The High Speed Rail Authority (HSRA) is taking an important step towards delivery of high-speed rail in Australia, with the Australian Government allocating $78.8 million to deliver the initial Sydney to Newcastle high speed rail business case.
Delivering high speed rail between Sydney and Newcastle is a crucial waypoint towards the Australian Government’s commitment to build a high-speed rail network on Australia’s east coast.
In our first Budget the Albanese Government committed $500 million to the early stages of developing high-speed rail, including business case works.
High-speed rail is a transformative project that will change travel between cities and provide a catalyst for economic development in regional areas.
This is more than just a transport project. It will create jobs, improve productivity and support Australia’s progress on environmental outcomes.
The business case is expected to be provided to Government by the end of 2024, having determined important aspects of the new rail network including the proposed alignment, station locations, the type of train to be used and importantly the estimated cost and timeframe for construction.
This funding will support the proper planning that is critical to the success of such a significant infrastructure project, bringing high speed rail in Australia one step closer to construction.
The idea of the Fast Rail was originally proposed by the Committee for Sydney back in 2021.
Under the model proposed by the Committee, trains travelling at between 200 and 250km/h would cut the travel time from Sydney Central to Newcastle to one hour and Gosford to just 25 minutes.
Fast rail (between 200km/h and 250km/h) is different from the high-speed rail that operates in Japan, France and China with speeds of above 250km/h and even up to 350km/h.
