More than half a century has passed since high-speed rail (HSR) effectively began operating, in Japan in 1964, and it has been mooted for Australia since 1984. I estimate that the cost of all HSR studies by the private and public sectors in Australia exceeds $125 million, in today\u27s dollars. But the federal government is now less interested in high-speed rail (now defined as electric trains operating on steel rails at maximum speeds of above 250km per hour), and instead favours  faster rail  or medium-speed rail

Laird, Philip G

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University of Wollongong Research Online Faculty of Engineering and Information Sciences - Papers: Part B Faculty of Engineering and Information Sciences 2018 Let's get moving with the affordable medium-speed alternatives to the old dream of high-speed rail Philip G. Laird University of Wollongong, plaird@uow.edu.au Follow this and additional works at: https://ro.uow.edu.au/eispapers1  Part of the Engineering Commons, and the Science and Technology Studies Commons Recommended Citation Laird, Philip G., "Let's get moving with the affordable medium-speed alternatives to the old dream of high-speed rail" (2018). Faculty of Engineering and Information Sciences - Papers: Part B. 1461. https://ro.uow.edu.au/eispapers1/1461 Research Online is the open access institutional repository for the University of Wollongong. For further information contact the UOW Library: research-pubs@uow.edu.au Let's get moving with the affordable medium-speed alternatives to the old dream of high-speed rail Abstract More than half a century has passed since high-speed rail (HSR) effectively began operating, in Japan in 1964, and it has been mooted for Australia since 1984. I estimate that the cost of all HSR studies by the private and public sectors in Australia exceeds $125 million, in today's dollars. But the federal government is now less interested in high-speed rail (now defined as electric trains operating on steel rails at maximum speeds of above 250km per hour), and instead favours "faster rail" or medium-speed rail. Disciplines Engineering | Science and Technology Studies Publication Details Laird, P. (2018). Let's get moving with the affordable medium-speed alternatives to the old dream of high-speed rail. The Conversation, 14 May 1-4. This journal article is available at Research Online: https://ro.uow.edu.au/eispapers1/1461 AuthorPhilip Laird Philip Laird is a Friend of TheConversation.Honorary Principal Fellow, University ofWollongongAcademic rigour, journalistic flairMay 14, 2018 6.29am AESTMore than half a century has passed since high-speed rail (HSR) effectively beganoperating, in Japan in 1964, and it has been mooted for Australia since 1984. I estimatethat the cost of all HSR studies by the private and public sectors in Australia exceeds $125million, in today’s dollars. But the federal government is now less interested in high-speed rail (now defined as electric trains operating on steel rails at maximum speeds of above250km per hour), and instead favours “faster rail” or medium-speed rail.The 2017 federal budget provided $20 billion over the next 10 years for rail, with more allocated in the 2018 budget. It is now time for Australia to commit to medium-speed rail(trains operating on new or existing tracks at speeds of between 160km and 250km/h).Indeed, three states have made progress in developing trains at 160km/h, with Victorialeading the way. New South Wales has failed to keep up with these states.What happened to high-speed rail in Australia?The first high-speed rail system dates back to 1964 when the Tokaido Shinkansen started operatingbetween Tokyo and Osaka. At first, it took four hours to travel 515 kilometres; now some trains taketwo-and-a-half hours. Japan’s system has an impeccable safety record and the network extends forover 3,000km.France was next in 1981 with its TGV trains. In 1984, high-speed rail was first proposed for Australia. This was theCSIRO’s Very Fast Train proposal to link Sydney, Canberraand Melbourne using TGV trains.At all levels, government was not supportive. The privateVictoria has led the way in upgrading intercity rail services with medium-speed VLocity trains that have a cruising speed of 160km/h. Joe Castro/AAPMay 14, 2018 6.29am AESTLet's get moving with the affordable medium-speed alternatives to the ... https://theconversation.com/lets-get-moving-with-the-affordable-medi...1 of 4 15/05/2018, 4:22 pmsector, after a series of studies, found it was viable and couldwork with different taxation arrangements. This was notforthcoming and work stopped in 1991.A more modest proposal, calledSpeedrail, to connect Sydneyand Canberra was proposed in the mid-1990s. With some federalgovernment encouragement, it was studied, with detailed design. It wascosted at about $4.5 billion, with finance arranged for some $3.5 billion.The Howard government would not fund the balance and commissionedyet another HSR study.Read more: Can Australian high speed rail overcome its bumpy history?More studies have followed. One study in 2013 put a price tag of $23 billion on a Sydney-Canberraline involving much tunnelling in Sydney. This was part of a 1,750km high-speed rail corridor linkingBrisbane, Sydney, Canberra and Melbourne. The total estimated cost was A$114 billion.Despite many studies recommending the need to identify and protect a corridor for a future high-speed rail network, government has failed to reserve any land corridors (with the exception of part ofa future Melbourne outer metropolitan ring road).What about the alternatives?Many countries do not have high-speed rail, but have medium-speed rail (MSR) instead. Thesecountries include Sweden, Switzerland, the United States and Canada.Three Australian states have trains operating at 160km/h.These are Queensland, starting in 1998 with its Electric Tilt Train service between Brisbane and Rockhampton, Victoria,with its Regional Fast Rail project using V/Locity dieselmultiple units, and Western Australia, with the Prospectortrain.Victoria’s service originated in 1999 when the then Laboropposition promised a new deal for regional Victoria, whichincluded new trains and upgraded tracks on four lines toBendigo, Ballarat, Geelong and Gippsland. The ALP wongovernment that year. By 2006 the track upgrades were delivered along with new trains made inVictoria.People liked the faster trains. Patronage went up by more than 15% in each of the first three years ofAn image prepared in 1984 by the late PhilBelbin of what the Very Fast Train south ofCanberra could look like. Courtesy ofRailway Digest (ARHS/NSW) June 2004,Author providedAn image from the 1990s of a SpeedRail train at CentralStation. Courtesy of Railway Digest (ARHS/NSW), AuthorprovidedQueensland’s Tilt Train intercity service hasbeen running for nearly 20 years.QRtrains/Wikimedia, CC BY-SALet's get moving with the affordable medium-speed alternatives to the ... https://theconversation.com/lets-get-moving-with-the-affordable-medi...2 of 4 15/05/2018, 4:22 pmoperation. More trains were ordered and further major track upgrades followed.Victoria was assisted by $3 billion in federal funding for a Regional Rail Link program. This was toprovide new intercity tracks in Melbourne so suburban trains did not slow down regional trains.Due to good ongoing planning attracting more federal funding, further track upgrades are under way.The 2017 Victorian Infrastructure Plan outlines priorities and funding for projects over the next fiveyears, with longer-term policy directions.So what’s going on in NSW?Questions are now being asked as to why Victoria and WA are doing do well with federal funding forpassenger rail at the expense of NSW.The rail situation in Australia’s most populated state is not good for its regions. By far the most NSWgovernment attention and funding has gone into the Greater Sydney region.Between the 2011 and the 2016 Censuses, Greater Sydney’s population (including Gosford) grew some10% from 4.39 to 4.82 million. Rail patronage on the Sydney and intercity network had even strongergrowth of some 15% from 2011 to 2016.To try to cope with this increasing demand for rail a new Metro section is due to be completed in2019. Light rail is also being introduced in Sydney, Newcastle and Parramatta.Sydney continues to have serious road traffic problems, which are unlikely to be solved byWestConnex Stages 1 and 2 that are now under construction. The proposed Stage 3 received over7,000 objections, including a sensible alternative proposal by the City of Sydney, but the NSWgovernment has approved Stage 3 and even more motorways. This is despite overseas experience forcities the size of Sydney pointing to the best solution being a much-improved rail system with road congestion pricing.Read more: Road user charging belongs on the political agenda as the best answer for congestion managementRegional NSW is also growing in population, albeit not as quickly as Sydney. In spring 2017,Transport for NSW released a draft regional servicea and infrastructure plan not for the next fiveyears, but out to 2056. However, these plans were very vague as to what may be delivered in the nextfive or even ten years.The plans also omitted earlier Infrastructure NSW goals for Sydney-Gosford and Sydney-Wollongongtrains to take one hours (instead of one-and-a-half) and Sydney-Newcastle trains to take two hours.In addition, there are calls for more and faster trains linking to each of Goulburn/Canberra and theCentral West of NSW.Let's get moving with the affordable medium-speed alternatives to the ... https://theconversation.com/lets-get-moving-with-the-affordable-medi...3 of 4 15/05/2018, 4:22 pmTransport Cities Western Australia Rail High speed rail Victoria Queensland New South Wales rail transportCities & Policy Transport planningClearly, NSW is facing major transport challenges to overcome rail infrastructure backlogs and meetthe needs of a growing population.The state government is getting new intercity electric trains and has committed to buying new regional trains. But it’s yet to commit to track upgrades to help the new trains go faster than thepresent slow ones.The NSW ALP opposition is also yet to present detailed policies of how it would meet the transportchallenges in Sydney and in regional NSW.The people of NSW must hope the state budget due June 19 and the opposition leader’s reply willaddress these issues.We produce knowledge-based, ethical journalism. Please donate andhelp us thrive. Tax deductible.Make a donationDrag to outliner or UploadCloseNSW is getting new intercity trains, but not upgraded tracks that will enable them to go faster than the present slowservices. NSW government/AAPLet's get moving with the affordable medium-speed alternatives to the ... https://theconversation.com/lets-get-moving-with-the-affordable-medi...4 of 4 15/05/2018, 4:22 pm

Let\u27s get moving with the affordable medium-speed alternatives to the old dream of high-speed rail

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Let\u27s get moving with the affordable medium-speed alternatives to the old dream of high-speed rail

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