Cabinet papers 1998-99: When high-speed trains between Sydney and Canberra go off the rails

High-speed rail plans between Sydney and Canberra made good progress in 1998 but were mysteriously killed off.

An artist impression shows 3D renderings of a newly proposed high speed rail system connecting Sydney with Wollongong, Canberra and Newcastle. Picture: Supplied

A project that has evaded governments for decades – to build a high-speed train and railway in Australia – was progressed by the Howard government in the late 1990s before abruptly coming to a stop.

John Howard’s cabinet agreed in July 1998 that a very high-speed train project between Canberra and Sydney “proceed to another stage”, with the Speedrail Group being chosen as the preferred proponent to “prove up” its proposal.

According to cabinet records from 1998 and 1999, released on Wednesday by the National Archives, the Howard government decided to provide $1m for the proving up stage on condition the NSW and ACT governments also contributed $1m each.

Speedrail would use French TGV trains, which run at very high-speed and are non-tilting, to offer an 83-minute service between the nation’s capital and Sydney. A new track was proposed to be built outside Sydney and a suburban track would be used in Sydney.

By November 1998, cabinet’s employment and infrastructure committee wanted the proving-up process accelerated but a year later, on 13 December 1999, the government had decided not to encourage any further expenditure to the project by Speedrail “at this stage”.

Plans for the project were formally abandoned in December 2000.

Hopes of a fast train in Australia are still alive in 2020, after the Morrison government established the National Faster Rail Agency in July last year to work with states and other proponents on the delivery of faster rail business cases.

Three business cases for faster rail from Sydney to Newcastle, Melbourne to Greater Shepparton and Brisbane to the regions of Moreton Bay and the Sunshine Coast have been submitted to the agency, which is reviewing them and will provide advice to the government “in coming months”.

Another five business cases have been funded for Sydney to Wollongong and Sydney to Parkes, Melbourne to Albury and Melbourne to Traralgon, as well as Brisbane to the Gold Coast.