top of page
Search

The rail industry is waking up

Writer's picture: Ross LowreyRoss Lowrey

It has been a struggle, but the Australasian Rail Association (ARA), the peak rail body in Australia, is at last showing signs that it may support high speed rail in Australia. This week it held its High Speed Rail conference with Tim Parker, CEO of HSRA, as its keynote speaker.


The two day conference contained many presentations from an impressive list of international decision-makers and technical experts on how to make high speed rail a reality in Australia. It also included several panel discussions on funding, its economic potential in Australia and for the Sydney to Newcastle section more specifically, passenger experience and engagement, and of supporters of high speed rail.


We were pleased to have Phil Potterton represent us (Fastrack Australia) along with Joe Langley (Australian High Speed Rail Association) in the final panel discussion.


Tim Parker gave an initial indication that the Sydney-Newcastle route will have three stations - Central Station, Gosford and Newcastle (presumably at Broadmeadow). It will have some of the longest tunnels in the world, requiring 84kms of tunnel and 25kms of viaduct/bridges along its 140kms length.


The key points made by the international speakers were:

  • The speaker from Japan Central stressed the importance of crashworthiness and track safety standards. The US took seven years to finalise safety regulations for the Dallas to Houston project.

  • The speaker from SNCF contrasted the Japanese segregated system and the French one using parts of the existing network. He said the Japanese advantage of being a 'completely on time system' is being eroded as rail access controls become more automated.

  • The speaker from Deutsche Bahn said the integrated system in Germany allowed higher capacity utilisation with sharing between HSR and freight trains. Also, Sprinter express passenger trains have been introduced that are competing well with air (but are 'a nightmare for train planners').

  • The speaker from Alstom indicated that high speed trains run on HSR and conventional networks in France, Spain and Italy to use existing stations and avoid passenger inconvenience. As a result, conventional lines are being upgraded to support faster services.

  • The speakers from Italferr said Italy is connecting HSR with the conventional network to reach as many people as possible with a multimodal 'last mile and first mile solutions' approach.

  • The speaker from Jacobs said that HS2 has suffered from the early setting of stretch targets (e.g. faster than european trains, high frequency of services) that drove unrealistic expectations and ultimately the increase in costs that have politically damaged the case for high speed rail.

  • The speaker from SYSTRA stressed the importance of having both the rail maintainer and operator involved starting from the initial concept and ongoing throughout the project.


Some key observations from local speakers include:

  • The speaker from Lynxx recommends regional stations must have substantial car parking to aggregate enough demand for rail services, including in Newcastle.

  • The speaker from RATP emphasised that passenger comfort is what distinguishes regional rail. It should not be subject to cost economies, including in station planning, given the large numbers coming through.

  • The speaker from the National Transport Research Organisation recommended a similar national body to China's Academy of Railway Sciences be established build international collaboration in the development of railway networks.


A key issue for the Sydney-Newcastle business case will be the need to stimulate larger scale housing development. The responses from Business Sydney ("we need more tracts of land for housing"), the City of Newcastle ("Sydney should increase density to deal with housing demand"), and the Committee for Newcastle ("there's plenty of land for housing, preserving land for jobs should be the priority") show there is some way to go on agreeing the right solution.


Also, as the speaker from Japan Central pointed out, the Shinkansen was originally built in 1964 as a dedicated system between two megacities with trains running every 30 minutes. That line now has 3 minute headways between trains, or over 300 very long trains per day each way. It is hard to see how Sydney-Newcastle can warrant a dedicated system based on its existing capacity of about 50 passenger trains each way per day.


This was a very positive step by the ARA. Not only were the speakers engaging, but they had very important messages for Australia. The major issues facing HSR in Australia were covered in panel sessions. While these were limited, the debate can't really start until the HSRA produces its business case and "product description". That's when we will need the Australian rail industry to stand up and produce solutions for Australia. Let's hope the industry, and ARA as its peak body, are getting ready for the challenge.






98 views

Recent Posts

See All

©2021 by fastrackaustralia.net

bottom of page