NSW - fast rail

[ozbob]

Rail Express --> NSW government seeks project managers for first fast rail routes

The NSW government has released two tenders for project management services for fast rail, suggesting that the first two routes for the state will be Sydney to Canberra and Sydney to Newcastle.

The tenders, available via the NSW eTendering site, outline that successful tenders will conduct the scoping phase investigation and deliver the final business case for the fast rail program.

"The NSW government's commitment to develop a blueprint for the delivery of a fast rail network is a major piece of state-shaping work," said a NSW government spokesperson. "This transformative vision will seek to link regional centres to each other and Sydney."

In previous documents outlining the scope of the NSW government's fast rail strategy, four routes had been identified; Sydney to Newcastle, Sydney to Canberra, Sydney to Nowra via Wollongong, and Sydney to Orange. The current tenders are the first fast rail tenders released publicly, indicating that the NSW government my be prioritising the routes to Canberra and Newcastle.

Each project will undergo the Infrastructure NSW Health Check, which requires demonstration of evidence of confidence in a project's development. The scoping phase also includes an interim project definition report which will define the project's interim 'reference case' based on the needs assessment, options development, and options assessment through the strategic business case.

The second phase of the tender covers the final business case of the project. This will involve delivery of a final business case that builds on the findings from the strategic business cases and scoping phase investigations. Tender documents outline that "a new approach will be needed" for the final business case to meet NSW Treasury requirements and Fast Rail Program objectives.

"Central to the success of the Final Business Cases will be the consideration of wider economic and social impacts, alongside traditional transport benefits."

The release of these tenders highlights that fast rail projects in Australia are moving forward. At a national level, the National Faster Rail Agency has put forward 50:50 funding for fast rail businesses cases with state governments and the private sector, including the Sydney to Newcastle business case. Funding has already been committed to faster rail between Melbourne and Geelong.

Improving connectivity between Newcastle and Sydney was also a priority initiative added to Infrastructure Australia's Infrastructure Priority List in 2016.

The NSW government has also launched the 'A fast rail future for NSW' strategy, with a plan to be delivered by Andrew McNaughton and an expert panel. The plan is reportedly complete, but has not yet been released.

[ozbob]

Sensible.  Sydney <> Newcastle, Sydney <> Canberra are no-brainers ... 

[timh]

Sensible.  Sydney <> Newcastle, Sydney <> Canberra are no-brainers ... 

Agreed. In an Australian geographic context those city pairs (and others like it) are where our fast/HS rail priorities should be. Hopefully we get some progress with the Sunny coast business case soon too...

Sent from my SM-G950F using Tapatalk

[ozbob]

Sydney Morning Herald --> NSW signals renewed focus on privatisation, will go it alone on fast rail $

Premier Gladys Berejiklian says NSW will go it alone on fast rail instead of waiting for consensus from state and federal governments and she signalled a renewed focus on privatising public assets to finance future infrastructure projects.

Ms Berejiklian on Thursday outlined her plan to reduce travel time between Sydney and regional NSW centres and indicated her government would again look at "asset recycling" to finance projects. ...

... Fast (250km/h) and "faster rail" (less than 200km/h) would be constructed between Sydney and Newcastle, the Central Coast, Goulburn and Nowra under a plan the NSW government is considering, Ms Berejiklian said.

"NSW is poised to enter a new golden age of infrastructure delivery," she said.

"You've got to not only think about the current generation of projects but the next generation of projects." ...

[achiruel]

I would rather have 'faster' rail with better acceleration then 'fast' rail between Newcastle and Sydney, so you can have a decent number of stops. Not sure if the route it will be taking, but I'd think you'd want two stops in Newcastle (Newcastle Interchange and somewhere in the western suburbs like Glendale), a western Lake Macquarie stop (either Fassifern or Morisset, but not both, and probably three Central Coast stops (Wyong or Tuggerah, Gosford and Woy Woy), then Hornsby, Strathfield and Sydney Central.

[ozbob]

https://twitter.com/RailExpressNews/status/1417620599711559680

[#Metro]

Cool website 

A fast rail future for NSW

The NSW Government has a vision for vibrant and growing regional economies, providing NSW residents with more jobs, greater opportunities and better quality of life.

Code Select Expand

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7JmvBPlx_ZE^ now off line

[SteelPan]

[ozbob]

^ this is fast rail ...

ABC News --> NSW matches Commonwealth's $500 million pledge for fast rail link construction

Rail travel between Sydney and Gosford on the Central Coast will be reduced to 25 minutes on a fast-rail link between the two cities, under funding pledged by the NSW and Commonwealth governments.

Key points:
State and federal government funding of $1 billion is now promised for the Gosford to Sydney fast rail 
NSW says its pledge is conditional on the Commonwealth fulfilling its election campaign promise
A university campus in Gosford also promised under an $18 million investment

NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet today announced $500 million for a fast rail upgrade to the Sydney-Central Coast train line would be part of this month's state budget.

The promise is conditional on the new federal government's election campaign pledge of $500 million in its first budget for corridor acquisition, planning and early works for fast rail between Newcastle and Sydney.

Mr Perrottet said the total $1 billion investment by the federal and state governments would make the upgrade a reality, and commuters would eventually see considerable reductions in travel time. ...

[SurfRail]

What is actually being looked at here is not fast rail at all.  It's track amplification in a part of the network that isn't even topographically challenging.

No chance this results in the journey times being contemplated.

If anything it is less substantial than the LGCFR work.

[achiruel]

This is definitely nowhere near the complexity of LGCFR. It's essentially a glorified passing loop.

It will certainly help capacity in a congested section of the network, but won't do anything for travel time between Sydney and Gosford—it's not even between the two

The NSW government is spruiking future potential benefits. This section will definitely be needed if they plan to run fast(er) rail and the current slow service along the same corridor through this section, which could be done, as it's quite straight.

The real challenge will be Berowra to Gosford, which will present massive engineering challenges, and will cost a helluva lot more than $1 billion.

[ozbob]

The Guardian --> NSW plan for population growth outside Sydney to fail without high speed rail, says expert behind strategy

NSW plan for population growth outside Sydney to fail without high speed rail, says expert behind strategy
Exclusive: UK professor also says findings should be made public as with 'every other country I've worked in'

The expert behind the New South Wales government's fast rail strategy has warned that a landmark policy to spread population growth outside Sydney in coming decades is destined to fail amid revelations the Coalition has shelved plans to build a dedicated fast rail system.

Prof Andrew McNaughton – the British rail expert who former premier Gladys Berejiklian sought out to develop a fast rail strategy in 2018 and who now chairs the UK's Network Rail High Speed – has expressed disappointment at the apparent deviation from his advice and called on the NSW government to make public his report that has been kept secret for years.

Last week, Guardian Australia revealed the Perrottet government had quietly abandoned its vision to build a dedicated fast rail line between Sydney's Olympic Park and Newcastle – along one of the corridor priorities identified by McNaughton – despite four years and roughly $100m spent on feasibility studies. ...

[Gazza]

I'm quite surprised on the reluctance of the NSW government to spend money on rail outside of Sydney, considering the huge cost of the metro projects.

The main talking point seems to be the new regional train fleet, but to be honest all that is doing is replacing an outdated xpt fleet.
When are they actually going to start laying new tracks and lines?

[SurfRail]

Leaving it for the feds, so they can take the blame for it not being built.

[Stillwater]

The feds had set aside $500m for this project. It won't be spent without NSW Government cooperation. So, the feds either pocket the money and pay down debt OR they look to another state with some projects largely planned and business cases done.  Rail to Ripley Valley? Nambour duplication? Toowoomba rail?

[ozbob]

Daily Telegraph --> NSW fast rail network: Transport Minister to question department on what happened to $500 million in allocated funds $

Transport Minister Jo Haylen has called for her own department to explain what has happened to more than half-a-billion dollars in taxpayer funds allocated to developing a plan for the long-promised NSW fast rail project.

In 2019, former deputy premier John Barilaro announced $295m for an investigation and plan into a fast rail network, with the Perrottet government committing an additional $274m to the same project in last year's budget.

The Daily Telegraph can also reveal $48m was spent on "early planning reports", including engineering and environment studies for the controversial project.

However, Ms Haylen is yet to see any blueprints or reports for the project, despite a high-level briefing to update her on the multimillion-dollar infrastructure plan. ...

[#Metro]

Something not good about mega projects in general are the constant inquiries and reviews. $$$ ⏳⏳⏳

This is essentially doing the same work twice, spending more time and money on something that often isn't going to deliver the project faster, cheaper, better or impact customer experience positively.

It is not uncommon to find that subsequent changes to a project actually make it objectively worse (e.g. progressive NPV and BCR decay in the three iterations of CRR).

Yes, projects need to be done right. Do them right *at the start*. The later adjustments are made in the project lifecycle, the more disruptive the impact.

Reviews and inquires should be rare in a well managed project pipeline.

[ozbob]

The Guardian --> Fast rail axed as part of $2.5bn in infrastructure cuts

Announced with a bang but killed off quietly, Tuesday's budget provided official confirmation that New South Wales's go-it-alone approach to building fast rail between Sydney, Newcastle and Wollongong has been shelved entirely.

Fast rail was a flagship policy that former premier Gladys Berejiklian announced in the lead up to the 2019 state election as a way to spread population growth across greater Sydney and its neighbouring regions. The former Coalition government launched the strategy saying it didn't want to wait for a federal plan to materialise, with numerous high speed rail plans having failed to get off the ground in recent decades.

Guardian Australia first reported the former Coalition government had gone cold on the fast rail plan late last year, despite spending about $100m on studies for the project.

In the first NSW budget since then, the new Labor Minns government has identified that the program – which was expected to have cost in the tens of billions – "should no longer proceed ... to get the state's infrastructure pipeline back on stable footing". Or, according to budget papers, the fast rail program has been "de-scoped".

Shelving the duplication of the Great Western Highway, the new Dungowan Dam and pipeline augmentation and the Wyangala Dam wall raising will also help the state government cut $2.5bn in spending.