This speed of these trains seems quite high. My thoughts are that a train traveling at 2/3 that speed would cost a lot less. Although you'd still need to build those tunnels to close to the city centres.
IF people want to get go Melbourne>Sydney>Brisbane in around 2 hours they can take a plane. If they don't mind taking 3.5 to 4 hours then a train is the way to go. Although that misses the point of a rail system like this. We should be looking at it as a way to spread the population and provide more transport options for the large regional towns.
A re-elected Labor government would secure 1,750km of rail corridor for a high-speed rail network from Brisbane to Melbourne, via Sydney and Canberra, and has pledged an initial $52 million for the planning stage of the project.
Prime Minister Kevin Rudd said the government would create a High Speed Rail Authority to oversee the project, which would see Sydney and Melbourne connected by 2035.
This is the sort of project that the govt should be preparing for another downturn. If it's all right to go and there is GFC II, III or IV the govt could roll it out quickly and stimulate in a more meaningful way than the builders early retirement program.
High speed rail is not going to happen in Australia, at least not in the near term. There just isn't the demand to support it.
Well, the Syd-Mel route is the 5th-most travelled air route in the world. Seems to me that if there is no case to build on that route, there is no case for anywhere. There is also the benefit that Canberra airport would essentially become Sydney's second airport and there would be no need to worry about that one any more.
The SYD-BNE side seems a lot less compelling though.
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All for a HSR project, would be a good employer. Bet they won't do as well as the Snowy Hydro Scheme, on budget and on time, the quality of management these days leaves a lot to be desired. Hope the death toll won't be as high though. I bet the immigrant workers stayed in Australia too, these days, lots of 457's.
"Construction of the Snowy Scheme was managed by the Snowy Mountains Hydroelectric Authority, it officially began on 17 October 1949 and took 25 years, officially completed on 21 October 1972.
Tunneling records were set in the construction of the Scheme and it was completed on time and on budget in 1974, at a cost of A$820 million; a dollar value equivalent in 1999 and 2004 to A$6 billion.
Around two thirds of the workforce employed in the construction of the scheme were immigrant workers, originating from over thirty countries.
The official death toll of workers on the Scheme stands at 121 people.
Some 1,600 kilometres of roads and tracks were constructed, seven townships and over 100 camps were built to enable construction of the 16 major dams, seven hydroelectric power stations, a pumping station, 145 kilometres of tunnel and 80 kilometres of pipelines and aqueducts. Just 2% of the construction work is visible from above ground." - Wikipedia
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IT'S an old joke doing the rounds among grain farmers on South Australia's Eyre Peninsula. But it is anything but a laughing matter for one of the world's biggest agribusiness companies.
"I was on the Eyre Peninsula last week talking to some farmers and heading towards Ceduna. And they were joking about one of the farm kids being able to run faster than the train that carts grain into the Port Lincoln export terminal," says Josh Martin, the head of commodity trading & risk management at Cargill Australia.
Cargill exports more than 20 per cent of Australia’s wheat and owns two million tonnes of annual rail capacity after purchasing the grain assets of the Australian Wheat Board two years ago.
But the company is now deeply concerned about the state of the nation’s railway infrastructure. It could be one of the prime factors that prevents Australia capitalising on its chance to profit from Asia’s food demand boom.
“Are we maximising capacity utilisation of the existing infrastructure?” Mr Martin asked delegates at the PBB Advisory inaugural agribusiness conference. “The answer to that is no. Today we are not”.
"We need to work with governments and industry bodies to ensure that investment is being made in the rail infrastructure to promote the efficiency at a higher rate”
“Investment in infrastructure needs to be focused very much on driving long-term, sustainable, competitive and efficient export supply-chain economics,” Mr Martin said…
Mr Martin’s comments were backed by GrainCorp chief executive Alison Watkins, who said that Australia’s rail infrastructure needed urgent investment to reduce supply chain costs for grain and other products.
“Supply chain costs make up a very large proportion of delivered costs in marketing products overseas, whether it is grain or another product”
“A lot of it is about the way we operate the rail system. That it is the most efficient, lowest cost and with the least carbon emissions.
“There is an opportunity to ensure our supply chain can be efficient as it can be”
Posted on Wednesday, September 11 2013 at 11:10 AM
A high-speed rail (HSR) system between Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane could be strategic in alleviating capital city infrastructure pressures and decentralising communities, according to a PRDnationwide research report.
The High Speed Rail & Property Report is a comprehensive look at how the proposed HSR system could affect the property landscape along Australia’s east coast.
The second phase of a Federal Government study into HSR was released in April this year.
It’s anticipated that the HSR network would comprise about 1748 kilometres of dedicated route between Brisbane, Sydney, Canberra and Melbourne. Trains would run at an average of 300 kilometres per hour on a dedicated track.
Aaron Maskrey, director of research at PRDnationwide, says the HSR could prove critical in alleviating future pressure on existing capital city amenities, despite the estimated cost of around $114 billion.
“Population forecasts for metropolitan centres in Australia indicate that unless we facilitate change, there’s going to be an enormous strain on (the) infrastructure and amenities of our capital cities to accommodate growth,” he says.
“The proposed high-speed rail project can potentially serve as the catalyst for changing the face of public transport for the whole eastern seaboard, reducing congestion on our already bulging highways and crowded airports, and offering commuters an alternative means to live and work.”
The report says the 11 regions that should benefit directly from HSR are South Brisbane, Gold Coast, Coffs Harbour, Port Macquarie, Newcastle, north Sydney, South Sydney, Canberra, Wagga Wagga, Albury Wodonga and north Melbourne.
The system could be the catalyst for creating new non-metropolitan business districts, Maskrey.
“We may see business, health and industrial precincts pop up as companies consider relocation along the HSR to reduce operating costs and increase accessibility too for their clients, suppliers, staff or patients.”
Tony Brasier, managing director at PRDnationwide, suggests locating stations next to capital city international airports to bolster the country’s reputation as a worldwide business hub.
Brasier says rather than spending $20 billion on the Sydney Airport upgrade, the funds could be put toward a HSR connection between Canberra Airport and Newcastle Airport, which would reduce congestion at the Sydney facility.
“Recent estimates of the cost of a new Sydney Airport have been quoted as in the vicinity of $20 billion. This could go a long way towards funding a Canberra – Sydney – Newcastle HSR as a first stage to a Brisbane – Melbourne service. Anyone who has experienced high-speed rail between Hong Kong and Shanghai airports and their respective city centres will appreciate the impact it could have on efficient airport accessibility.”
The Commonwealth Government report on the HSR claims it will provide journey times that would be competitive to the airline industry, allowing for the complications of check-in and security at airports.
“Travel times between Brisbane/Gold Coast and Sydney and between Sydney and Melbourne are less than three hours for the inter-capital express services and up to 3.5 hours for the inter-capital regional service.”
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