The Andrews Labor Government will include $50 million in the upcoming Victorian Budget for detailed investigations into a preferred route for a proposed high-speed rail link between Geelong and Melbourne.
The cities, which sit roughly 75 kilometres apart, could be linked by trains travelling between 250 and 300 kilometres an hour under the plan, state transport minister Jacinta Allan said on Thursday.
“This vital work will help determine the best way to deliver high-speed rail to Geelong as part of the Melbourne Airport Link,” Allan said.
“This is about ensuring any link to the airport delivers better services for Geelong and regional Victoria. With the right planning, this could change the way people live and work in Geelong.”
The money planned for the upcoming State Budget will go towards detailed planning work and technical investigations for the potential infrastructure upgrades, costs and train requirements for the fast rail link.
The government is looking into a dedicated fleet of trains for the initiative, which would be capable of travelling up to 300 kilometres an hour.
Victoria is working with the Federal Government on a plan for a rail link to Melbourne Airport, and the Turnbull Government plans to put $5 billion in commitments toward the link in the Federal Budget.
Integrating a fast rail link to Geelong into the Melbourne Airport link would make the project – and its hefty price tag – more appealing for regional voters.
Have 4 tracks between GEEL and MELB with high speed trains running in the 2 central tracks. “Local Trains Stop Stations” to have to only have 2 platforms, where express trains are not to stop. “All Train Stop Stations” to have 4 platforms.
The last paragraph in the article says it all! This is simply a vote catching ploy, with $50 million going to a fat cat consultant. As Neil Hamilton has suggested, an extra two tracks (on the existing route) would facilitate true express trains at 160 km/h and offer commuters on the Geelong – Melbourne corridor a 30 minute journey. I personally don’t think it’s worth spending billions of dollars on another route when the present one can be upgraded. Our current rolling stock can run at 160 km/h if the track is first grade.. The Geelong – Melbourne route is too short to have trains running at 300 km/h. That kind of speed is better suited to longer routes such as Melbourne – Sydney
Agreed. High speed trains do not like curves and bends.
The Subways in New York City, ICE in Germany, Shinkansen in Japan, among many other rail authorities, use this strategy express trains passing through the centre of low priority stations as way to keep people away from the vortex air that follows high speed trains running straight through a station. It also keeps the costs of construction and maintenance down to a minimum.
We should be doing the same thing on the rail lines such as MELB to SYD, MELB to ADL, SYD to BRI
With “grade-separation” along the entire length of the track the trains can proceed without fear of hitting a B-Double “bottoming out” on a level crossing, as happened in Brisbane recently and was hit by a train that could not avoid the collision.