Sunshine
Sunshine is a western suburb in Brimbank City Council, south-east of Albion, built around the junction of the Bendigo and Ballarat lines. The station is the centre of the current rail works. The photograph is Hampshire Road in September 2016, the town centre rather than the station.
At a glance
Reviewed 2026-11-01.
Council: Brimbank
The council is Brimbank. The population figures are in the census section below, and they are for the suburb.
What is changing
Melbourne Airport Rail stage 1 is rebuilding Sunshine station and more than 6 km of track from West Footscray to Albion. That stage does not include trains to the airport. Big Build’s target for the West Footscray to Albion works, including the station, is 2030.
On 21 October 2026 Big Build named CPB Contractors and SMEC as preferred bidder for the package that expands the station. A preferred bidder is not a finished station.
Brimbank records the October 2022 Sunshine Station Precinct Masterplan as a $143 million first stage, tied to Melbourne Airport Rail. That is not the package now being built. The rail works are the separate West Footscray to Albion upgrade, described in a February 2026 fact sheet as a joint investment of more than $4 billion.
Location and boundaries
The outline below is the OpenStreetMap locality. Albion is the labelled neighbour to the north-west. The census figures further down are for the Australian Bureau of Statistics suburb SAL22395, which is a different boundary dataset.
Transport and access
Stations: Sunshine Station
Lines: Sunbury Line
Sunshine station is on the Sunbury line. The stage 1 designs add two platforms for regional services and realign the Sunbury line between Sunshine and West Footscray. Metropolitan trains already run through the station. A service to Melbourne Airport is a later stage.
Infrastructure projects
The February 2026 designs for the station include two new platforms for regional trains, a longer concourse, a rebuilt bus interchange, and new forecourts. The preferred bidder named on 21 October 2026 is for that station package. Stage 2 is a different piece of work: a line from Albion to Keilor East, which Big Build states will be complete in 2031. That year is not a date for the station package, and neither stage is the train to the airport. The longer account is Sunshine is becoming Melbourne’s western transport hub. How this package sits against growth further west, where the metropolitan line still ends at Werribee, is the west is changing faster than the old infrastructure.
Projects: Melbourne Airport Rail
Planning and development
The council treats the station as the centre of a priority precinct. The October 2022 masterplan is the $143 million announcement in the section above, not the rail package being built. The council’s Sunshine Priority Precinct Vision 2050 says the precinct could double its residents and jobs by 2050. That is a planning aim, not a count of homes approved or built.
Population and housing
| People usually resident | 9,445 |
| Median age | 35 |
| Private dwellings | 3,984 |
| People per household | 2.6 |
| Median weekly household income | $1,566 |
These figures are for the suburb, not for the City of Brimbank. On the same release the Victorian median age was 38, and the Victorian average household was 2.5 people.
History and local context
The area was in the Shire of Braybrook. The only station nearby was Albion and Darlington, on the site of the current Albion station, until the junction station opened on 7 September 1885 as Braybrook Junction. In 1906 H. V. McKay moved his agricultural machinery works from Ballarat to a factory beside the station and renamed it the Sunshine Harvester Works. The station, and then the suburb, took the Sunshine name from the works. Those dates are from the Wikipedia article on the suburb.
Recent verified changes
- 21 October 2026. Big Build named CPB Contractors and SMEC as preferred bidder for the station package, including two new platforms for regional trains. The announcement is a procurement step. It is not the opening of those platforms, and it is not the airport line.
- September 2026. Soil testing around the station was scheduled from 29 September to 14 October 2026, between 7am and 6pm. A notice dated 22 September 2026 sets it in the rail reserve between Anderson Road and the station, then in the Station Place bus area, the Sun Crescent car park, and the western car park. It is preparation for construction, not the new station, and it is described as scheduled rather than finished.
- April 2026. Boring started on a jet-fuel pipeline tunnel, about 2 km, between Sunshine and Albion. The existing pipe is being moved about 30 metres underground so the new platforms and concourse can be built.
Practical questions
Does the work at the station include a train to the airport?
Not on the stage now under way. Stage 1 is the station and the track from West Footscray to Albion. Big Build’s target for that stage is 2030. The line beyond Albion, including a station at Keilor East, is stage 2, with a stated target of 2031. The airport connection is later again.
Is the $143 million the budget for the works now under way?
No. That figure is the council’s record of the October 2022 masterplan announcement. The rail package is the separate joint investment of more than $4 billion in the February 2026 fact sheet. The two numbers are not two versions of one budget.
Are the census figures for Brimbank?
No. The table is the suburb, SAL22395. The City of Brimbank is a larger area, and its own census is a different count.
Sources and related places
- Melbourne Airport Rail, Victoria’s Big Build. Stage 1 scope, and completion in 2030.
- West Footscray to Albion Rail Upgrade, February 2026, Victoria’s Big Build. Joint investment of more than $4 billion for more than 6 km from West Footscray to Albion, and two new regional platforms at Sunshine.
- Preferred bidder named for Melbourne Airport Rail, Victoria’s Big Build, 21 October 2026. CPB Contractors and SMEC as preferred bidder for the station package. Stage 2, Albion to Keilor East, is stated to be complete in 2031.
- Sunshine site investigations, September and October 2026, Victoria’s Big Build. Soil testing from 29 September to 14 October 2026.
- Major works start on jet fuel pipeline between Sunshine and Albion, Victoria’s Big Build, 13 April 2026.
- Sunshine, CBD of the west, Brimbank City Council. The 2022 masterplan, the $143 million figure, and the 2050 precinct aim.
- 2021 Census QuickStats: Sunshine (Vic.) (SAL22395), Australian Bureau of Statistics. People, median age, dwellings, people per household, and median weekly household income. The Victorian median age on that page is 38, and the Victorian average household is 2.5 people.
- Sunshine, Victoria, Wikipedia. Braybrook Junction opened 7 September 1885, and McKay’s move of the Harvester Works in 1906.
- Photograph: Hampshire Road, Sunshine town centre, Reinthal, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons. 17 September 2016.
- Map: OpenStreetMap contributors, retrieved 1 November 2026. Locality outline, not the ABS suburb boundary and not a survey plan.