Travel times between Canberra and Sydney could be cut to 1.5 hours and the trip to Melbourne could take three hours under a plan proposed by experts to progressively introduce high-speed rail.
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A new train station near the Canberra Airport would avoid the need for a Mt Ainslie tunnel and hydrogen- or battery-powered trains could operate commuter services to Goulburn and Yass.
The new station would connect with a proposed light-rail link between the airport and the city.
The old rail connection between Kingston and Queanbeyan could then be converted to run light rail services.
The proposal recommends upgrading the rail section from Canberra to Yass and Goulburn first as part of improvements between Melbourne and Sydney.
"It is a standalone project that will facilitate regional growth and development as well as upgrades to the existing rail network," the proposal said.
"In addition, it requires all elements for the provision of high-speed rail services in Australia to be addressed. Therefore it is best placed to serve as an early foundation for a national high-speed rail network in Australia."
The Fastrack Australia proposal recommends a multi-stage introduction of high-speed rail, including building new tracks next to the existing alignment.
Journey times from Sydney to Canberra would drop to 3 hours with improvements made between Glenfield and Mittagong, and then fall to 2.2 hours with changes between Goulburn, Yass and the ACT.
Further improvements, including additional changes to the alignment and new trains, could cut travel times to 1.5 hours.
The proposal predicts the travel time between Melbourne and Canberra could be cut from 10.5 hours to 3 hours.
A new station near the airport in Canberra would avoid the need for a tunnel under Mt Ainslie, the proposal said.
"A new spur line to Canberra is proposed to run from Gunning into a station next to the airport. This line will provide direct entry for long distance passenger services into Canberra, replacing the very slow route through Molonglo Gorge," the proposal said.
"It will also allow fast commuter services to operate from Canberra to Goulburn and Yass, including the new urban centres near Gundaroo and Gunning when they are created."
The proposal said the track would run into Canberra along the Majura Parkway into a station between the airport and Duntroon.
"This will avoid tunnelling into Civic as proposed in 2013, and create a major mixed transport and business hub for Canberra next to the airport," the proposal said.
"The proposed Belconnen to Airport light rail line will provide convenient access from the new station to Civic, Russell, the parliamentary triangle and the rest of Canberra."
The proposal was written by Dr Garry Glazebrook, a retired transport and urban planner who established the not-for-profit Fastrack Australia, and Dr Ross Lowrey, a retired consultant with experience in high speed rail research.
Dr Glazebrook is a former manager of transport policy for the City of Sydney and held teaching positions at the University of Technology Sydney.
The 49-page proposal, first reported by The Guardian, notes a reduction in travel time by train between Canberra and Sydney to three hours would make it competitive with coach or car travel, leading to a substantial increase in demand for more frequent services.
Infrastructure Australia in 2020 identified the Canberra-to-Sydney rail corridor as an urgent priority, saying it needed to be improved in the next half a decade.
The federal government on Friday announced it was searching for board members for its high-speed rail authority.
Federal Infrastructure Minister Catherine King said the board would play a pivotal role in the future of Australian high-speed rail.
"The high speed rail network will not only revolutionise travel along the east coast, but has the potential to touch the lives of all Australians as the project continues to advance," Ms King said.
But the authority's first priority will be a high-speed link between Newcastle and Sydney.
The proposal of Dr Glazebrook and Dr Lowrey said the Sydney-to-Newcastle link should continue to be examined but work should start immediately on the plan for a staged introduction of high-speed services on the Sydney-to-Melbourne corridor.
The Canberra-to-Sydney train link has long been the subject of calls for improvements and investments.
Executives from Spanish train-building company Talgo visited the capital in 2017 to discuss the use of their state-of-the-art rolling stock to cut the travel time from four hours to two.
Chief Minister Andrew Barr took the train from Canberra to Sydney later that year to highlight the slow travel times, which included an hour-long delay while a freight train came into Canberra.
- This story first appeared in The Canberra Times.
Jasper Lindell
Jasper Lindell joined The Canberra Times in 2018. He is a Legislative Assembly reporter, covering ACT politics and government. He also writes about development, transport, heritage, local history, literature and the arts, as well as contributing to the Times' Panorama magazine. He was previously a Sunday Canberra Times reporter.
Jasper Lindell joined The Canberra Times in 2018. He is a Legislative Assembly reporter, covering ACT politics and government. He also writes about development, transport, heritage, local history, literature and the arts, as well as contributing to the Times' Panorama magazine. He was previously a Sunday Canberra Times reporter.
