Australian government's national transport plan to include 20km new link to West

Plans for a 20km rail link between Geelong and Melbourne will be included in the Australian government's transport plan to be announced in December.

The A$1.5bn (£639m) Tarneit link is expected to provide better public transport to the West and remove bottlenecks between the two cities.

According to the Department of Transport, the Tarneit rail link could lead to new stations being built in growth corridors including Derrimut, Truganina and Wyndham Vale.

The news comes as the Australian prime minister, John Brumby, prepares to submit a report on the nation's transport funding needs to Infrastructure Australia, the body responsible for advising the government on how it should spend its A$20bn (£8.5bn) Building Australia fund.