Unlike other countries with large populations and cities that are in proximity, such as you find in Japan, Europe and China, the major cities in Australia are distant, and our populations are small when compared to the megacities of Japan and China. This makes the viability of Australia having a bullet train, like the 320 kph Japanese Shinkansen, unlikely because such trains would require thousands of kilometres of completely new rail tracks. Building faster train infrastructure is extremely expensive. When completed, the 230 km HS2 new fast rail line in the UK, is estimated to cost an eyewatering $200 billion!
Despite this, the Australian government recently announced a new national High-Speed Rail Authority that will oversee the development of a high-speed rail network along the east coast of Australia. The HSRA is tasked with advising on, planning, developing, and overseeing the construction and operation of a transformational network along Australia’s eastern seaboard.
The goal is to build a high-speed rail network to allow passengers to travel between major and regional cities at speeds exceeding 250 kilometres per hour. The priority of HSRA, will be planning and corridor works for the Sydney to Newcastle section of the high-speed rail network, backed by a $500 million commitment from the Australian Government. It is understood that new rail engineering technology and highly qualified rail system engineers will be central to the concepts, planning and delivery of the engineering services required to transition to a fast rail future. Omada is well-positioned to help develop the people and technology to make this happen and create a new era in Australian rail travel.
Sources – Australian Government HSRA website, Railwaytechnology.com,
Global railway review, the Times newspaper.