Passenger Rail

Federal election: Fast vs. high speed rail battleground firms up

The Federal Coalition has committed to spend $2 billion to deliver 160km/h rail journeys between Melbourne and Geelong, while Labor has committed almost $3 billion to buy up land for a high speed rail corridor between Melbourne and Brisbane.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison was in Victoria at the end of last week to announce the $2 billion election commitment to cut the 80-kilometre transit between Geelong and Melbourne to just 32 minutes, by upgrading infrastructure to facilitate average service speeds of 160km/h.

The whole project is estimated to cost up to $4 billion, but Morrison and his urban infrastructure minister Alan Tudge said the $2 billion commitment would “get it going”.

The funding is part of the a 20-year fast rail plan Morrison unveiled, which also includes the creation of a National Fast Rail Agency, and $40 million in seed funding to investigate five more corridors for potential fast rail spending.

The prime minister, who looks set to call an election in May, said the Coalition’s fast rail platform is part of its population management policy.

“As our population grows, fast rail networks are crucial to easing the congestion pressures in our cities and shaping Australia’s future,” Morrison said.

“As well as reducing our migration cap and introducing new visas and incentives to encourage more migrants out to the regional areas that need their skills, our record investment in congestion busting infrastructure is key to tackling Australia’s population changes.”

Australasian Railway Association chief executive officer Danny Broad welcomed the commitment to fast rail funding.

“Fast rail reduces travelling times, facilitating decentralisation of major cities and revitalising regional centres through effective integrated transport options,” Broad said. “It allows commuting like never before.”

Meanwhile, the Labor Opposition late last week said through the media it would spend $2.8 billion to begin securing crucial land so that one day, a much faster, much more expensive high speed rail line can be built between Melbourne and Brisbane via Sydney and other population centres.

Shadow transport minister Anthony Albanese re-tweeted an article by the Financial Review saying the paper ‘understands’ Labor plans to make the $2.8 billion promise in the lead-up to the election.

It also quoted Albanese at a recent conference in Sydney, where the shadow minister cited interest from a number of international high speed rail businesses.

“The Japan Railway Company, they’ve had an office here since the 1980s waiting for something to happen. The Europeans, the Chinese; there’s a great deal of interest,” he was quoted as saying.

Broad didn’t address the debate between ‘fast’ or ‘high speed’ rail in the ARA statement, instead noting it was welcome that both sides of politics were willing to commit to faster rail options in general.

“With the Federal Opposition’s policy for a High Speed Rail Planning Authority, we appear to have bipartisan support for a national agency dedicated to long term planning of faster rail initiatives,” Broad said.

“This is a welcome development. Rail projects in Australia have historically been in the province of state governments, resulting in a disjointed and uncoordinated approach to rail investment and decision-making.”

Asked by the media about Labor’s high speed plans, Morrison wasted little time promoting the ‘fast rail’ pitch as the more realistic, pragmatic option.

“I find it very hard to take the Opposition seriously when they talk about projects like that,” Morrison said. “A Melbourne to Brisbane fast rail link is a very ambitious program and the wherewithal to do that and the timeframes around that, I think the Opposition should be very clear about.

“We’re focusing on projects that we know are going to make a big difference to people right here and now.”