{"id":910227,"date":"2026-09-29T21:22:14","date_gmt":"2026-09-29T21:22:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/910227\/"},"modified":"2026-09-29T21:22:14","modified_gmt":"2026-09-29T21:22:14","slug":"keilor-east-key-train-station-in-melbourne-airport-rail-plan-to-be-built-by-2031","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/910227\/","title":{"rendered":"Keilor East, key train station in Melbourne Airport rail plan, to be built by 2031"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"paragraph_paragraph___QITb\">A new train station that will eventually link Melbourne&#8217;s west to the city&#8217;s airport will be built by 2031, according to the Prime Minister and the Victorian government.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph_paragraph___QITb\">The state and federal governments will today announce that early work on a new 7.4-kilometre rail line from Albion towards the airport \u2014 via the new Keilor East station \u2014 will begin in coming weeks.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph_paragraph___QITb\">However, major construction on this second stage of the Melbourne Airport rail plan will not kick off until 2028.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph_paragraph___QITb\">The Keilor East station is due for completion three years later, but a timeline for a rail line between Keilor East and the airport itself is yet to be finalised.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph_paragraph___QITb\">In a statement, the federal and Victorian Labor governments said the line would connect directly to the Metro Tunnel and include a 500-metre rail bridge to carry trains over the Maribyrnong River.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph_paragraph___QITb\">It would be delivered alongside stage one of the Melbourne Airport Rail project \u2014 the $4.1 billion, <a class=\"Link_link__kR0xA Link_link__5eL5m ScreenReaderOnly_srLinkHint__OysWz Link_showVisited__C1Fea Link_showFocus__ALyv2\" href=\"https:\/\/www.abc.net.au\/news\/2025-02-26\/melbourne-airport-rail-sunshine-station-federal-funding-roads\/104982828\" data-component=\"Link\" data-uri=\"coremedia:\/\/article\/104982828\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">six platform Sunshine Superhub<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph_paragraph___QITb\">The Victorian government has previously announced the long-awaited train line to the airport <a class=\"Link_link__kR0xA Link_link__5eL5m ScreenReaderOnly_srLinkHint__OysWz Link_showVisited__C1Fea Link_showFocus__ALyv2\" href=\"https:\/\/www.abc.net.au\/news\/2023-04-17\/melbourne-airport-rail-link-delay\/102230720\" data-component=\"Link\" data-uri=\"coremedia:\/\/article\/102230720\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">would be running by 2029<\/a>, then 2033.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph_paragraph___QITb\">It has since gone quiet on a <a class=\"Link_link__kR0xA Link_link__5eL5m ScreenReaderOnly_srLinkHint__OysWz Link_showVisited__C1Fea Link_showFocus__ALyv2\" href=\"https:\/\/www.abc.net.au\/news\/2025-03-20\/melbourne-airport-rail-link-memorandum-of-understanding\/105074492\" data-component=\"Link\" data-uri=\"coremedia:\/\/article\/105074492\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">final completion date<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"An artist's impression of a railway bridge over Maribyrnong River\" class=\"Image_image__5tFYM ContentImage_image__DQ_cq\"  src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/4aad33f5a9b99774b7f0f625d19cc4fd.jpeg\" loading=\"lazy\" data-component=\"Image\" data-lazy=\"true\"\/><\/p>\n<p class=\"Typography_base__sj2RP FigureCaption_text__zDxQ5 Typography_sizeMobile12__w_FPC Typography_lineHeightMobile20___U7Vr Typography_regular__WeIG6 Typography_colourInherit__dfnUx\" data-component=\"Typography\">The new line would include a 500-metre-long rail bridge over Maribyrnong River, the Victorian government says. (Supplied: Victorian Government)<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph_paragraph___QITb\">The project has faced a number of setbacks, including a dispute over where the station should be built and arguments between the airport and the state government over whether it should be built underground or above ground.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph_paragraph___QITb\">In July 2024, <a class=\"Link_link__kR0xA Link_link__5eL5m ScreenReaderOnly_srLinkHint__OysWz Link_showVisited__C1Fea Link_showFocus__ALyv2\" href=\"https:\/\/www.abc.net.au\/news\/2024-07-08\/vic-melbourne-airport-rail-line-station-compromise\/104069626\" data-component=\"Link\" data-uri=\"coremedia:\/\/article\/104069626\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">the airport backed down from its preference for a more expensive underground line<\/a> in order to get the project moving.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph_paragraph___QITb\">In a statement, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said Labor was &#8220;building Victoria&#8217;s future, unlocking capacity to run more trains, more often, and ensuring we have a train line to Melbourne Airport&#8221;.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph_paragraph___QITb\">Premier Ben Carroll said Melbourne Airport was &#8220;getting on and delivering&#8221; a direct rail link to the airport.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Map of the Melbourne Airport railway blueprint\" class=\"Image_image__5tFYM ContentImage_image__DQ_cq\"  src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/0b46dd16740bb85da96bdb343afa6558.jpeg\" loading=\"lazy\" data-component=\"Image\" data-lazy=\"true\"\/><\/p>\n<p class=\"Typography_base__sj2RP FigureCaption_text__zDxQ5 Typography_sizeMobile12__w_FPC Typography_lineHeightMobile20___U7Vr Typography_regular__WeIG6 Typography_colourInherit__dfnUx\" data-component=\"Typography\">The Victorian Infrastructure Delivery Authority have released a blueprint detailing the stages involved in the prospective Melbourne Airport railway line. (Supplied)<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph_paragraph___QITb\">In 2023, then-Mooney Valley mayor Pierce Tyson said the community desperately needed the new Keilor East railway station, describing the delays as &#8220;<a class=\"Link_link__kR0xA Link_link__5eL5m ScreenReaderOnly_srLinkHint__OysWz Link_showVisited__C1Fea Link_showFocus__ALyv2\" href=\"https:\/\/www.abc.net.au\/news\/2023-04-17\/melbourne-airport-rail-link-delay\/102230720\" data-component=\"Link\" data-uri=\"coremedia:\/\/article\/102230720\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">deeply distressing<\/a>&#8220;.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph_paragraph___QITb\">&#8220;They have been waiting for many decades for this announcement and for this project to finish,&#8221; he said at the time. \u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph_paragraph___QITb\">Today&#8217;s announcement states that work will soon begin on site investigations, procurement and development works for stage two of the airport rail plan, with community engagement and early designs to start next year.<\/p>\n<p>The prospect of a rail link to the airport has been in discussion for <a class=\"Link_link__kR0xA Link_link__5eL5m ScreenReaderOnly_srLinkHint__OysWz Link_showVisited__C1Fea Link_showFocus__ALyv2\" href=\"https:\/\/www.abc.net.au\/news\/2024-05-10\/melbourne-airport-rail-link-delayed-again\/103823938\" data-component=\"Link\" data-uri=\"coremedia:\/\/article\/103823938\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">at least 62 years<\/a>, but has been beset by decades of delays.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A new train station that will eventually link Melbourne&#8217;s west to the city&#8217;s airport will be built by&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":910228,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[5871,2324,64,63,283981,142083,66789,44,27853,478290,106857],"class_list":["post-910227","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-australia","tag-announcement","tag-anthony-albanese","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-ben-carroll","tag-link","tag-melbourne-airport","tag-news","tag-rail","tag-stage-2","tag-train"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/910227","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=910227"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/910227\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/910228"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=910227"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=910227"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=910227"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}