Canberra region would 'take off' with high-speed rail

Professor Andrew McNaughton, who prepared a report for the NSW government on the future of rail connections in the state, said that unreleased modelling showed there was a genuine case for high-speed rail between Sydney and Canberra, which would "take off" as a city region.

"It would change the face of that whole region of Australia. So it was clear there was a case for genuine high-speed rail. When we crunch the numbers, the debate becomes how quickly can you do it? And it's actually quite a long way. You can't do it in one stage," Professor McNaughton said.

But a series of smaller, cheaper upgrades would cut travel times within five years on the existing rail link between the two cities, which is currently in an "awful state" and takes more than four hours.

"You can't sit there with the current transport options for Canberra for the next 25 years," he said.

Professor McNaughton said those upgrades could be incorporated into a future high-speed rail link, meaning they would not be wasted spending once the slower service was superseded.

"I came to the conclusion, and it's a conclusion I still hold, that a kind of three-hour journey time on the existing railway was incredibly possible at a reasonably modest cost and probably within five years, basically by renewing the worn out track and renewing some of the worn out bridges," he told The Canberra Times.

The upgrades would include improvements between Canberra and Goulburn, along with cut offs to bypass parts of the track designed to avoid steep gradients.

"Someone needs to get in by the scruff of the neck. It's not difficult. I could probably spend two days and tell you exactly what needs to be done on it, not because I'm particularly clever; I've been around a long time," Professor McNaughton said.

"Any decent railway engineer could put together a plan that got you significant journey times through basic renewal. And I just sort of [think], 'What stops you doing it?' I don't know."

Improvements to the existing service would drive a higher take-up of train travel between Canberra and Sydney, which is currently the mode of between 1 and 2 per cent of travellers, further building the case for true high-speed services, he said.

Professor McNaughton said the high-speed rail advice report he prepared for the NSW government should be released, as it would better inform debates about rail projects.

Professor McNaughton said it made sense for the NSW government to prioritise a high-speed rail link to Newcastle first as it would have a significant benefit in providing people with faster access to Sydney and opening up more developable land with access to the state's capital.

"The economics would almost certainly say whilst it's jolly expensive to build a new line between Sydney and Newcastle, the benefits are going to be really big because you're talking about really large numbers of people. Canberra is quite a long way from Sydney and you've got to build most of it before you get the transformative effect," he said.

However, Professor McNaughton warned a focus on commuters was an "obsession" with a "minority sport".

"I chair the company that manages High Speed 1 in Britain. We see commuters on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays between the regional cities and London. We see tourists every day of the week," he said.

"We see people travelling for leisure, to meet people to go shopping, to go to leisure events, whether they be highbrow like concerts and stuff, or they just go to the football or whatever. But they do it because the journey time means they can."

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Federal Infrastructure Minister Catherine King this month said the federal government, which is recruiting a board for its high-speed rail authority, was committed to delivering the high-speed rail link to Newcastle first.

ACT Chief Minister Andrew Barr has repeatedly advocated for improvements to the existing Canberra-to-Sydney train link, arguing cutting the travel time to three hours would be a "game changer", making it competitive with driving.

Canberra Airport chief executive Stephen Byron this week said the airport strongly supported introducing high-speed rail to Canberra but it would end air travel from the capital to Sydney.

"I think anything that improves the connectivity between Canberra and Sydney is good for our city. And if it was linked to the airport, it would be ultimately good for the redevelopment of our international services and the role of Canberra Airport as an international airport if we were connected by a fast trail to Sydney. Now it's not going to happen overnight," Mr Byron told ABC radio.

Professor McNaughton said the ACT should adopt the position of the 2013 federal government high-speed rail study, which recommended a tunnel under Mt Ainslie and a station on the eastern edge of the city centre.

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