Two years ago, the AirRail Melbourne consortium – which includes the owner of Southern Cross Station and part owner of Melbourne Airport, IFM Investors – offered to contribute $5 billion (on top of the state and federal government’s $10 billion) to own and operate the Airport Rail Link tunnel, with the service slated to “deliver a ‘reliable’ 20-minute travel time from the CBD to the airport for $20” and the consortium to “keep the ticket revenue”.
In November 2018, the federal government approved the project, pledging $5 billion towards the project (on top of the State Government’s $5 billion). And in March 2019, both the Federal and Victorian Governments signed a “heads of agreement” for the project.
Former ACCC boss, Graeme Samuel, slammed the project, claiming it would “entrench a monopoly arrangement”, leading to passengers getting ripped-off:
