Construction will begin on a rail link between Southern Cross Station and Tullamarine airport within less than a decade, the Andrews government says.
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The Melbourne Airport rail link will also bring huge benefits to country Victoria, Premier Daniel Andrews will announce on Thursday, by untangling the V/Line rail network from congested metropolitan tracks in Melbourne's west.
Planning is set to begin on building an airport connection that will also free up trains on the Geelong and Ballarat lines, and reduce travel times between the two regional cities and Melbourne.
Journey times between Melbourne and Geelong could be cut to less than 40 minutes, under a model for airport rail being considered by the Andrews and Turnbull governments.
Mr Andrews will tell a gathering of the Victorian Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Geelong on Thursday that an airport rail link will be under construction by the time the $11.3 billion Metro rail tunnel opens in 2026.
A Melbourne airport rail line has been planned since the mid-1960s.
In his speech, the premier will rule out building a rail link that is simply an urban connection between the city and the airport.
"It can't just be an expensive funnel for tourists and businesspeople between the CBD and airport," Mr Andrews' speech states.
"Instead, it can transform the way people live, work and travel across Victoria. In our view, the airport rail link has the potential to unlock western and northern Victoria."
The announcement follows a meeting between Andrews and Turnbull government transport ministers on Wednesday to begin planning for the link.
The two governments have committed $30 million towards a planning study on the best way to build the airport rail connection.
The study will look at combining an airport rail link with the electrification of rail lines to Melbourne's western suburbs that are currently part of the V/Line diesel network.
New tracks between Southern Cross Station and Sunshine station, potentially involving tunnelling, will also be considered.
"Ultimately, that means we can deliver real, high-speed rail to regional Victoria," Mr Andrews will say.
The $3.6 billion Regional Rail Link, between Southern Cross Station and west Werribee, opened a little more than two years ago and has separated V/Line and Metro services in the western suburbs.
But it has also increased peak-hour overcrowding on the Geelong and Ballarat lines and brought no reduction to travel times.
Federal Transport Minister Darren Chester said the business case for the Melbourne Airport rail link was already in development.
"Our expectation is we need to work with the Victorian government, that they need to get on board and be fair dinkum about this process - and we think we can get this done in 12 months - and get the Victorian public a design they can work with, and get on with the job of working out how we fund it," Mr Chester said.
Paul Fletcher, the federal Minister for Urban Infrastructure, said Sydney and Brisbane have airport rail links, and Perth is building one.
"A city of the scale and importance of Melbourne deserves such a connection, that is why the Turnbull government has committed $30 million for a business case process," Mr Fletcher said.
The concept of linking airport rail to the wider V/Line network, instead of just the metropolitan system, has also been proposed to the Andrews government by Rail Futures, a group of expert rail advocates.
