The airport, which had insisted an underground station was the best solution, has bowed to pressure after the federal government’s mediator, Neil Scales, sided with the state government.
The station will serve Keilor East and the Airport West precinct, and is one of the two new stations planned for the line, the other being at Melbourne Airport itself. It has a potential catchment of more than 150,000 Moonee Valley residents.
Made of energy-absorbing cellular cement blocks, EMAS beds are designed to slow aircraft that overshoot the end of a runway by crushing under their weight, bringing them to a controlled stop while causing as little damage as possible.
The project, which opened at the end of June, involved refurbishing the former international area after international services were shifted to the southern end of the terminal as part of a $260 million expansion in 2022.