High-speed rail link between Sydney and Newcastle could be ‘shovel-ready’ in two years, Albanese government says

Long-mooted plans for high-speed rail could be “shovel-ready” within two years, according to the federal government, which will on Tuesday announce another $230m for further planning work for fast trains between Sydney and Newcastle, as part of the first phase of an eventual east coast bullet train.

Rail journeys on the new fast train could take as little as one hour between Sydney and Newcastle, and 30 minutes between Sydney and the Central Coast, the transport and infrastructure minister, Catherine King, said. It currently takes more than 2.5 hours to travel by train from Sydney to Newcastle, and almost 1.5 hours from Sydney to the Central Coast.

But the government is still considering how to pay for the multibillion-dollar project, King said, with the new development phase alone to run for several years before construction could even begin, and no timeframe on how long before it could be completed.

“Carefully planned, costed and detailed preparation takes time, but it means when construction starts, it is built to last,” she said.

High-speed rail has been a dream of Australian politicians, and a mainstay promise of federal election campaigns, for decades. The prime minister, Anthony Albanese, as transport minister in 2013, unveiled a Brisbane to Melbourne rail plan which was costed at $144bn.

The federal High Speed Rail Authority is planning for a rail network to connect Brisbane, Sydney, Canberra, Melbourne and regional communities in between.

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King will detail the government’s latest plans in Newcastle on Tuesday and release the business case for the rail project. That business case was not shared ahead of time, but King’s office claimed the project would boost the Australian economy by $250bn over the next half-century, and support 99,000 new jobs in construction, manufacturing and tourism.

The Nine newspapers reported last week the business case had found the Sydney-Newcastle leg alone would cost up to $90bn, likely to be supported mostly by taxpayers.

Albanese last week said high-speed rail connecting “Newcastle to Sydney to Canberra to Melbourne makes absolute sense”.

An artist impression of a high-speed railway station precinct. Illustration: High Speed Rail Authority/Australian government

King will announce the new development phase and “detailed planning work” to be undertaken by the High Speed Rail Authority for the Sydney-Newcastle leg, to be supported by an extra $229.6m in funding, taking total investment for development so far to $659.6m.

“The High Speed Rail Authority will go metre by metre, to lock in the design, approvals process, scope and cost of the future rail line. At the end of this two-year process, the project will be shovel-ready,” King’s office said in a statement.

“The $659.6m, two-year development phase will ensure that Line 1 is construction ready. As recommended by Infrastructure Australia, this is the detailed work required to lock in the design, approvals process, scope and cost to ensure major construction contracts can be awarded.”

Authorities are planning for a rail network to connect Brisbane, Sydney, Canberra, Melbourne and regional communities in between. Photograph: High Speed Rail Authority

The mammoth cost of such a project, as well as securing required land and agreements with local and state governments, would present significant burdens to realising a train line connecting the largest cities on the east coast. King said the project required a “disciplined approach to planning and construction sequencing”, and said issues around cost were still being considered.

“As part of the Development Phase a range of potential public and private financing options will also be assessed. This work will inform a future government investment decision once project scope, cost and risk are finalised,” she said.

“High-speed rail between Newcastle and Sydney will change the way people live, work and travel in our country’s most populous region.”

An artist impression of a standard class carriage on a fast train. Illustration: High Speed Rail Authority/Australian government

Speaking on the ABC last week, Albanese foreshadowed the announcement but admitted: “It won’t be open while I’m prime minister.

“We have a small population, relatively, for a big nation, island continent. We’re the only inhabited continent on Earth that doesn’t have high-speed rail.”

On 3AW radio, he said he hoped “in my lifetime” to see high-speed rail between Sydney and Melbourne at least, and said it may require private investment.

“The way that it becomes financially viable as well is to make sure there’s that regional economic development along the route, including in the national capital of Canberra. But we also want to see some private sector engagement there as well,” he said.

“I know that the Japanese government essentially, and Japanese companies are very interested in playing a role. We have to take pressure off our capital cities as well, and one way to do that is to have good regional economic development, and high-speed rail can be very much a part of that.”