SYDNEY TO NEWCASTLE HIGH-SPEED RAIL UPDATES

This week the Albanese Government announces the next major milestone for Australia’s High Speed Rail with the beginning of the development phase for High Speed Rail between Newcastle and Sydney. An additional $229.6 million was also promised for the High Speed Rail Authority to lock in the design, approvals process, scope and cost of the project.

This is a significant step in the delivery of faster, more reliable rail transport that will reshape how those in the Newcastle, Hunter and Central Coast region live, work and travel.

High Speed Rail between Newcastle and Sydney will cut travel times to around one hour from Newcastle to Central Sydney, with travel from the Central Coast to either Sydney or Newcastle reduced to just 30 minutes.

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

The government said the total price tag of more than $93bn would be inclusive of stations, signalling, as well as a domestic advanced manufacturing facility to produce rail parts.

"Over the next two years, engineers will be going metre by metre along this rail track and designing all the tunnels and stations, getting it ready for a final investment decision in 2028," said  Minister for Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and Local Government .

“High Speed Rail between Newcastle and Sydney will change the way people live, work and travel in our country’s most populous region. It will connect the Newcastle and Central Coast communities to Sydney in a way that has never been done before."

“The Albanese Government is focused on delivery. This development phase will lay the foundations for delivery of High Speed Rail between Newcastle and Sydney, ensuring we secure the rail corridor and undertake detailed planning before we start building."

Joe Langley, an urban planner and member of the High Speed Rail Association, an independent advocacy body, said the latest funding announcement was a turning point.

"It is certainly further than all of the previous studies, that I'm aware of, which have taken place over about 30 years," Mr Langley said.

Australians would pay $31 for a 60-minute high-speed train between Newcastle and central Sydney from 2039, costing taxpayers $61.2bn, according to a business case provided to the government. The next stage of the project, which would see the rail line go to Parramatta and Western Sydney international airport, would cost an extra $32.4bn and open by 2043.