Road to prosperity
A NEW rail link to Avalon Airport remains on the agenda despite the airport’s boss admitting his main focus is on boosting bus services to its terminals.
With international flights now using the airport, Avalon chief executive Justin Giddings said he was eager to increase the regularity of SkyBus’s services to the airport from Geelong and Melbourne.
It comes as the State Government continues to investigate the possibility of a link to Avalon Airport as part of its study into fast rail options between Victoria’s two biggest cities.
“If you can have a regular bus every 15 minutes, that makes Avalon so much more accessible and at a lower cost,” Mr Giddings said.
“Of course fast rail is great, but that’s a lot of money, and I’m really keen to ensure things are commercially considered. There’s got to be a commercial element to it — it’s got to be profitable for the operator and also be affordable for the passenger.
“There’s still an appetite (for a rail link), but that’s years away.”
Despite the prospect of reg- ular bus connections through the airport, Geelong Mayor Bruce Harwood is adamant a rail link was still necessary.
“I think they would complement each other,” he said.
“If you have good road and rail transport working in conjunction, it would only benefit the community.”
Cr Harwood said a rail link would prove a “critical” piece of infrastructure for the airport and allow travellers to get to Avalon faster than by road.
Earlier this year, his council commissioned an expert independent report to look into Melbourne-Geelong fast rail.
It identified an opportunity to create a route between Avalon and Melbourne with journeys of just 27 minutes.
Cr Harwood said he be- lieved the State Government was genuinely interested in building a rail link to Avalon Airport.
“We’ve had some very good discussions on how fast rail would look between Geelong and Melbourne,” he said.
“No doubt, especially in the New Year, we’ll get back around the table with the Government and stakeholders, and there will be more narrative coming out.”
Multiple options have been floated for a potential Avalon rail link, including a purposebuilt station near the airport.
There have also been suggestions for a new station to be built between Lara and Little River, which would connect to the airport terminal via a bus or light rail service.