Anthony Albanese joins Jacinta Allan and splashes cash for Victorian rail line facing funding black hole

A contentious $34.5 million rail line has been promised more federal funding as another gets the green light to open early.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese joined Victorian Premier Jacinta Allan on a joy ride through Melbourne’s Metro Tunnel on Sunday after the project’s opening date was shifted forward.

The $15 billion rail line and its five new underground stations were scheduled to open in early December but the date has been changed to November 30 following safety approval.

The prime minister came bearing a celebratory gift, vowing to dig into federal coffer’s for the Suburban Rail Loop.

The proposed 90km orbital rail loop is intended to run from Cheltenham in Melbourne’s southeast to Werribee in the outer west via the airport at Tullamarine.

So far the Victorian government has committed $11.8 billion to the $34.5 billion eastern section.

It wants the commonwealth to cough up a third of the cost but the Albanese government has released just $2.2 billion, leaving a massive funding gap.

The extra cash injection was ticked off after working through “issues” with Infrastructure Australia, Mr Albanese said.

“There will be additional funding in the budget because Victoria needs that certainty going forward,” he said.

The prime minister would not say how much money was on the way or if a funding split had been agreed, declaring Victorians would have to “wait and see” when the federal budget was handed down in May.

Shadow attorney-general James Newbury argued budget mismanagement meant the state still couldn’t afford to pay its portion for the rail loop.

“A premier and a prime minister saying one day they might have some money to pay for something, I mean frankly that’s worth nothing,” he said.

The Suburban Rail Loop was a hot issue during the most recent federal election, with then opposition leader Peter Dutton pledging to cancel Labor’s $2.2 billion in funding and redirect it to building a rail line to Melbourne Airport.

The entire project was originally estimated to cost $50 billion when unveiled by Victorian Labor ahead of the 2018 state election.

Its price tag was revised to $34.5 billion for the eastern section alone, with Infrastructure Australia casting doubt on that estimate earlier in 2025 and calling for an “exit strategy” if it couldn’t be delivered.