NSW fast rail network to connect regional centres with Sydney

A fast rail network linking regional centres including Gosford, Newcastle and Wollongong with the state’s capital is back on the agenda for the NSW Government.

The NSW Government has confirmed it is renewing its commitment to fast train routes between Sydney and regional centres using asset recycling to finance projects.

After years of fast rail being touted and shot down between capital cities, Premier Gladys Berejiklian said the state would focus on linking regional centres like Newcastle, Wollongong and Nowra with capital cities.

The move could be a game changer for those locked out of capital city housing markets, and help drive renewed investment in regional areas.

“The NSW Government is renewing its commitment to fast rail and faster rail,” a spokesperson for the Premier’s office said today. “The Government will have more to say about this in coming weeks.”

Fast train studies have in the past focused on routes connecting capitals to the eastern seaboard which were too costly.

Ms Berejiklian told an infrastructure summit held by Nine Newspapers on Thursday that under a plan being considered by the government, fast rail (250km) and faster rail which is speeds below 200kmh would be built between Sydney and Newcastle, the Central Coast, Goulburn and Nowra.

She said a trip between Sydney and Gosford could be cut to 25 minutes and Sydney to Newcastle — which currently takes close to three hours — would take less than an hour.

With record-low interest rates and infrastructure fuelling NSW’s economic recovery during the pandemic, the Premier said new rail projects could help ease the housing crisis and create thousands of jobs.

NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian said the government was considering a plan to build fast rail network between Sydney and regional centres Picture: NCA NewsWire / Dylan Robinson

The NSW government flagged interest in an interstate fast rail network in 2018 when it released its 20-Year-Economic Vision for Regional NSW.

Four potential routes were identified in the plan as starting points:

Northern Corridor: Between Central Coast, Newcastle, Taree and Port Macquarie

Western Corridor: Lithgow, Bathurst, Orange/Parkes

Southern Inland Corridor: Goulburn, Canberra

Southern Coastal Corridor: Wollongong and Nowra

Past studies for long-distance fast and high-speed rail studies have focused on linking the major Eastern Seaboard cities of Sydney, Brisbane, Canberra and Melbourne.

However with rail as a competitor to air and road transport options, the cost to build and ticket interstate high-speed rail network would be insurmountably high.

The Government has appointed Professor Andrew McNaughton to advise the government on delivering a fast rail network to connect the state.

He is a Strategic Adviser to the UK’s High Speed 2 project and Chair of the International Railway Union World Intercity and High Speed Forum.