NSW Government Promise High Speed Rail Ahead Of March Election

BY JARROD MELMETH

The NSW Government have promised to start work on a fast rail network which could include Newcastle to Sydney services, should they be re-elected in March.

The bold plans announced on Tuesday proposed two types of trains, faster rail which would travel at speeds of up to 200km/h and High-Speed Rail which would travel at speeds of up to 250km/h.

Premier Gladys Berejiklian said a faster rail network will give people greater choice about where they live and how they commute to work.

"We know a fast rail network will transform NSW unlike any other project and we will make it a reality.

"We need to make it easier for people to consider moving to regional NSW and there is no better way to do it than building a fast rail network," Ms Berejiklian said. 

The four routes identified by the state government are Northern Route including the Central Coast and Newcastle; Southern Inland Route including Goulburn and Canberra; Western Route including Lithgow, Bathurst and Orange/Parkes; and Southern Coastal Route including Wollongong and Nowra.

The NSW Government has appointed Professor Andrew McNaughton to lead an expert panel to provide advice to the Premier on how the government should best deliver a fast rail network.
Parliamentary Secretary for the Hunter Scot MacDonald said the commute to Sydney from Newcastle could soon be just 45 minutes.

"Obviously this has to go through a technical case, and they have to go through a business case. This is a commitment we will be following through if we win government in March.

"Following the work to be done by Prof McNaughton, the government will take it to the next stage about what we can do. This could mean faster rail or high-speed rail," Mr MacDonald said.

NSW Transport Minister Andrew Constance said in the long term, high-speed rail would see the development of new alignments and lines, providing speeds of over 250km/h, giving the potential to cut travel times by up to 75 per cent.

Artists impression of the planned high-speed rail.

Government Must Act Now to Secure High-Speed Rail

BY TYLER FARDELL

One of the biggest projects ever seen in Australia could end up costing billions of dollars more than it should if the State Government doesn't act fast to purchase land.

A high-speed rail line stretching along the East Coast would increase commuter numbers and reduce travel costs as it would connect all the major Eastern cities.

However, Infrastructure Australia is worried the project may result in a cost-blowout if vital land for the rail isn't purchased before developers get their hands on it.

It's estimated securing the plots of land would cost the Government around $720 million dollars right now, but it could end costing at least $3.5 billion dollars if it's sold to developers.

This is because it's around 10 times more expensive to build rail underground through tunnels to avoid housing areas, according to the Executive Director of Policy and Research at Infrastructure Australia, Adrien Dwyer.

"If we act now we can provide the infrastructure we need for the future at significant savings', he said.

It's all guesswork right now, but people are speculating a section of the rail between Sydney and Canberra could be up and running as early as 2032, with Melbourne to follow around 5 years later.

Currently, there are five areas of land between Sydney and Newcastle which are at risk of being sold to developers.

"Something like high-speed rail could be a game-changer for Australia in the future, but we might miss out on that opportunity if we don't make the modest investments now".

Source; SydneyMorningHerald