Why don’t we have high speed services in Australia?

The way to use high speed rail to develop regional cities was known almost 20 years ago, well before the 2013 HSR Study was commenced.  So why are we still learning them?

This week our colleague Phil Potterton found a report published in 2006 by Greengauge 21, a UK HSR advocacy group, studying the impact of high speed rail on regional cities in Europe.  The report is based on published research primarily from France, but also includes studies from Belgium, Spain and Sweden.

Three primary usage patterns are broadly distinguished by travel time bands

The report concludes that “high speed rail is a major factor in the development of regional city economies, supporting city development plans and the regeneration of run-down areas.  The growth of high speed rail travel in mainland Europe and the matching expansion of city economies over the last two decades have shown how powerful a tool this really is.”

The report says the gains reflect three elements in the European experience:

• High speed rail changes travel patterns by bringing cities closer to each other in time – especially when regional centres are brought closer to the capital.  They boost business travel by executives of major companies and specialist firms alike, enabling business activities in the cities served to benefit from increased exchanges and activity levels.  They also promote leisure travel to more distant destinations, widening catchments.  And they also support an increase in daily commuting for cities at a shorter distance from the capital.

• Gains from high speed rail are most likely to be made by cities which are heavily oriented towards service sector businesses.  Development of the high speed station in integrated fashion with the surrounding area is fundamental to capturing the maximum benefit.  It provides a major area of third tier activities – offices, hotels and conference facilities, retail and leisure – together with potential for high quality housing.  This has been most effective when those cities developed an integrated city strategy, consistently implemented over time in cooperation with all interests and with committed political leadership.

• Effective movement within and beyond the conurbation is vital for cities to benefit from access to high speed trains. This allows them to strengthen their role as regional capitals, extending their labour market catchments and business opportunities.  To some extent the success of these cities can lead to greater dominance over the other centres in the region, which may lead to economic losses in some locations.  But these can be mitigated by the creation of good quality public transport links at a regional level.

However, the report notes, not all places served by high-speed rail have benefited, usually because of inadequate commitment to develop a viable service sector economy or through the inadequate provision of frequent services in smaller centres.

So here we are in 2025 and we’re still trying to convince the public and our politicians that high seed rail will open up regional Australia for increased population and economic development.  But instead, because we’ve failed to learn from the experience of continental Europeans, we have politicians who are trying to cram as many people as possible into our capital cities. 

It just doesn’t make sense!