A high-speed rail link from Sydney to Newcastle could reduce the journey from 2.5 hours to just one hour at an incredible 320km/h.
But the cost of linking New South Wales’ two most populous cities could rise to more than $40 billion, according to estimates of the cost of a high-speed line for a shorter route.
Modeling carried out two years ago by the New South Wales government found that a high-speed rail line from Sydney to Gosford – 83 kilometers south of Newcastle – would cost up to $32 billion.
The modelling, which was carried out under then-Liberal Prime Minister Dominic Perrottet, shows how enormous the financial challenge would be to extend such a line to Newcastle (168 kilometers from Sydney) as the federal government is considering.
Construction of a rail link from Sydney Olympic Park to Gosford would take up to 12 years after planning approval is granted, according to secret documents. obtained by Sydney Morning Herald.
The Perrottet government’s plans were never made public and were shelved when the Coalition lost the 2023 New South Wales state election to Labor.
Any future plans for such a route would therefore rely heavily on federal funding and would form a starting point for an eventual high-speed line from Brisbane to Melbourne.
The Albanian government was presented with a business case for a high-speed rail line connecting Sydney to Newcastle by the end of 2024.
A high-speed rail link from Sydney to Newcastle could potentially reduce the journey from 2.5 hours to just one hour while traveling at an incredible 320km/hour (file image)
The cost of linking the two most populous cities in New South Wales could rise to more than $40 billion (pictured, passengers disembark a train at Sydney Central Station)
With a federal election due in just a few months, pushing ahead with the project would form part of Labour’s manifesto, opening it up to questions from the opposition about its huge cost.
A major difference between the Coalition’s state plan and the federal Labor plan is the potential speed of trains.
While the state plan was for trains to travel at speeds of up to 250 km/h, the federal plan would allow trains to reach speeds of up to 320 km/h.
Another difference is that the federal High Speed Rail Authority (HSRA) plan is for a line that passes under Sydney Harbor to Central Station.
The NSW Coalition government’s previous proposal was for Sydney’s main station to be at Olympic Park, which is 19 kilometers west of Sydney’s CBD.
HSRA chief executive Tim Parker did not say how much a new line from Sydney to Newcastle would cost. cost, saying it was a different project from the state government’s previous plan.
‘It’s not that much cost. These are the benefits it generates,” he stated.
Any funding decision for a high-speed rail link from Newcastle to Sydney will depend in part on an Infrastructure Australia assessment, which is underway.
The federal government has committed $500 million to plan a corridor for a high-speed rail line on the Sydney to Newcastle route, of which $79 million will be spent investigating the business case.