Illustration: Matt Golding.
A rail link to Melbourne Airport would require the state government to build through several contaminated sites, acquire private land, and threaten environmentally sensitive areas - including some of ''national and state significance''.
One week after Premier Denis Napthine announced that a long-awaited train line to Tullamarine would become a reality if he is re-elected in November, the government's own study has revealed the project could face a range of problems unless it is carefully managed.
Under the Coalition's plan, a new electrified rail service would run along dedicated tracks from Melbourne Airport to Albion, in the city's west, before joining the existing rail line to Southern Cross Station, picking up passengers every 10 minutes during peak times.
But according to an independent study commissioned by Public Transport Victoria, an airport rail link along this route could result in ''potential environmental constraints''; ''likely negative perceptions due to land acquisitions''; and ''implementation risks'' from the construction of a new rail flyover at Albion. The 170-page study, released last year, also confirms the airport link is largely dependent on the so-called Melbourne Metro rail project, a $10 billion underground cross-city tunnel designed take on thousands of extra passengers and connect the Dandenong and Sunshine rail corridors. ''The [Melbourne Metro] must be constructed prior to the opening of the Albion east option, as this option uses the tunnel to connect Melbourne Airport with the south-eastern suburbs of Melbourne,'' it says.
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