It’s full steam ahead for a Ballarat rail connection to the airport after the state government matched a federal commitment of $5 billion to build the route.
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Sunday’s funding announcement also confirmed a state government preference for the link to be constructed through Sunshine with a business case to be conducted over the next two years to determine the best alignment.
Chair of the Connectivity Group for the Committee For Ballarat Nick Beale said the announcement was “fantastic news for the people of Ballarat and all regional cities”.
“For Ballarat in particular, it will mean just over an hour to get to the airport, which will make Ballarat so much more attractive to families and business people,” he said.
“The Committee For Ballarat is pleased that the federal Liberal Party has backed this and state Labor has made the commitment. We are grateful for the bi-partisan approach to date.”
Public Transport Minister Jacinta Allen said from the state government point of view, the Sunshine link was confirmed, with a hope of construction to begin in 2022 with the line open by 2026.
“We’ve never been this far before,” Ms Allen said. “There’s never been a commitment of $10 billion from both state and the Commonwealth, there’s never been a preferred alignment chosen and there’s never been a business case started.”
Analysis produced as part of initial work on the business case shows that the Sunshine route rated 4.3 out of 5, the highest of the four route options provided, with a total cost in the range of $8-13 billion.
“It can connect our regional areas to the airport which for us has always been a really strong focus. We want to maximise the benefits for Victoria as a whole,” she said.
Labor candidates for Wendouree Juliana Addison, and for Buninyong Michaela Settle, said the announcement paved the way for a future fast rail commitment to Ballarat.
Rail Futures Victoria president John Hearsch said he was pleased.
“We’ve always advocated for the Sunshine interchange and particularly for Ballarat, Geelong and the regions in the north and west of the state, it will be of considerable benefit,” he said.
Mr Hearsch said he would like to see a separate line from the Metro system.
“We don’t believe it is sensible to use the Melbourne metro lines. But we do believe that $8-14 billion will be enough to build a new line.”
