Shadow transport and infrastructure minister Anthony Albanese has called on governments to progress high speed rail for Australia’s east coast, saying travel times between Sydney and Newcastle have not improved in more than five decades.
With fewer than 80 days until the next federal election, Albanese appeared on local Newcastle radio to discuss Labor’s $250 million commitment to the Singleton Bypass.
But conversation quickly turned to Albanese’s pet project, a high speed rail line for Australia’s eastern states.
“It is appalling that it takes longer today to travel by rail to Newcastle from Sydney and the other way around than it did 50 years ago,” he asserted.
“But the truth is the terrain is difficult which is why, in my view, we should bite the bullet and go for a high speed rail connection not just through to Sydney but right through to Melbourne and then north to Brisbane.”
Albanese has been a strong advocate for high speed rail for some time. When Labor was last in government he drove a $20 million study into the feasibility of the technology for Australia. He now believes an initial route from Melbourne to Newcastle would be the right place to start.
“The route that would make the most sense is that corridor between Melbourne and Newcastle,” he said on February 27.
“It would be a real game-changer. It is expensive, but nation-building requires vision. We have done the study … we were ready to create a High Speed Rail Authority. I’ve still got legislation before the Parliament and I know that certainly Sharon Claydon and Pat Conroy and all of the MPs in the Hunter are very, very keen on it, as they are indeed on the Central Coast – there’d be a stop on the Coast and then straight through to Sydney.”