The cost of constructing a high-speed railway on Australia’s east coast could cost half as much as early estimates suggested, a new report has claimed.
A high-speed line linking Brisbane, the Gold Coast, Newcastle, Sydney, Canberra and Melbourne could be delivered for AU $63 billion – almost half the government’s initial AU $114 billion estimate – according to a study commissioned by the the Australasian Railway Association (ARA).
ARA is keen to stress the potential benefits of high-speed rail (HSR) to Australian citizens and said that the topic “must be debated now” to manage the country’s growing population.
The report further builds on a study published by climate change thinktank Beyond Zero Emmissions (BZE) which suggested that the 1,799-kilometre system could be built by 2025 for around AU $80 billion.
‘The Potential Impacts of High Speed Passenger Rail to Eastern Australia’ also recommends the creation of a ‘High Speed Rail Development Office’ to develop Australia’s HSR strategy.
The question of what high-speed rail could do for the rail freight industry was also considered, with the report suggesting that the integration of high-speed passenger and freight services should be explored.
Here we go again, flogging a dead horse. Amazing what they will do to keep this in the press.
For the record:
Firstly, Beyond Zero emissions is ONLY a think tank. As
such, their grasp of finance and estimates of cost are highly questionable.
Secondly, supporters of the HSR need to read the whole report that was
previously released by the Government. Their estimates were $114billion at 2012
prices. Which does not include the rolling stock (locomotives and carriages).
Governments are not known for getting their pricing correct either. Has anyone
ever seen a govt project come in on budget? In case no one has noticed,
$114billion is an awful lot of money. And why should people from anywhere /
every where except the immediate vicinity of the HSR have to pay (taxes) to
finance the project? Also we do not and never will have the population to
support / justify a HSR.
There are other things too. The travel times quoted will
never be attained. Every time the train stops it destroys average times. The
HSR is OLD technology. Steel on steel – noise for miles around the tracks.
Lastly, historically, people in Australia do not catch trains other than in metro areas..
There are no profitable train lines in Australia. And never will be. Read
the report.
“Historically people do not catch trains in Australia”…is that because they are so slow and you could probably walk faster?. They should use Maglev technology..to avoid the ‘steel on steel’
What about the cost of road building? The economic benefits are massive; most of the money spent on the project would go back into the economy as wages and taxes, employment would be created (god forbid), Decreasing commuting times would increase productivity in general and make land cheaper by opening up supply (housing costs in Australia are…insane). Regional Australia would finally get a chance to compete and Australia will ensure its global competitiveness. The benefits far out way the cost. The sooner it is done the better.
I live in Australia and it is not a subject that we see on our local NEWS actually you people on here probably know more about what’s happening with this than we do. For a point of reference I live in Sydney NSW and at the moment our NSW State Government is talking about cutting long distance rail services due to the lack of patronage as the local low cost airlines are making it easier & cheaper to get from one capital city to other capital city for example on one of the domestic Airlines you can travel between Sydney and Melbourne for as low as $30 Aus & do it with in 90 minutes compared to Rail where’s your going to be paying $160+ Aus. for a 12 hour trip.In an uncomfortable 80s era XPT Train seat and then you have only two trips a day 1 in the morning and 1 over night. I used to travel by train for all my interstate trips and I now Fly as it’s cheaper than the train in Australia. Also there’s more frequent services by plane.