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    Federal government commits further $229.6 million for Sydney to Newcastle high-speed rail
    Australia

    Federal government commits further $229.6 million for Sydney to Newcastle high-speed rail

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    23 Comments

    1. todaytomato on

      > Transport Minister Catherine King has announced an additional $229.6 million for the High Speed Rail Authority to lock in the design, approvals process, scope and cost of the project.

      > The latest funding will take the total government investment to date to $659.6 million, before a single section of track is laid.

      not sure what we’ve gotten for all that money besides engineering consultants getting paid large sums of money for not much work

    3. EppingMarky on

      Wouldn’t it be better to just develop these skills properly via funding uni and developing the public sector?! That way we can do it over and over without funding consultants again and again.

    5. AutomaticMistake on

      break ground or STFU.
      no more studies/surveys/political grandstanding, you’ve had decades. just get something done and stop pissfarting around

    7. todaytomato on

      here’s the [project page](https://www.infrastructureaustralia.gov.au/ipl/newcastle-sydney-and-wollongong-sydney-rail-line-upgrades) in 2014 where it never went anywhere

      here’s the [announcement of the 20 year plan] (https://coastcommunitynews.com.au/central-coast/news/2018/12/premiers-proposed-fast-train-study-met-with-support-scepticism/) to establish the northern high speed rail route in 2018

      here’s the [announcement of the high speed rail authority](https://minister.infrastructure.gov.au/c-king/media-release/high-speed-rail-gathers-speed) (upgraded from the faster rail agency) in 2022

      and completely unrelated but here’s the [utopia short](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8av3knflbQo) where they announce the targeted scoping study to look at the acquisition of land a couple of years before the election as well as the establishment of a high speed rail authority.

    9. Logical_Iron_8288 on

      I think most of the money is going to the CFMEU for a health and safety scoping study…..

    10. MrSweetpotato93 on

      So it’ll boost the economy by $250 billion over the next 50 years. Can’t tell if that’s a good thing for half a century

    11. Logical_Iron_8288 on

      Reminds me of the Snowy 2.0 which had a build estimate of $2B. They lower the drilling machine and it stood out for its inability to drill a hole. New machine purchased. Adjusted budget 2024 $12 B. Final cost now
      Likely to be around the $20B mark.

      The fast train project will be just another boondoggle where the budget explodes once the contracts have been signed. I hope it doesn’t get beyond a scoping study.

    13. WearyFHB on

      $230 million for detailed planning work over the next two years, ahead of a decision on whether to actually build any of it being made in 2028, which also happens to be when the next federal election is due.

    14. bluegum69 on

      It does feel absurd when you see a figure like $229.6 million and realise it’s not even for building the Sydney–Newcastle high‑speed rail — it’s just another planning allocation

      “A quarter billion dollars? China would have high‑speed rail running to Brisbane by now.”

    15. moron-detector-911 on

      Having high speed rail between our cities is a massively useful thing (even more so between SYD/CBR/MEL), but like any other plan by the major parties, I’m certain this is only being pushed because some entities must be pork barrelling the hell out of this – knowing that it will be delayed and will spill way over budget and potentially be scrapped, but hey, the engineering/consulting company will get tonnes of taxpayer money for making fancy slides, graphics and project plans in the meantime.

    17. Fibbs on

      adjusting for inflation they spent more than that on just a feasibility study last time, i guess now that the number is bigger its therefore a more significant contribution.

      $229m is 0.06% of the $360bn advertised spend on subs. Which will essentially be operated under a subscription model to the US. i.e we won’t actually own them.

    20. aliksong on

      For starters, the stations don’t need to be built like an art gallery. The stations on the sydney metro are a vanity project which blew out costs. The sandstone caverns with ultra high ceilings are beautiful but absolutely unnecessary, Just build a functional, not ugly station that is fit for purpose.

      We already have one of the most expensive and slow construction industries. We should be finding any way to make taxpayer money go further and deliver more benefits to the public. Look at rorting within the contractors 

    21. Golf-Recent on

      Spending $20m a month on project development, design, engineering, environmental studies and stakeholder management is pretty bullish. I really hope it’s spent on “how” to build it and not “whether” to build it.

    22. ShushKebab on

      Is this the furthest we’ve ever gotten with one these HSR plans? Like a commitment to being ‘shovel-ready’ in two years?

    23. KnoxCastle on

      When we talk about losing jobs to new tech I really hope that benefits from tech advances free societies up to make these kind of big, quality of life investments.

      It seems really hard for democracies to make these kind of huge investment multi decade projects work. I really hope we can find a way to do it.