The Australian federal government has committed a further $230 million to planning a high-speed rail line between Newcastle and Sydney via the Central Coast, moving the ambitious tunnel dream closer to reality.
University of Sydney experts have weighed in on the latest development in the government’s desire to be “shovel-ready” within two years.
Who benefits from high-speed rail in Australia
“This is just a commitment to planning, not to construction, which would cost several orders of magnitude more,” said Dr Geoffrey Clifton, Senior Lecturer in Transport and Logistics Management at the Business School’s Institute of Transport and Logistics Studies.
“A high-speed rail link between Newcastle and Sydney is a great opportunity to create more residential land and job opportunities in the Hunter region. It would enable many more people to move beyond Sydney if the commute were cut to just one hour.”
Dr David Levinson, Professor of Transport in the Faculty of Engineering’s School of Civil Engineering, said: “Sydney to Newcastle is one of the smallest markets for high-speed rail in the world.”
How much would high-speed rail cost
Professor Levinson said: “The Sydney-Newcastle link, if actually built at the A$90 billion price point, would be roughly 1.8 to 2.3 times more expensive per kilometre than an? operational segment of the California High-Speed Rail (Bakersfield to Madera) currently under construction.
“This is largely driven by the requirement for 115km of tunnelling, making it one of the most expensive proposed rail projects in the world on a per-kilometre basis.”
Dr Clifton said: “We need to be careful we’re getting value for money. We’ve seen megaprojects go well over the expected amount, so it’s highly likely we’ll see costs overrun.”
How are infrastructure megaprojects funded
“Traditionally a rail project for one state would be funded by that state, but the federal government would be treating this as the first stage of an east coast high-speed rail network eventually linking to Canberra, Melbourne and maybe Brisbane,” Dr Clifton said.
“The project is likely to draw on a mix of public and private funding. We expect big investors including superannuation funds would be interested in investing in projects such as this.”
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