Commonwealth and state government officials met in Bendigo on Friday to provide an update to Victorian public transport minister Jacinta Allan and her federal counterpart Paul Fletcher.

A preliminary business case will be completed by September, which will recommend a route out of the four currently being considered.

Related: Council pushes one-hour Bendigo-Melbourne Airport train trip

Ms Allan said connecting regional Victoria – along with the growing northern and western fringes of Melbourne – remained a priority during the planning process.

“It’s really important that we get this project right, and that’s why the careful work that’s being done now on the options analysis is looking at exactly that issue,” she said.

“One of the things that has changed... from the original work that was done back in 2012 around the four different options around an airport rail link, is... that we’ve got on in delivering the Metro Tunnel.

“That does change the nature of the overall network because we’re opening up the capacity in the heart of our public transport system for suburban and regional trains.”

Of the four options identified in 2012, which is being used as a base case to choose the final route, just one allows for the inclusion of regional fast rail.

In April, the federal government announced $5 billion to help build the Melbourne Airport rail link.

The Victorian government was already working on a $30 million preliminary business case.

Mr Fletcher said Friday’s meeting was “constructive” and he was confident that they could come up with an airport link, despite failures in the past.

“Melbourne really stands out as a global city not to have a direct rail connection to the airport,” he said.

“It’s important from a national perspective, as well as from a Victorian perspective and a Melbourne perspective that we fix that.”

The City of Greater Bendigo hoped the airport rail link would allow the Bendigo line to be connected via the airport, allowing for a regional fast train to reach the airport in one hour.