Sunshine Station will be expanded to add a new regional platform by 2029, as part of its transformation into a transport superhub and the key connection point for the regions, Melbourne CBD and the airport.

The new regional platform will allow more regional services to stop, including Bendigo services, paving the way for the Western Rail Plan and complementing the Melbourne Airport Rail Link.

The announcement adds to previously announced Sunshine Station upgrades, including extending existing regional platforms to accommodate longer nine-car VLocity trains and a new, second concourse to make transfers easier between metro, regional and airport services.

The Sunshine Station project is part of the broader Melbourne Airport Rail Link project, which is being jointly funded by the Australian and Victorian Governments.

Construction is only months away from starting to make trains to Melbourne Airport a reality, with the project team preparing for utility relocations to start mid this year, subject to final approvals.

Melbourne Airport Rail Link will establish new offices at Sunshine Plaza, bringing around 340 team members closer to the project and hundreds of potential customers to local Sunshine businesses.

Victorian Minister for Transport Infrastructure, Jacinta Allan said the new platform is an investment in developing Sunshine as the centre of Melbourne’s booming west.

“With most people travelling directly between the airport and their home, Melbourne Airport Rail Link route via Sunshine provides a solution that benefits most Victorians through good connectivity to the existing metropolitan and regional rail network,” Minister Allan said.

“Pre-COVID, over 40 per cent of the 20,000-plus daily regional trips made to and from Melbourne Airport came from Ballarat, Bendigo and Geelong.

“This is why supporting development of Sunshine’s superhub and running airport services through the Metro Tunnel is so beneficial – it provides easy connections to these regions, to key city services and trips into the heart of the CBD in around 30 minutes.”

Once Sunshine’s transformation into a transport superhub is complete, trains will run every two to three minutes at peak times, including airport services every ten minutes and an approximately 11-minute trip to Melbourne Airport.

Federal Minister for Communications, Urban Infrastructure, Cities and the Arts, the Hon Paul Fletcher MP, said the Morrison Government had committed $5 billion to Melbourne Airport Rail Link.

“The Melbourne Airport Rail Link will provide fast, reliable train services between the airport and the CBD, and help manage the transport needs of Melbourne’s growing population,” Minister Fletcher said.

“The project will also help better connect regional centres such as Geelong, Ballarat and Bendigo with Melbourne Airport via the Sunshine station.

“This is just one example of the Morrison Government delivering transformational infrastructure in Victoria as part of its record, $110 billion national infrastructure plan.”