Euroa MP Steph Ryan concerned North East will be locked out of Melbourne's airport link

The suburban Melbourne station will be a stopover to connect the airport to rest of the network for the first time.

Construction is scheduled to commence next year before it is opened in 2029.

Services from other regional centres such as Geelong, Ballarat and Bendigo all pass through Sunshine, but trains on the north east line and XPT trains from Sydney can't stop there on the way to Southern Cross Station as it doesn't have a standard gauge platform.

Shadow Minister for Public Transport Steph Ryan said without a standard gauge platform at Sunshine Station, North East passengers would be further punished.

"No changes at the Sunshine platform will lock North East Victoria out of Melbourne's airport rail link, forcing commuters to go all the way to Southern Cross or to take the bus service from Broadmeadows," Ms Ryan said.

The Victorian government reiterated North East line passengers would have shorter journey by changing at Broadmeadows to a bus or taxi, or would catch a train once Suburban Rail Loop Northern section is built.

"We have invested significantly in rail line upgrades and new VLocity trains specifically for the North East to provide more comfortable, modern train services for passengers and visitors," a government spokeswoman said.

"It is highly unlikely a North East Line passenger will choose a longer journey to the airport via Sunshine.

"If you were to travel to the airport via Sunshine from the North East line, you would be travelling backwards.

"Passengers will take a short bus journey from Broadmeadows to the airport, which will improve further with the Suburban Rail Loop, compared to taking an unnecessary 15 minute train journey from Broadmeadows to Sunshine Station and then taking an additional journey from Sunshine station to Melbourne Airport."

"Buses between Broadmeadows station and Melbourne Airport will run every 15 minutes until 9pm weekdays and every 30 minutes on weekends and evenings until midnight (9pm on Sundays).

"The service runs between Melbourne Airport and Frankston via Broadmeadows, Roxburgh Park, Epping and Greensborough seven days a week."

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Rail Futures Institute president John Hearsch said travel east of Melbourne would be an extra inconvenience.

"There's lots of journeys people might do such as the Parkville area for the (Peter MacCallum) cancer centre and down the Monash area around Clayton," he said.

"There used to be a standard gauge platform at Sunshine until about 20 years ago because they used to change between the Adelaide and Sydney trains there.

"Sunshine is going to be extensively modified and it's not a huge job to put a platform back on the standard gauge line."

A platform at Sunshine Station for standard gauge lines was opened in August 1963 and has not been in use at Sunshine Train Station for 30 years.

It ceased to be used after the Intercapital Daylight, the major train service was withdrawn in August 1991 and the platform was removed in June 2004.

"The Melbourne Airport Rail route via Sunshine was chosen as it will provide direct airport access for 30 stations and require a single interchange for most other lines, including passengers from regional areas such as Bendigo, Ballarat, Geelong and Gippsland," a government spokeswoman said.

"The first standard gauge VLocity train is currently conducting real-world track tests on the North East Line in preparation for passenger services.

"Track upgrades delivered as part of the North East Line Upgrade are also improving comfort for passenger services and making services more reliable.

"The new VLocity trains are part of the Victorian Government's $340 million 2019/20 budget investment in new trains to meet increased demand across the regional network."

The government confirmed a standard gauge platform at Sunshine station is not currently within Melbourne Airport Rail's scope, but the project design will not preclude it for any future investments.

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