Global engineering consultancy and lead author of the east coast high-speed rail's interim report AECOM has been engaged for the second and final stage of the project.
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Transport Minister Anthony Albanese said over the next 12 months AECOM and its partners would determine with greater precision the alignment of the track and station locations, improve the accuracy of costs associated with building and operating the network, re-evaluate patronage projections and recommend financing options along with possible governance arrangements.
The first stage found an eastern seaboard rail network connecting Brisbane to Melbourne via Canberra and Sydney would cost between $61billion and $100billion to build.
It could offer a one-hour journey between Canberra and Sydney for the price of an airline ticket between the two cities.
Canberra Business Council believes the 285km Sydney to Canberra section would more likely cause a modal shift than the Sydney-Newcastle section, and therefore should be built first.
ACT supporters of the project believe Canberra could be an overflow airport for Sydney. The interim study shows the network could carry around 54million passengers a year by 2036, including about half who would have flown between Sydney and Melbourne - currently the world's fifth busiest air corridor.
Mr Albanese said more than 316,000 copies of the interim report had been downloaded, an indication of widespread community interest in this technology.
''Indeed high-speed rail could be a game changer, with the potential to better integrate our regional and metropolitan communities, ease congestion on our roads and at our airports as well as provide a new foundation for a low carbon, high productivity economy,'' he said.
Studies show a high-speed train would cut carbon pollution, with emissions per passenger a third of that of a car. Each full train of 450 passengers would be equivalent to taking 128 cars off the road.