High Speed and Fast Rail

[SurfRail]

There have been a few more incidents than that - there was a German ICE crash caused (I believe) by livestock on the track, and some other crashes.

[Mr X]

o of course gazza but this is australia, wouldnt be surprised to see hsr built single track

Wouldn't be surprised if it keeps getting downgraded from a new HSR system into a government funded inter city flexilink/taxi service  

[HappyTrainGuy]

There have been a few more incidents than that - there was a German ICE crash caused (I believe) by livestock on the track, and some other crashes.

Ah those pesky sheep

There's been quite a few hsr derailments and what not. Most notable ones are the 99' ICE derailment/crash, the 08' ICE sheep derailment, a Eurostar set had a transmission failure at 300kph and derailed. A few TGV's have struck cars and trucks with fatalities (not really comparable), one hit a sink hole at 290kph and derailed the last few carriages, one rolled on its side in 01 after the track failed on a curve? Another TGV had a sever wheelflat and while passing a station partly derailed at 270kph with all the injuries resulting from passengers waiting on the platform being struck by the flying balast and debris in 92-94'. Japan has also even had a derailemnt... but only after an earthquake  

[BrizCommuter]

This is the first HSR incident I have heard of though, 1 incident in 50 years is pretty good.

Apparently it isn't though. From the CM article:

In April 2008, 72 people were killed and more than 400 injured when one train derailed and another collided with it in the eastern province of Shandong.

Still 2 incidents in 50 years, How many plane crashes have there been.

101 people were killed in a HSR crash in Germany in 1998.

BrizCommuter is not surprised about the Chinese crash. Given that in Europe and Japan, railway companies are struggling to break the 300kph (ish) barrier, and then China comes from nowhere with a 360kph train (the one that crashed was only 160kph), you would question whether safety is being compromised anywhere?

Only 1 passenger has ever been killed on Japan's Shinkansen network, and they were caught in a closing door.

[Gazza]

Still much safer than air or car though.

[colinw]

This shot clearly shows that at least one of the trains was a conventional loco hauled consist, not HSR as the media are reporting:

[Gazza]

Hmmmm. In China they run HSR on trains partially on regular speed tracks don't they...Eg trains start out at smaller cities, join the HSR line at larger city,run fast to another city, then branch off to another city back on the normal tracks....In effect it widens the reach of the system.

So could it be that one of the trainsets involved was a HSR one, but it wasn't actually running at speed?

[O_128]

Hmmmm. In China they run HSR on trains partially on regular speed tracks don't they...Eg trains start out at smaller cities, join the HSR line at larger city,run fast to another city, then branch off to another city back on the normal tracks....In effect it widens the reach of the system.

So could it be that one of the trainsets involved was a HSR one, but it wasn't actually running at speed?

It was said the HSR was going 160kpH

[ozbob]

From the Brisbanetimes click here!

High-speed eastern rail link to cost $100 billion

High-speed eastern rail link to cost $100 billion
Andrew West, Jacob Saulwick
August 2, 2011

A FEDERAL government report into high-speed rail along Australia's eastern seaboard has identified a route between Brisbane and Melbourne, via Sydney and Canberra, that would cost almost $100 billion.

Phase one of the report is due to be released by the federal Transport Minister, Anthony Albanese, at an infrastructure conference on Thursday. Briefings for MPs, transport bureaucrats and industry representatives will be held tomorrow.

The Herald understands the report urges the federal government to secure a corridor for the train as soon as possible, with the most likely stops being Brisbane, the Gold Coast, Newcastle, Sydney, Goulburn-Southern Highlands, Canberra, Albury-Wodonga, Tullamarine Airport and central Melbourne.
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A source familiar with the report said it was an ''implementation study'', which goes ''well beyond a feasibility study''. The study has the support of the government, opposition and the Greens.

It comes just days before the Australasian Railway Association - represented on the committee that is examining high-speed rail - releases its own report arguing an expansion of passenger and freight rail would result in economic and greenhouse savings.

The association's study, The True Value of Rail, completed by Access Economics, finds one passenger train takes 525 cars off the road and reduces road travel by 3.2 million vehicle kilometres a year. One passenger train also reduces road accident costs equivalent to 130 hospital visits and, in one year, reduces carbon emissions by the same amount as planting 320 hectares of trees.

The estimated $100 billion price tag for high-speed rail reflects the entire cost of a project that would link four capital cities and five major regional centres along the densely populated east coast and would take decades to construct. The cost of building smaller segments would be significantly cheaper.

Federal government sources have indicated there was little chance of starting construction on parts of the project within the next few years but if the government introduced planning controls along parts of the east corridor slated for the high-speed line, it would be easier for future governments to complete the project.

The Melbourne Greens MP, Adam Bandt, who has been pushing the project, said the government should make the Sydney-Melbourne route, which is already the fourth-busiest air corridor in the world, the first priority, rather than starting on a shorter, but more complex and expensive, leg between Sydney and Newcastle. ''I am concerned that the government is thinking small ... when they need to be thinking big,'' Mr Bandt said.

The former deputy prime minister, Tim Fischer, who has been campaigning for high-speed rail and is familiar with the rail industry plans, said that by using the shortest route between Sydney and Melbourne - about 830 kilometres - a high-speed train could achieve a commuting time between the two capitals of under three hours ''without breaking any speed records''.

He said a line built to cope with speeds of up to 330km/h would allow trains to achieve an average speed of 280km/h. ''This is easily within the international standards in places like Europe and Japan,'' he told the Herald.

Mr Fischer, who is on leave from his job as Australian ambassador to the Vatican to promote his book on rail transport, Trains Unlimited, also criticised Max Moore-Wilton, the head of the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet under John Howard, for opposing the expansion of rail projects.

Mr Fischer suggested on ABC Radio that Mr Moore-Wilton, who is now a board member of the O'Farrell government's agency, Infrastructure NSW, had ''sabotaged [by] greatly inflated cost estimates'' the case for rail.

Read more: http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/national/highspeed-eastern-rail-link-to-cost-100-billion-20110801-1i87y.html

[Jonno]

The association's study, The True Value of Rail, completed by Access Economics, finds one passenger train takes 525 cars off the road and reduces road travel by 3.2 million vehicle kilometres a year. One passenger train also reduces road accident costs equivalent to 130 hospital visits and, in one year, reduces carbon emissions by the same amount as planting 320 hectares of trees.

Says it all

[Stillwater]

I am waiting for the inevitable Queensland Government media statement saying that a Brisbane-Melbourne high-speed train unfairly disadvantages this state, because such a train would run the length of Victoria and NSW, but not through to Cairns.  The argument would go that Queensland has to go it alone with inferior tilt train technology, and pay for it, while other states would have the spine of their rail network funded in part by the federal government and the private sector.  Inter-city trains in the southern states would whizz along on straight tracks, while Queensland struggles with a speed-restricted track boasting curves that require trains to slow to below 50 km/hr.

Like cargo cultists, the circumstances won't stop Queensland producing yet another in the series of discredited strategic transport documents suggesting a high speed train be buit to Cairns by, say, 2070, subject to federal funding and listing the project as being in the 'pre-planning phase'.  Then, stand back while the government says it is 'committed' (in 2070) to bring high speed rail to all of Queensland.  During an election campiagn, it would produce a video of a revolutionary-looking train passing through cane fields, superimposed with the slogan 'vote for us'.

All the while, the government will ignore advice to it.  In seeking the 'pie in the sky' high speed train, far less expensive practical solutions will be ignored.

Here's what QR estimated in 2006 would be the benefit of a modest $300 million investment in 'below rail' projects on the North Coast Line:

- a transfer of 850,000 tonnues of general freight and containerised freight from road to rail (a lower rate of growth in heavy transport vehicles on the Bruce Highway)

- resultant savings of $43 million over 20 years due to fewer crashes on the Bruce Highway

- environmental gains valued at PV (present value) $23 million over 20 years

- road pavement maintenance savings of PV $94 million over 20 years from reduced heavy vehicle truck movements pounding our roads

- benefits associated with better trainsit times, improved service reliability and improved service availability, valued at PV $127 million over 20 years

- benefits to rail operators and customers valued at PV $143 million over 20 years

- potential reductions in rail freight costs in the range of 2 per cent to 6 per cent across NCL markets, provided the financial gains made by 'above rail' operators are passed on to customers

- an increase in GTK's on the NCL associated with additional containerised traffic of 34 per cent 'over and above' underlying growth.

[O_128]

In the long term 100 billion ( a grossly overinflated number for a start) is a drop in the ocean especially when there is 40 billion for an NBN and was 40 billion to give battlers $900. Lets hope the greens can get in for just one term, get this thing going and get voted out. And also Stillwater, In my opinion the rest of queensland can get screwed HSR will run throughout the most densely populated part of the state which is all that is needed in the beginning.

[Stillwater]

I agree with you, high speed rail cannot be justified to Cairns.  I think $100 billion for Melbourne-Canberra-Sydney Newcastle-Brisbane fast train is not over-exaggerated. 

[Golliwog]

I agree with you, high speed rail cannot be justified to Cairns.  I think $100 billion for Melbourne-Canberra-Sydney Newcastle-Brisbane fast train is not over-exaggerated. 

Other than the standard contingencies.

[colinw]

Railway Gazette: LGV Bretagne PPP contract signed

29 July 2011

FRANCE: The €3·3bn PPP contract for construction and maintenance of LGV Bretagne-Pays de la Loire was signed in Paris on July 28, by RFF President Hubert du Mesniland and Pierre Berger, Managing Director of Eiffage. This follows the signing of a final agreement on the funding package in Rennes on July 13.

Under the 25-year contract tendered in 2008 Eiffage subsidiary Eiffage Rail Express will build and maintain the 182 km high speed line between Le Mans and Rennes, plus 32 km of connections with the existing network, including a spur to the Le Mans - Nantes line near Sablé-sur-Sarthe. This will cut journey times from Paris to Rennes by 37 min and Paris to Nantes by 8 min. Construction is expected to take around five years, with preliminary studies running from May 2011 to July 2012 and civil engineering starting at the end of 2012. Completion is envisaged by autumn 2016.

Claiming that the deal is 'the first public-private partnership contract ever signed for the construction of a high-speed line', RFF says the 'innovative project' will optimise network efficiency and 'encourage the development of local high-speed services'. The new line is expected to provide a significant economic boost to western France, and ERE has committed to placing more than 30% of the work with local companies, creating 10 000 jobs during the construction phase.

Under the financing agreement, ERE will receive contributions from the local authorities and RFF during the construction period, and will also raise €1bn via a consortium of 12 banks. Once the line opens for operation, the consortium will receive availability payments from the state and RFF to cover the capital investment and maintenance costs. EIB is to provide €552·5m towards the construction costs, and Caisse des Dépôts will contribute around €250m over 20 years.

ERE will also build a 3·6 km chord at Sablé-sur-Sarthe to enable the operation of direct regional high speed services between Nantes and Rennes. This is being funded by the local authorities and RFF under a separate deal valued at €36·3m.

[Golliwog]

Interesting, so they're being paid to construct and maintain the new track, but the operation of services is left to the operator?

[Stillwater]

It's a so-called BOOT contract -- Build Own Operate and Transfer (back to the state after a given period, usually 30-50 years).  BOOT contractor charges tolls or fees for anyone who is safety and operationally accredited to run their trains over the line.  BOOT contracts are interesting, because the contractor can either build the line cheaply and incur high maintenance costs, or it can almost over-engineer the track, incur little in the way of maintenance costs for an upfront period of time and charge accordingly. The downside of BOOT contracts is that the private operator hands back a clapped out bit of infrastructure to the state after the contract period has expired.  Brisbane's Airtrain is a case in point.

[ozbob]

From the Herald Sun click here!

Ninety-nine dollar tickets at end of fast train dream

Ninety-nine dollar tickets at end of fast train dream

    Steve Lewis
    From: Herald Sun
    August 04, 2011 12:00AM

TRAVELLERS could be whisked from Melbourne to Sydney for $99 in three hours if a $61 billion high-speed railway line is built.

The Gillard Government is supporting plans to carry up to 54 million travellers on high-speed rail by 2036.

The Government says it would rejuvenate regional communities and be far more environmentally sensitive than road and air transport.

Critically, it also has the strong backing of the Greens and key independent MPs.

But building the 2000km line would be a massive financial challenge: it could cost $108 billion.

The line could link two-thirds of the nation's population, stretching from Melbourne to Brisbane through Canberra, Sydney, Newcastle and the Gold Coast.

An AECOM Australia study suggested a one-way trip from Melbourne to Sydney could be $99, and $75 from Brisbane to Sydney.

By contrast, a fully flexible one-way airfare from Sydney to Melbourne cost $425 last month and business-class travel was $628.

Infrastructure and Transport Minister Anthony Albanese predicted high-speed rail would be an "attractive alternative" for many travellers - particularly those fed up with airport scanners introduced after the September 11 terrorist attacks.

"Imagine boarding a train in the centre of Sydney - no racing to the airport, no delays, no lost luggage, no taking your shoes off - and being whisked at 350km/h, arriving three hours later in the heart of Melbourne or Brisbane," he said.

But the possible $108 billion price would test the commitment of governments and the private sector to back the ambitious transport plan.

A study in the next 12 months will canvass financing options.

[ozbob]

From the Gold Coast Bulletin click here!

Coast a possible stop for bullet train

Coast a possible stop for bullet train

Henry Tuttiett   |  August 4th, 2011

THE Gold Coast today will be short-listed as one of nine potential stops on Australia's multibillion-dollar bullet train network that would link Brisbane and Sydney in just three hours.

Transport Minister Anthony Albanese will today release "an implementation study" into the high-speed network, which would connect Brisbane, Sydney and Melbourne as early as 2024 with trains capable of speeds of 350km/h.

The project would cost between $61 billion and $108 billion and offer journey times as fast as three hours between Brisbane and Sydney and five hours between Brisbane and Melbourne.

Transport advocates say it makes sense for the rail link to include the Gold Coast but the Federal Government is also considering a cheaper inland route through Beaudesert. The Coast option that would involve an additional 30km of track at a cost of $4.7 billion.

It has been reported the preferred route of the high-speed train includes stops at Brisbane, Gold Coast, Newcastle, Sydney, Goulburn, Canberra, Albury-Wodonga, Tullamarine Airport and Melbourne.

To read more about the issue, including ways the Coast would benefit from such a stop, grab a copy of today's Gold Coast Bulletin.

[ozbob]

http://www.infrastructure.gov.au/rail/trains/high_speed/index.aspx

http://www.infrastructure.gov.au/rail/trains/high_speed/exex_summary.aspx

[ozbob]

Sydney Morning Herald --> High-speed eastern rail link to cost $100 billion

... Phase one of the report is due to be released by the federal Transport Minister, Anthony Albanese, at an infrastructure conference on Thursday.

[frereOP]

From the Brisbanetimes click here!

High-speed eastern rail link to cost $100 billion

High-speed eastern rail link to cost $100 billion
Andrew West, Jacob Saulwick
August 2, 2011

A FEDERAL government report into high-speed rail along Australia's eastern seaboard has identified a route between Brisbane and Melbourne, via Sydney and Canberra, that would cost almost $100 billion.

People like Warren Truss are already starting a campaign against it based on a simplistic cost/return on investment  and its economic viability.  RBOT needs to be proactive in pushing the line that while it might cost $60 - $100 Billion to build, the indirect cost to Australia of NOT building it is the real question we should be asking.  Cost which include road trauma and the cost to the health budget, CO2, savings on road maintenance, savings on car use, savings from airport building costs and list goes on.

So, ask not what it costs to build, ask what it costs NOT to build!

[ozbob]

Yes, the ARA is already out in the media highlighting the benefits and the cost of road trauma and so forth.  This is their core domain.  We have already given general supporting comments, particularly about the value of identifying the corridors and preserving them now.  This will save billions down the track and further facilitate an outcome.  It is also important though that  our urban/inter-urban/freight rail systems are not put on a further neglect on the basis that sometime down the track high speed rail might eventuate  ...

[ozbob]

Greens MPs --> Fast rail needs to go far: Bandt

[Stillwater]

We should consider the position of HSR stops .... Brisbane and Gold Coast would be no-brainers, but it would be interesting to see whether the report Mr Albanese will release today picks up on the Infrastructure Partnerships Australia proposal that HSR also connect with the Sunshine Coast.  And that its northern terminus be located there.  The issue is not so much whether people should/would use the line to the SC, but having it terminate there opens up the opportunity of jobs at a major servicing facility for HSR somewhere around Nambour/Cooroy; as Infrastructure Partnerships Australia suggests.

[ozbob]

Media release 4th August 2011

Australia: High speed rail will be needed

RAIL Back On Track (http://backontrack.org) a web based community support group for rail and public transport and an advocate for public transport passengers welcomes the release of the East Coast Very High Speed Train Scoping Study today (1).

Robert Dow, Spokesman for RAIL Back On Track said:

"The world is moving forward with a rail revolution.  It is time that Australia joined it. The scoping study is the first step on the path to a high speed rail transport system.  Electric rail, high speed as well as freight and urban/interurban heavy rail systems and light rail is the way forward for a sustainable transport future."

"It is sensible to begin to identify the high speed rail corridors and preserve them now.  This will save billions down the track and further facilitate an outcome."

"A RAIL Back On Track Member recently had the opportunity to travel on a high speed rail journey in Spain.  He summed it as ' ... I am quite humbled by my experience of Spanish rail.  This is a country that knows what needs to be done, and is not messing around doing it ... ' (2)"

"High speed rail is expensive, but the savings in terms of reduced road trauma, lowered environmental impacts, and fuel and road  and other infrastructure savings, means can Australia afford to not move forward with high speed rail?"

References:

1. http://www.infrastructure.gov.au/rail/trains/high_speed/exex_summary.aspx

2. Madrid to Barcelona & return http://railbotforum.org/mbs/index.php?topic=6478.0

Contact:

Robert Dow
Administration
admin@backontrack.org

[ozbob]

The scoping study set up the Feasibility Study due for release later today.  It is certainly getting a lot of media attention.

[ozbob]

http://www.aecom.com/Where+We+Are/Australia+-+New+Zealand/_news/AECOM+Wins+High+Speed+Rail+Feasibility+Study

[ozbob]

From the Brisbanetimes click here!

Super-fast rail trip to Sydney for $75?

Super-fast rail trip to Sydney for $75?
Staff reporters
August 4, 2011 - 8:33AM

Passengers could pay as little as $75 for a three-hour journey from Brisbane to Sydney using the federal government's proposed high-speed rail link along the east coast.

But the proposed link between Melbourne and Brisbane would come at a heavy cost, with a study to be released today putting the project price tag at between $61 billion and $108 billion.

The report puts non-stop travel times along the 1600-kilometre distance of the track at six hours - three hours from Melbourne to Sydney and three hours from Sydney to Brisbane – with speeds of up to 350km/h.
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One-way tickets for travel on the Sydney-Brisbane route are predicted to cost $75 to $177.

With the air corridor between Melbourne and Sydney the fourth busiest in the world, one-way trips travel on that route are predicted to be between $99 and $197.

Federal Infrastructure Minister Anthony Albanese is using the release of the implementation study to sell the project's potential to connect regional and metropolitan communities, ease road and air congestion as well as reduce carbon emissions.

''There are, of course, critics of high-speed rail - but its success elsewhere in the world says otherwise,'' Mr Albanese told The Age.

''In Spain, the line between Madrid and Seville is so popular, it carries more people between those cities than cars and airplanes combined.''

The 350-page preliminary report will be formally released at 10.30am today.

However, a report by news.com.au said the document did not directly condemn the ambition of a rapid rail track through Melbourne, Canberra, Sydney and Brisbane.

The article suggested terminals in Brisbane could be at Roma Street or South Bank.

The Age said the report estimated about 54 million passengers a year could use the high-speed rail system, with stops in Canberra, Newcastle and the Gold Coast.

The cost depends, in part, on what routes were selected and the majority of the cost would come from acquiring land, the Sydney Morning Herald reports today.

The $20 million study was promised by Labor before last year's federal election.

Coalition infrastructure spokesman Warren Truss told the ABC there were serious questions about the network's viability.

Robert Dow, from commuter lobby group Rail Back On Track, said it was sensible to begin to identify the high speed rail corridors and preserve them now.

"The world is moving forward with a rail revolution.  It is time that Australia joined it," he said.

"High speed rail is expensive, but the savings in terms of reduced road trauma, lowered environmental impacts, and fuel and road and other infrastructure savings, means can Australia afford to not move forward with high speed rail?"

The Australasian Railway Association – represented on the committee that is examining high-speed rail – has commissioned its own report arguing an expansion of passenger and freight rail would result in economic and greenhouse savings.

The association's study, The True Value of Rail, completed by Access Economics, finds one passenger train takes 525 cars off the road and reduces road travel by 3.2 million vehicle kilometres a year.

One passenger train also reduces road accident costs equivalent to 130 hospital visits and, in one year, reduces carbon emissions by the same amount as planting 320 hectares of trees.

- David Rood, Daniel Hurst, Jacob Saulwick and Andrew West

Read more: http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/travel/travel-news/superfast-rail-trip-to-sydney-for-75-20110804-1ic9p.html

[ozbob]

From ABC News click here!

Study fast tracks high-speed rail link

Study fast tracks high-speed rail link

Stephen Dziedzic

Updated August 04, 2011 08:05:47

A study into the feasibility of a high-speed rail network connecting eastern seaboard cities has found it could get passengers from Sydney to Brisbane in three hours for as little as $75.

The Federal Government is releasing the first stage of its feasibility study into the high-speed rail network today.

It says trains could travel at speeds of up to 350 kilometres per hour and estimates the cost of the network at between $61 billion and $108 billion.

The Government says the network could carry around 54 million passengers a year by 2036, with fares between $100 and $197 for a Sydney to Melbourne trip.

A one-way ticket from Brisbane to Sydney is expected to cost between $75 and $177.

Each full train would be the equivalent of taking 128 cars off the road.

The feasibility study was commissioned as part of Prime Minister Julia Gillard's deal with the Greens.

Infrastructure and Transport Minister Anthony Albanese says the potential of high-speed rail is hard to ignore.

"Firstly, productivity benefits, we know that rail can be extremely efficient, it can improve the way that economies function. There's also obvious advantages in terms of climate change," he said.

"This is the most serious study that has ever been undertaken into high-speed rail."

Last year the Department of Transport told the Government that high-speed rail between Sydney and Melbourne would be too expensive and would not attract enough passengers.

Federal Opposition transport spokesman Warren Truss says the price tag raises concerns.

"The key issue is can it be made to work or to work commercially, can it be economically viable?" he asked.

"$100 billion cost to service a relatively small population must throw serious questions about the viability [of the network]."

Bryan Nye from the Australasian Railway Association says the network would be a worthwhile investment.

"Australia has spent, since 1985, $293 billion on this road network. The cost of road accidents each year to the health budget is $35 billion each year. Rail is the safest form of land transport, and so really you have got to think, what's the best value for money?"

There could be up to 10 stops outside the major cities on the network, including regional centres like Albury Wodonga and Newcastle.

The study says people could travel between Sydney and Newcastle in 40 minutes and Newcastle Mayor John Tate says that would make a huge difference to many people living in his city.

"The trip at this time takes about two-and-a-half hours, and that's no improvement since the days of steam," he said.

"It has a devastating effect on families because they're arriving home late, kids coming home from school and worrying about the other parent on the freeway. So it will improve family life tremendously."

Greens MP Adam Bandt says Labor needs to make sure the idea becomes a reality.

"It's one of those things that has been spoken about for some time, and now it's time to see some real actions," he said.

"The report that's to be released today I hope will confirm that the numbers do stack up.

"We are in a position to join countries like Spain and other countries in Europe and elsewhere around the world that are now connecting their cities, not by air, which we know contributes enormously to climate change through the greenhouse gas pollution, but instead through the much more efficient and comfortable method of high-speed rail."

But Mr Albanese says the Government will take another 12 months to conduct the next stage of the study.

"This is evidence-based policy - we want to get the detail out there," he said.

"I'm not about pre-empting that process. What people need to do though is analyse exactly what the implications are of it.

[paulg]

Here is the report:
http://www.infrastructure.gov.au/rail/trains/high_speed/files/HSR_Phase1_Report.pdf

Cheers, Paul

[ozbob]

Thanks, from this page --> http://www.infrastructure.gov.au/rail/trains/high_speed/

[ozbob]

Media release 4th August 2011

Australia: High Speed Rail Study Phase One welcome!

RAIL Back On Track (http://backontrack.org) a web based community support group for rail and public transport and an advocate for public transport passengers welcomes the release of the High Speed Rail Study Phase One Report (1).

Robert Dow, Spokesman for RAIL Back On Track said:

"The world is moving forward with a rail revolution.  It is time that Australia joined it. The feasibility study is an important step on the path to a high speed rail transport system.  Electric rail, high speed as well as freight and urban/interurban heavy rail systems and light rail is the way forward for a sustainable transport future."

"It is sensible to begin to identify the high speed rail corridors and preserve them now.  This will save billions down the track and further facilitate an outcome. A possible extension of the corridor to the Sunshine Coast could be very worthwhile."

"A RAIL Back On Track Member recently had the opportunity to travel on a high speed rail journey in Spain.  He summed it as ' ... I am quite humbled by my experience of Spanish rail.  This is a country that knows what needs to be done, and is not messing around doing it ... ' (2)"

"High speed rail is expensive, but the savings in terms of reduced road trauma, lowered environmental impacts, and fuel and road  and other infrastructure savings, means can Australia afford to not move forward with high speed rail?"

References:

1. http://www.infrastructure.gov.au/rail/trains/high_speed/

2. Madrid to Barcelona & return http://railbotforum.org/mbs/index.php?topic=6478.0

Contact:

Robert Dow
Administration
admin@backontrack.org

[Andes]

Am I missing something? I have skimmed through the Executive Summary and first chapter of the high-speed rail report and have noticed that the Sunshine Coast region has been completely erased from any consideration for this fantastic piece of infrastructure.  I mean what the hell do we have to do to get some sort of equitable form of public transport to the Sunshine Coast?  Why would this area be omitted from an initial feasibility study when it clearly is a high growth corridor of Australian significance?  Reading through the report, any urban areas north of Brisbane are hardly even mentioned.  The Sunshine Coast over the next 20 to 30 years will have significant greenfield growth areas including Caloundra South which will at least another 50,000 people to the region??? The population growth on the Sunshine Coast would easily be comparable to many other smaller towns and regions outside capital cities which have been considered and included within the study corridors.  Is it a political thing? I have a great concern that the Sunshine Coast yet again misses out on any consideration for improvements to the clapped-out transport infrastructure we currently have to endure.    

[ozbob]

We have raised the Sunshine Coast as an extension to the corridor.  It is something that should be considered in the planning IMHO.

[SurfRail]

Definitely worth shouting about.  It isn't in the same category as say Wollongong or Wagga, where there is a series of options which may exclude one city at the benefit of another or for a straighter trip - plus the terrain is not exactly impassable.  A coastal / Bruce Hwy alignment would avoid most of the Blackall Range which is such a problem for the NCL.

[ozbob]

http://www.ara.net.au/UserFiles/file/Media%20Releases/11-08-04%20High%20Speed%20Rail%20Today%20not%20Tomorrow.pdf

Media Release Australasian Railway Association

Thursday 4 August 2011

High Speed Rail, Today not Tomorrow

Stage one of the High Speed Rail report being announced today by the Hon Anthony Albanese identifies the potential corridor and estimated cost to connect Australia's East Coast cities via High Speed Rail.

Brisbane, the Gold Coast, Newcastle, Sydney, Canberra, Wollongong, the Southern Highlands, Albury and Melbourne are among the cities to be linked by High Speed Rail.

Bryan Nye, CEO of the Australasian Railway Association (ARA) that represents rail in Australia is emphasising that this is an implementation report, not just another feasibility study.

"This is a monumental announcement. After decades of debate, High Speed Rail must happen in Australia.

"The challenge for the Government now is to make High Speed Rail a reality. It must happen today, not tomorrow. High Speed Rail cannot be put into the too-hard basket again.

"Many are unaware that our Sydney to Melbourne air corridor is the 5th busiest in the world and Sydney to Brisbane/Gold Coast is 7th. High Speed Rail will provide another option; one that delivers passengers to major capital cities and urban centres in speed and comfort.

The cost is estimated to be between $61 and $108 billion.

"When you consider that $293 billion has been invested in our roads since 1985, $100 billion to link the East Coast through a High Speed Rail network seems insignificant.

The benefits of High Speed Rail far outweigh its costs.

"High Speed Rail can be emissions-free. It will also create more jobs, allow people better access to employment, take cars off our roads, improve the links between major cities and regional areas, defer the need for a second Sydney airport and increase land values in regional areas.

The trains will travel at 350km/hr.

"With High Speed Rail, it's all about the experience. Imagine travelling from Brisbane to the Gold Coast within 15 minutes, Canberra to Sydney in under an hour and Sydney to Melbourne in less than 3 hours.

"A High Speed Rail network will dynamically change the way we live, where we work and how we travel. This is an exciting future.

See --> http://ara.net.au/site/hsr.php

[O_128]

Julia has a very important decision to make here, If she committed to HSR from sydney to canberra by saying it would be partially funded by the carbon tax then everyone including me would forgive her. HSR will only get more expensive the more we put it off. Also remember if we take out debt now we can pay it back we won't be able to in 30 years when are mining industry is finished.

On top of that the 3 governments need to begin identifying and preserving routes in there respectable cities to allow for an easy implementation of HSR.

[ozbob]

612 ABC Brisbane Drive Show host Kelly Higgins-Devine conducted an interview on the study.  I was able to mention the Sunshine Coast, and that it should be considered in the corridor, principally because of the population projections and the benefit to tourism and residents alike.  It was a wide ranging interview and I explained the advantages of electric rail - light and heavy and high speed in the context of renewable electricity production and that land transport and aviation costs will escalate as carbon based fuels increase in costs, due to oil shortages and carbon pricing/emission trading schemes and so forth.

Thanks for the interest 612!

[O_128]

Im slowly working my way through the report and one thing i feel that is unnecessary is the tunnelling to get into the capital cities, surely it would be cheaper to build the tracks parallel to the GC line and then be either parallel to the pacific/south east freeways or elevated above it then a bridge next the CC bridge run next to the REX then pass over into Roma street or depending id CRR is built just terminate it wooloongabba, it would only be 10min to the airport and will be destination in itself by the time we have HSR.

My other thing is that I would like to see predicted air travel prices as HSR will definitely be cheaper by then due to fuel costs.