction didn't resume soon, since it's one that can be pretty reasonably justified given that other Australian cities have successful rail connections.
Airport Rail isn't just for airline travellers but also for the thousands of people employed by the airport and retail outlets there.
Suburban Rail Link isn't affected by the 90-day review, as I understand the Coalition didn't provide federal funding for that project.
Edit: The flipside of all of this is whether in 50 years time the airport will still be viable or if climate change will turn airline travel as we know it into something once again only for the rich elite.
Your comment about "other Australian cities" makes me think of Sydney's new airport. Sydney's new airport does not have a metro connection to the other new metro systems being built nor does it have any other option than a road for getting in and out. As for rail, there is a permanent gap of several kilometres between the terminus of one metro line at Westmead and the start or end of the new airport metro at St Mays. The new airport metro is a shuttle service. Yes, one can change rail modes, with bags (everyone), unhappy children (many), no local language (many), no local knowledge (many), 24/7 operations and different rail operators. Easy? Let's just go by car then. Melbourne, though very late and now "paused", is still well ahead of Sydney.
@@CadcareIt is very rare if public transport gets you directly to your destination without requiring a transfer, except if your destination happens to be very close to the station. People living in large cities with excellent public transport such as Paris or London expect to transfer somewhere on their journey. It is very unlikely that families, for example would have the city centre as their final destination. I have travelled in the following cities: London, Paris, New Dehli, Madrid, San Francisco, Shanghai. All have airport rail links, yet in all of them I have been required to transfer.
@@willx9352 In Sydney, both metro and airport are new. Try Munich.
Also, define “public transport”.
@@Cadcare Is the Elizabeth line in London a metro or the RER line to Charles de Gaulle? In Sydney you will be able to get to the city centre by rail, with one transfer.
The worst about this is that there ia already a rail link passing very close to the airport which is the standard guage Melbourne to Sydney. I know because I used to work at Airport West and I would see everyday the morning train passing by.
Apart from a maximum of two passenger trains a day, I never saw much good trains passing by. When the Tullamarine freeway was built, there was an opportunity to use that corridor for a rail project ... monorail or other forms of technology. And remember there was a rail link to the Essendon Airport in the form of a tram ! The early pioneers could think ahead.
The Essendon Airport tram actually used to run to the front of the terminal building (that was cut off when they widened the freeway in the 1990’s).
The tram route now runs to the Airport West shopping centre (but could be extended up the median of Airport Drive to the airport on the easement that was left for it).
It would be excellent if government projects had an easy to use simple cost breakdown where you click on a part of the line and it shows a breakdown of design costs, labour costs (including hours worked and hourly wages), materials costs (break down of each material), etc. It would be great for transparency and really help people understand these big projects better
But that would mean being transparent - not on this governments watch!
Less the public knows about how 'our taxes' are spent, the better.....
How would hide the corruption?
It would be great but I feel like it would cost the government $500 million to implement the transparency lol
Transparency down here? You must be kidding
You completely forget Broadmeadows. Trains run regularly from the city to Broadmeadows and there is a connecting bus to the Airport every 15 minutes. Cheap, Reliable and.. it DOESNT rely on the freeway. I've used this for the last two times I visited. Melbourne's best kept secret 🙂
Yeah but it's broadmeadows...
@@mmaayyssoonn8858yeah, I'm tryna live 💀
Just asking would it be possible to run either a light rail or tramline from Broadmeadows to the airport along the bus route. Cncept plans are beautiful but is it all necessary.
And 30 mins on Weekends. And this is what Melbourne has to offer. We are so behind Sydney.
It's to do with the fact that citilink hold a monopoly over transport from Melbourne to the airport and would lobby against the government if they allowed the rail link to go forward too quickly
Can guarantee they’ve got pollies from all parties in their pocket, and are probably pushing them to stall all advancement of the project, it’s really obvious when you compare this to the level crossing program which long term also had huge cost, yet that one got done, and done quickly. It’s not about money, that’s for sure, someone is blocking it
Originally in the '70 and '80s the lack of a train line was more to do with the taxi lobby, not the citilink monopoly as the Tullamarine freeway was not tolled in those days.
@@BG-id2cv No because Victoria is absolutely useless when it comes to PT. The Taxi Industry is no more stronger here than it is in Sydney, Brisbane or Perth.
Good vid Stef. Don’t forget the Tullamarine FREEway only covers about half of the journey, there is also the Citilink Tollway, more expense for the motorist.
*Citylink.
I’ve lived in Melbourne since 1996. In the last couple of years it’s become a horrible place to live. Infrastructure is so far behind the population growth. I will leave this mess in the next couple of years
The 1950's infrastructure simply has not kept up with a 2 million person increase in 10 ten years in terms of population. Going anywhere further than 15 kms by car from one's own address is an ordeal now.
@@MisterTMH it really is an ordeal. It’s like Sydney traffic now.
I am considering leaving as well. Adelaide is more likely to suit my needs.
@@JohnFromAccounting I’m thinking about WA. I’ve got a lot of family there.
I left at the beginning of the year. Life is much better in South East Queensland. Victoria has lost its soul under its Glorious Leader
Another way to also look at it is the Gold Coast a Regional City will have rail to its airport sooner than Melbourne will.
I thought it already had from Brisbane airport
from what I've been told, one big complication now is the "no competition" clauses for the toll road (about half the freeway length between city and airport) and in the Skybus contract. Compensation will be required for the toll road but maybe, just maybe, the Skybus contract will be up for renewal before the rail line is built and the renewal not have a "no competition" clause.
As someone who used to live in Melbourne it's absolutely pathetic there is no rail line to the airport. I just can't understand why they don't build the thing!
Exploitation. If there is no easy transport link, everyone is forced to either use the skybus, take a taxi, or drive themselves. The skybus is not reasonably priced but not the slowest thing in the world. Taxis are incredibly expensive. Driving yourself is potentially more expensive because of all the parking fees. The airport benefits directly from parking, and not from other modes of transport, so they want to restrict as many people as they can to using the parking. It's borderline criminal.
Vested interests have their snouts welded to the feeding trough.
When I was a kid, they opened the tulla highway, they've been talking ever since. Like any typical Pollie, talk and no action
wow things cost money and building is hard
Jeff Kennett signed a contract with Transurban Linkt that there would be no rail link built for 35yrs.
So sydney will have two international airports with rail links before Melbourne has one.
In 1965 the Victorian Government announced a train line to the being built Tullamarine Jetport. It would have connected with the current airport at Essendon using a corridor down the centre of the Tullamarine Freeway. It was cancelled and the corridors used to widen the Tullamarine Freeway to 4 lanes in each direction. Since then it has been broached many times and deemed to expensive to purchase the required land. Well done Victorian Governments..
Extending the existing tram network to the airport would actually be easier - the easement exists on the existing road (Airport Drive) from Airport West (which is south of the airport).
Car centrism will destroy every city that adopts that mentality.
We appreciate your insights, Stef. Keep working hard.
Thank you, I appreciate that.
Even the proposed line as far as the Airport was not enough to provide a half-decent rail link, options to develop Tulla or to provide expansion/alternatives in the event of a major incident (or someone just wandering on the tracks as seems to halt trains in Melbourne every Friday rush hour!). I would propose the original proposal to have the Airport Station underground should have been continued with the line continuing north of the Airport to join the regional network at Sunbury. This would have provided 3 major benefits:
1. Direct access to the Airport from Echuca, Swan Hill, Bendigo, Castlemaine and Woodend - new fleets of dual modal trains would allow efficient use of both electrified and un-electrified tracks
2. A contingency route to the City in the event of any incident between Sunshine and Melbourne Airport
3. The running of trains beyond the airport to a new Melbourne Airport Transit hub - with a relocated Short Term/Medium Term carpark/Car Hire Facilities - to the north/northwest of the current airport footprint. This would then allow the existing terminals to be expanded back into the space currently occupied by the Short Term Car Park to cater for the increased air passenger numbers which the advent of the 3rd (and possibly 4th) runways will bring.
Unfortunately we in Australia have fallen into a cycle of only approving infrastructure projects which have short term (government election) cycles and I strongly doubt I'll see even a scaled-back Airport Link running in the next 20 yrs I'm hoping to be in need to use.
Rather than uderground you could have it elevated as the Chinese routinely do for far, far longer links than this one. Its a lot cheaper, you can still use the right of way underneath the viaduct for other things and people can't interfere with the line.
If you've ever been to China and seen how they do major public works you'd realise how badly we suck at them. The Chinese would have a rail link from Tullamarine to the SYDNEY CBD by the time we can do one to Melbourne. And it would be high speed too.
If it's underground the cost goes up like crazy, as there's a funny rock under the airport called basalt. Though the rumour goes like under VFL Park there's supposed to be a station all ready built under the airport, just needs the connecting track brought to it.
@@rod.h8064 that funny basalt being different to the non-funny basalt encountered boring the Melbourne Metro tunnels?
@@markwaite5265 Holocene Sand in the CBD and to the South East of Melbourne, not Basalt. Basalt is confined to the West and North West of Melbourne.
@@kenoliver8913 Using Uyghur Labor. No thanks.
901 bus from Broadmeadows station. Cheapest option. Just a simple myki zone 1 tap. Of course it's just a public bus, so good luck with luggage.... and if there's traffic on the freeway... hmm, seems that road is a common theme
Our town planning and public transport is a disgrace we've followed the USA model of roads and cars over people. It's insane how Melbourne ranks highly in the livable city index, maybe if you live inner city in an older suburb it's ok but venture out and it's all McMansions with lack of community space . You only have to look into the Transurban scam and govt collusion with suburban developers to understand why... 🤦
I agree. Urban sprawl is catastrophic. Suburbs make us poor.
Melbourne ranks highly because while what we have isn't great, it's still better than a lot of other places.
Melbourne actually has a potential to create mrt stations like in Singapore. If you visit (especially the new lines) the Singapore MRT, you'll see some impressive infrastructure and system. And clean!
When I found out that Melbourne's Airport line was delayed I was surprised and confused, confused because it is literally the biggest/second biggest city in the nation and surprised because my home city, Perth, already has one that opened a year ago, which is crazy.
The thing that shocks me the most is that Perth got a rail-link to the airport before Melbourne. This is just so weird to me considering Perth is usually behind everywhere else in Australia.
Probably because Melbourne trains are privatised, in Perth they're not. Ergo, in Perth public need takes priority over profit, whereas it's the opposite in Melbourne.
YES!! This is what I've been searching for so long! Thanks so march Stef!!
I was honestly disappointed when I heard that the Airport rail link would be paused. I will be using it to travel to the airport 😊
god i feel like i'm reminded everyday of the fact we have no rail line to the airport. i'm a plane spotter so i go to melbourne airport fairly frequently, i hate having to pay for parking though, especially if i plan on being there all day. the way i avoid that is by either taking the train to sunbury (either echuca vline or the regular metro trains) and taking the 479 from sunbury to the car park OR taking the 901. it takes ages but at least i only have to spend around $9 than god knows how much on parking.
The first time I was in Melbourne (indeed, first time in Australia) I grabbed a taxi in from the airport. As we hurtled down the Tullamarine Freeway the driver told me that the only way to figure out hook turns was to watch other people do them...
not a really intelligent driver i must say if thats his response, lets face it Hook turns are not brain surgery if he could not simply explain it by saying
"if you want to turn right at an intersection that requires a hook turn, wait at the top left corner of the intersection until the light going straight turns red (watch and make sure there is no oncoming traffic behind you in your mirror), make a 90 degree right angle turn and keep to the left"
"watching other people do them" is no the only way to figure it out.
@@BGwControlStop Little incorrect with the hook turn. The actual time to turn is thus, straight from Vicroads:
- Stay stopped until the traffic lights on the road you are turning into have turned green.
Many people think you can start turning when the straight direction turns red and as a result, lots of dumb shits honking at the bloke doing the correct thing.
That's why when I have a taxi behind me during a hook turn, I know that half the time the bastard will be screaming at me to go.
@@ondrejsedlak4935 Your probably technically right m8, i missed the part on waiting for the green light, my answer was without notice off the top of my head. My point is a hook turn is not as complicated as it is made to be for outside visitors who have never had to think about. Not everybody will know these slight nuances that’s for sure. The ultimate objective is to make the turn safely and not get T-boned by the car coming from the direction you were originally coming from.
@@BGwControlStop Agreed that it's not rocket science but...
Having said that, tourists would probably find this very confusing as the sign is not always prominently displayed (and it's black on white, which typically denotes an information sign) and it's not clear on when it's okay to go. A red border would go a long way.
There's even one intersection where a hook turn is compulsory but the sign is extremely easy to miss. I almost got ticketed for it until the cop realised I was right and let me off.
First of all, love your work on your channel! As I'm rail and aviation enthusiast from Perth, Western Australia. I'm proud to say that we're the latest cities in Australia to have airport rail line.
Agreed that the train will be a huge game changer. Until then we just have to make do with the alternatives in this video….plus another. Route 901 (SmartBus) is public transport to the airport from multiple locations. It’s much cheaper but not very publicised (for reasons unknown).
Ahh born out that way in the 70s. Been coming since then.
Well presented, researched, spoken and informative. Cheers.
Very informative. Thank you 👍
There is a rail link to JFK airport in New York. You just take the regular subway to Jamaica, the suburb not the country, and from there it's a short rail trip to JFK, a very economical trip compared with taking a taxi.
Or take the newly opened LIRR from Grand Central to Jamaica, and then the airtrain
I would always use it. I like the reliability of trains, plus the convenience of just jumping on.
I would like it connected to the airport though. Surely an underground link to the baggage collection area is possible…
Very informative thank you!!!!
You may recall that Essendon Airport had the tram directly into the Airport. At the time the Tullamarine was planned the tramline was planned to run on the road reserve. It would have been very cheap to do but in a very expensive cost cutting move it was "postponed". With subsequent building it is no longer practical to follow the original plan. But the airport was never planned around that rail. Yes it is only a little North of the Albion Jacana Goods bypass line. But the airport makes a LOT of money from parking. It doesn't want the competition and where would a terminal go? Underground is possible yet expensive. It does put the trains where the passengers wish to go. To put a station above ground a half an hours walk from the airport for a fit person is inane. If it was done properly it all gets hundreds of times more expensive in real terms than the original plan. And it gets more expensive every year.
Perth already has an airport link, so why doesn't Melbourne have one?
I realised after i arrived at tulla.
I worked at Melbourne airport for 30 years and there was a persistent rumor that the airport has a "ghost train station" built underneath that was built during the airport's original construction back in 1970 in anticipation of the rail line to and from the city which of course never eventuated.
Cars are king in Australia, public transport is not the priority. They are building so many estates with hundreds of people living there, and nothing in the zoning for a corner shop to go for a walk, or public transport link. I lived in the UK for 8 years and the one thing I noticed was that no matter where I was I could find a bus or a shop (obviously not on a farm). I visited my sister in a new apartment complex in Campbeltown (Sydney) and when she drove to work, I couldn't even walk down to a shop to get bread.
It's crazy how idiotic the city planners are. Did they all receive education in America? Disgraceful.
Yep, just like America. It's so ridiculous.
I have two issues: firstly, it should not cost $13 billion to build a train line to Tullamarine. Secondly, if rail is so expensive, why has a tram line been extended to the airport? Truly bizarre situation.
Have you looked at land prices recently? Tram lines are on existing roads. A train line requires buying a lot of land. (Unless you build it down a freeway median, like they should have done for the Doncaster train line that's been suggested for as long as the airport line and never built.) Also a lot of the NIMBY crowd want train lines to be underground, which is extremely expensive.
there has not been a tram line extended to the airport.
@@CaptainKremmen There is not much out there directly past Airport West and the heavy rail can use the median of Airport Drive.
The main issue is the contracts Kennett wrote up with citylink which is obviously still causing issues.
And I hope it’s done like Perth (and not Sydney and Brisbane), where it’s normal fares and not astronomical!
yeah that wanker could build city circle tram but took out most regional rail
Mate they were about to run out, all tollway contracts for citylink, but were extended for another 20 years in exchange Transurban investing in Westgate Tunnel… that’s the Andrews Gov.
@@dalebates9937 west gate tunnel has nothing to do with airport. It’s now likely cost prohibitive to build airport rail due to this so it’s not Andrews to blame here!
@@topher1976au It isn't really, but the Government insists of building everything new and flyovers at Albion instead of just reusing all that unused broad gauge freight between West Footscray and Airport West.
@@mjcats2011 yes it is actually, hence reason it is only just being done. And I am pretty sure you will find that ARTC own the freight lines, so cannot be used.
Great video 👍
Well I would say as someone that lives in Melbourne that this is not a surprise a Victoria has a lot projects aiming to improve the infrastructure
Great work!
Very well explained video. I have travelled on the Sydney airport rail link very good. We are the laughing stock globally and nationally while other states have that option. Any major incident on the Tulla freeway will delay transportation even flights may have to be delayed which has happened before. Pax need another option.
As a Kiwi living here in NZ 🇳🇿 I enjoyed watching this because I thought we were the only ones talking about doing a big project like this in Auckland and not doing much else 🤔 thank you for sharing 🤗🤗
I'm a Kiwi as well. There was talk of heavy rail to Auckland International Airport and land was set aside at Puhinui for a 7 km link from the NIMT. However, the idea was quickly canned in favour of light rail (stupidest decision ever) and that land was sold off and has now been built on.
In addition, a route from the north (via the Onehunga line) to the airport was essentially sabotaged by the removal of the road bridge at Neilson Street - supposedly because trucks were having difficulty climbing the bridge approach.
Of all the countries in the world that have rail to their airports, only three use light rail - the rest all use heavy rail.
Naturally NZ has to get it wrong and opt for light rail. It will be a giant (and very expensive) white elephant.
I was extra cheap this year (and in no rush) so I took the local bus to Airport West and then took the tram direct to the city. It was a relaxing tram ride and I got to see a part of Melbourne I wouldn't have otherwise.
This is a really engaging video!
I frequently fly to and from Melbourne and I often get very anxious about the Skybus getting stuck in traffic so I, for one, would love to see a rail link. In addition, Buses are noisy, bumpy and generally less comfortable than trains (or, at least, that has been my experience)
Stef, to be honest I cannot see the benefit of it when compared to the Skybus option available. When you look at the Sydney option from a cost perspective, you are up for $20 per adult per direction. (rail plus gate component). Skybus is $22 one way or $36 return. For a family of four that's a lot.
As a regular flyer from Geelong, I would have to take a train or drive to get to the train or Skybus at Southern Cross, so driving is the best option for me. Now that the flyover car park ramp to T4 is built, I have never had traffic issues, especially when you leave the Tullamarine freeway at the traditional T1-T3 freeway exit' at peak hour times. Prepaying for parking is a good save, as is using T4 or one of the local park and ride companies (Gday Andrew :) )
Has it already been decided that there will be a fare premium for train fares to Melbourne airport?
Kudos to you. You have travelled a lot to different places in just one video.
Another lesser known way to get to the Airport is to take the 901 bus from Broadmeadows station.
It's certainly the most cost effective, but might not work for everyone.
You can take bus 478/479 between the Airport West tram stop and the airport. That journey takes 15 minutes. Then use the train to get to Flinders St Station. Alternatively, get off at Essendon Station and take the train from there. There are a number of options, including the 901 bus for the thrill seekers who wish to connect to Broadmeadows Station from the airport.
the 478/479 bus is every 30 mins on weekdays and hourly on weekends. And that my friend is pathetic.
Love the amount of effort you put into your videos Stef, and I totally agree with everything said in this video as a fellow Melburnian. Still waiting for the railway as my parents are starting to get sick of driving me to the airport for plane spotting 🤣
one thing I liked about the design is that if you are coming in from the west on vline you could change at Sunshine instead of going all the way into the city. hopefully that doesnt change when they get around to building it.
Would be good if they feature proof the line at the airport in case they were to build another terminal on the other side of the runways like in the airport master plan
There is another Option, get the 901 Frankston Bus to Broadmeadows Station then get a Train from there to the City by far the longest but also the Cheapest Option
$5.00
There’s also dedicated shuttle mini bus services that operate door to door to ‘Tulla. They use the dedicated bus lane outside the international terminal which is hardly congested. Competitively priced and not all are shared rides.
Would definitely use the airport rail link.
I'm not that engaged with this part of the whole rail project, but I do live near one of the newer stations down south. And it's been interesting to see exactly what you say near the end: that most of what's going on with the construction is invisible. I can watch the station go up, I can watch the roadworks alter the area around it, I can see all these secondary and tertiary parts of the project, but when it comes to the actual train line especially, it's all just... hidden, hard to get a read on. Which kinda sucks at this point, because it's hit that 'almost there' state where the stuff that's exposed is like 90% done, but we're still waiting over a year until we get anything out of it beyond nicer road surfacing.
Good work
2:50 Fourth, you could take the PTV to Broadmeadows Station then take the 901 to the airport. This is a very cheap method, and the train is more often than not fast, but carrying multiple heavy bags could be an inconvenience. Plus, is the 901 bus subject to traffic jams? Who has used this method before?
I wish governments in Australia would take public transport more seriously and invest more money into transport projects.
Although it can be hard to get any infrastructure built in Oz (ask the people of Kalkallo who have been asking for improvements to the exit out of their suburb for a long time now)
I live in Perth and fly to Melbourne, so I would definitely use the airport train. We bit the bullet here in Perth and spent $2 billion building a train line from our CBD to the airport. I wasn't easy as we had to have two tunnels for the lines. It will happen in Melbourne. The Victorian government needs to delay other projects to get it done.
Even us "plebs" in Perth have rail to our airport.. no extra cost, unlike Sydney for example.
Any combination of any public transport to the airport from anywhere in Perth.. a whole $5.10 at most ($4.08, or free on 1st Sunday of month with an auto loaded card)
That can cover what would usually be a 100km road trip...
You can actually get from anywhere in Victoria to the airport for $5.00. You just have to use a 901 bus from Broadmeadows like the rest of the airport workers (and not catch a flight before 9am).
This is like the 5th time a rail link to the Airport has been cancelled, kind of surprising this one got as far as it did.
It's like the fifth time or it is the fifth time?
Considering how much money Transurban makes from the tollroads, and how much money the airport makes from parking, I'm not at all surprised that there is a yet another delay to the long-discussed train to the airport. We really should have built this 20 or 30 years ago.
The railway network is a complex system. You can only get trains to run from the city centre to the airport if you can free up enough routes and platforms for that to occur. If the system is to see another service added, then other existing trains and services need to be moved to accommodate it. You also need to factor in the additional rolling stock needed and the maintenance requirements and locations for that rolling stock. I am sure lots of people are working hard to put these components in place to allow the airport rail link project to be resumed shortly.
The Sydney Network is far more complicated than Melbourne's and yet they manage to build a link.
@@mjcats2011 Sydney’s system is simple in comparison as they have alternate lines and junctions. In Melbourne, it’s like a wagon wheel where the 6 tracks that run between Souther cross and flinders street are the hub. You can only get so many trains across those 6 tracks per hour. This is the complicated part of the equation and it is a problem that is unique to Melbourne.
@ryanlove5332 That is nonsense. Sydney's network has been described as one of the most complex in the world. Melbourne's, in comparison, is just a simple collection of branch lines with little inter connectivity.
Melbourne's isn't complex at all Compared to Sydney's. It is just made operationally complex because we in Vic cannot plan for nuts when it comes to PT.
At the rate its taking Cairns in Far North Queensland will have a rail link between the Airport and Esplanade first and we have Palachook as premier who has been a disaster the whole time. Brisbane, perth and Sydney all got it done, Goldcoast has a tram link under construction already completed several stages. Not having that link is kind of off-putting as a future visitor
First I'd heard of it being paused so thank you for sharing. The Tullamarine Carpark can be truly atrocious but doesn't seem as bad post-COVID
Given Victoria's state budget I'd say not any time soon. Probably Adelaide will get a train link before Melbourne.
JFK I think has pretty good rail links
At this rate DRW will have a rail link before MEL
The other way I found of getting to the Airport is take a train to Jacana station, after which you have a leisurely (for some) 2 hour walk.
I did it once and if I only have to carry a backpack and the weather is nice, that's my preferred way to go. No traffic jams and only the cost of a 2 hour MYKI fare.
Sounds great. Is there somewhere to stop for a bowl of lentil soup on the way?
Not surprised that no brainer infrastructure projects get paused in Australia
Considering you're covering a rail line that travels along the same tracks I use to get to Uni and back on a near daily basis REALLY makes you realize just how small this world is
Suddenly adds Melton to the urban space.
“Wow look! We’re the largest city!”
Melbourne will get an airport train, when Australia gets a high speed train, when Australia gets a functioning internet, when Sydney gets a second airport, when Brisbane gets an Olympic Games… oh wait…
The thing is, I love that sydney has an airport train line, but I literally dont use it because, as soon as im travelling with someone, getting an uber is cheaper because of the massive private fee the airport puts on the station. $30 for an uber, or $20 each for the station fee ⚖️
@stef747 i worked on the project before it was "paused" It was in the early works phase. Definitely alot went on that would of gone unnoticed. Lots of preworks to prep for the main bulk of the work later. Upgrading tracks, track formation, removing old infrastructure lots of csr works for temporary signalling and assets. Most the time done under occupation late at night over the weekend.
Perth finally got their airport train , about 18mths ago, so dont give up and amazingly our Perth train is just a standard fare . If WA can do it , Vic can :)
A few years ago, I was dismayed when the airport line was scheduled after the tunnel was built, the explanation was that the tunnel gives the system extra capacity for extensions. In my cynicism, I thought this was an excuse to delay things, I thought the airport line could be built concurrently. (not considering financial issues). I was afraid people will have a gutful of “Dictator Dan” and vote in the LNP who will cancel things in the name of fiscal responsibility.
Paul Keating said that most inititives have to be “Tory proof”.
There are too many vested interests that don't want an airport rail line as competition. The Citylink toll road, Skybus, taxis, Ubers, and the airport itself which gets millions of dollars each year from parking. As a measure of how serious the Government is in building this they still haven't agreed with the airport on whether the station is to be built above or below ground - 40 years after the airport was opened! Surely this was a basic decision, and now that Perth has opened their airport line Melbourne is in the same category as Adelaide, Hobart and Darwin!
Because Perth repurposed an unused Car Park to build its station. Melbourne can do the same but it would rather have a bun fight with the airport and wants the Feds to intervene. The Feds are not going too and the Airport will win this battle.
If the State Government insists to build s skyrail in the middle of the precinct then I am afraid the link will not be built.
I think its because the airport makes 80% of its revenue from parking. A rail link would obviously put a dent in that.
No mate, it does well from the carpark but the landing fees and rent are where the big money is.
What a great video! I really do think we need that railway line, we really do. But of course, construction takes time and I’d rather they don’t rush it.
Melbourne has an advantage in that a lot of the infrastructure is already there, all the way up to Airport West.
You can catch a tram from the city to Westfield Airport West, then a bus from there to the airport on the same ticket. It is cheap, but not that fast or convenient.
great vid thx