The state government says it can build a 12 kilometre rail line to the airport without forcibly acquiring homes or businesses along the route.
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Premier Daniel Andrews said on Sunday that his government's plan for a new airport rail link, which could cost up to $13 billion, will rely on existing rail corridors and tunnels to get to Tullamarine via Sunshine.
The project now has bipartisan support in Victorian politics with Opposition Leader Matthew Guy confirming on Sunday that the Coalition would build the airport rail if it is elected in November.
Mr Andrews said work on the long-awaited rail link to Melbourne Airport could be under way within four years if his government is re-elected in November, saying the Sunshine route "stacks up" over other options.
The huge infrastructure project was kick-started by a pledge of $5 billion from the Turnbull government's federal budget in May.
Mr Andrews and his Public Transport Minister Jacinta Allan promised on Sunday to match the Commonwealth investment with $5 billion of state money to build the railway - which the state says will cost between $8 billion and $13 billion - if Labor retains government at November’s state election.
The Premier committed to a start on airport rail as the final stages of the massive Melbourne Metro tunnel under the CBD are built in 2022.
The state government is pushing hard for its preferred option of a line through Melbourne’s western suburbs and linking Geelong and Ballarat to the network with a hugely expanded rail hub at Sunshine.
A "Strategic Appraisal" published on Sunday, said the western alignment offered better connections to more areas of Melbourne with its link to the Metro Tunnel and better access for regional Victorian towns through an upgraded Sunshine interchange.
The western route can be built cheaper and quicker than other options, according to the government's document.
But a fully detailed and costed plan will not be completed until 2019, the Premier and Minister said on Sunday.
The Andrews government is increasingly confident that they are persuading the federal government that the Sunshine route is the best route.
Asked on Sunday morning if homes and businesses would have to be acquired to build the line, the Premier said no.
“No, and that’s one of the important strengths of the Sunshine option," he said
Mr Guy said on Sunday that the Coalition would push ahead with the project if it won government in November, committing to use the federal money to make a start and saying the Sunshine route was the obvious "common sense" option.
“That was really the only sensible route," he said. “Why would you suggest any other route when you’ve got the Albion rail link which is broad and standard gauge, operating within five or six kilometres of the airport?
“The upgrade of that line, connecting back to the airport was the most sensible, obvious, straightforward way to do it. It's amazing it's taken the government nearly four years to come to that realisation."
Lorie Argus, chief of parking and ground access for Melbourne Airport said the two governments' announcements showed airport rail was "high on the agenda".
"We just know that airports need rail links and it's a critical part of the passenger journey," she told reporters.
Ms Argus said the airport expected the rail option to be "competitive" with SkyBus, which is about $19 one way, and for the two services to co-exist to maximise passenger options.
With AAP
