High-speed rail in Australia has been under investigation since the early 1980s. Crikey – BZE: How we found high speed rail to be commercially viable Every federal government since this time has investigated the feasibility of constructing high-speed rail with speeds above 200 km/h, but to date nothing has ever gone beyond the detailed planning stage. Various corridors have been proposed for a potential high-speed line. The most commonly suggested route is between Australia's three largest cities, Brisbane to Sydney to Melbourne, which, as of 2025, is the world's fifth-busiest air corridor. The federal government's latest proposal is a link between Sydney and Newcastle to be completed first by 2039, with the extensions to Brisbane and Melbourne to come at a later date.
Since the introduction of the New South Wales XPT, some Australian trains have been capable of high-speed operation. The Australian rail speed record of was set by Queensland Rail's Electric Tilt Train during a trial run in 1998; the internationally accepted threshold for high-speed rail is . Trains in New South Wales, Victoria, Queensland and Western Australia operate at a maximum service speed of .
The High Speed Rail Authority, a federal government agency established in 2023, has been tasked with "advising on, planning, developing and overseeing the construction and operation of a transformational network along Australia's eastern seaboard". The authority's first priority is planning and corridor works for the Sydney to Newcastle section of a high-speed rail network, backed by a $500 million commitment from the Australian Government.
Overview
The construction of a high-speed rail link along the east coast has been the target of several investigations since the early 1980s. Air travel dominates the inter-capital travel market, and intra-rural travel is almost exclusively car-based. Rail has a significant presence in the rural / city fringe commuter market, but inter-capital rail currently has very low market share due to low speeds and infrequent service. However, travel times between the capitals by high-speed rail could be as fast as or faster than air travel, as the 2013 High Speed Rail Study Phase 2 Report estimated that conventional high-speed rail express journeys from Sydney to Melbourne would take 2 hours and 44 minutes, while those from Sydney to Brisbane would take 2 hours and 37 minutes.
Various studies and recommendations have asserted that a high-speed rail service between the major eastern capital cities could be viable as an alternative to air. Although such studies have generated much interest from the private sector and captured the imagination of the general public upon their release, to date no private-sector proposal has been able to demonstrate financial viability without the need for significant government assistance.
A mature high-speed rail system would be more economically competitive, provide mass transit, have a duration of travel that would compare with or be quicker than air travel, and would reduce national carbon dioxide emissions.
In 2012, over 12 million people lived along the Sydney–Melbourne rail corridor.
Present status
The maximum service speed on Australian railways is . Some trains in Australia are capable of high-speed operation, but are limited by track conditions. Regional and inter-city rail is extensive on the Australian mainland, with networks serving New South Wales, Victoria, Queensland and Western Australia.
New South Wales
The XPT (Express Passenger Train) entered service in New South Wales in 1982. It set an Australian speed record for the time of on a test run in 1992, beating its own previous record. The train is not often used to its full potential, operating along winding steam-era alignments, and at times has had its top speed limited due to track condition and level crossing incidents. Nonetheless, it significantly reduced travel times, cutting up to two hours off the trip from Sydney to Melbourne. The XPT operates at a top speed of . However, it can theoretically reach speeds of 200 km/h. Safety-related issues, signal deficiencies & the retrofitting of train-stop mechanisms to power cars in 2006 resulted in XPT speeds being limited to 115 km/h on Sydney's electrified network.In January 1978, the Public Transport Commission invited tenders for a fleet of high-speed railcars similar to the Prospector railcars delivered by Comeng to the Western Australian Government Railways in 1971. Comeng submitted a tender for a train based on the British Rail designed InterCity 125 which had entered service with British Rail in October 1976. In August 1979, Comeng was announced as the successful bidder."NSW gives country passengers a break" Railway Gazette International March 1979 page 210"HST begets XPT" Railway Gazette International June 1980 pages 511/512"XPT Australia's train of tomorrow" Rail Enthusiast September 1982 pages 40-42 The design was significantly modified for Australian conditions. The passenger trailer cars were based on a Budd design, with the British Rail Mark 3 trailers considered unsuitable. Nonetheless, the passenger car bogies were based on the British Rail BT10 type.
NSW TrainLink currently operates XPT trains from Sydney to Melbourne, Brisbane, Dubbo, Grafton and Casino.
The D sets were the second class of train produced for New South Wales to be able to operate at 160 km/h (100 mph). However, their service speed was restricted to 130 km/h (80 mph).TS TOC.2 : 2024 issue 1 - Train Operating Conditions (page 98)
Queensland
The Electric Tilt Train entered service in Queensland on 6 November 1998, operating the Spirit of Capricorn between Brisbane and Rockhampton. With a journey time of seven hours, they shaved over two hours from the schedule operated by the preceding InterCity Express sets."Australia enters the Tilt Train era" Railway Digest December 1998 pages 22–25, 40 Using traction equipment derived from the JR Shikoku 8000 series trains, one reached north of Bundaberg in May 1999, an Australian speed record that still stands and which makes it the fastest narrow-gauge train in the world."QR Tilt Train Sets Australian Rail Speed Record" Railway Digest June 1999 page 15
In August 1999, a contract was awarded to Walkers for two diesel tilting trains to operate services from Brisbane to Cairns."Bundaberg Tilt Service Hits Airline as Cairns Tilt Contract Signed" Railway Digest September 1999 page 16 In contrast to the Electric Tilt Train, the Diesel Tilt Train is a push-pull locomotive based train. In October 2010 Downer Rail was awarded a contract to build a further diesel tilt train with two power cars and 12 carriages to replace locomotive hauled stock on The Sunlander.World class trains for Queensland supporting 800 Maryborough jobs Minister for Transport 27 October 2010Spirit of Queensland QueenslandQueensland's famed Sunlander gets makeover Rail Express 21 August 2013 The third set entered service in 2014.
The maximum speed of the Tilt Trains in service is .
Victoria V/Line operates regional services in Victoria. In the late 2010s and early 2020s, the Victorian regional network underwent one of the largest periods of expansion and upgrade in its history, resulting in widespread improvements. V/Line's VLocity trains run at speeds of .
Western Australia
In December 2000 Westrail awarded a contract to United Goninan, Broadmeadow for nine railcars to replace the 1971 built WAGR WCA/WCE class fleet. Seven were for Prospector and two for the AvonLink service."WA Short Lines" Railway Digest February 2001 The first entered service on 28 June 2004. The new railcars are capable of , but track conditions restrict their top speed to .
Proposals Various proposals have sought to introduce high-speed service in Australia through varyingly ambitious projects ranging from improving existing lines to constructing entirely new ones.
1970s–1980s The rail network has long been a target of proposals for improvement. The 1979 Premiers' Meeting proposed the electrification of the Sydney–Melbourne line to improve transit time from over 12 hours to under 10, but a senate committee found this was not justified on economic grounds. In 1981, the Institution of Engineers proposed the Bicentennial High-Speed Railway Project, which proposed to link the five capitals of south-eastern Australia (Adelaide, Melbourne, Canberra, Sydney and Brisbane) in time for the Australian Bicentenary. However, it proposed only the strengthening and partial electrification of the existing tracks, new deviations to bypass the worst sections, additional passing loops, and the purchase of new diesel-electric trains. It would offer only mild improvements on the existing travel times: Sydney to Canberra in three hours, and Sydney to Melbourne in nine; it cannot therefore be considered a true high-speed rail proposal.
1980s
1984 CSIRO proposal
The first true high-speed rail proposal was presented to the Hawke government in June 1984 by the CSIRO, spearheaded by its chairman, Dr Paul Wild. The proposal was to link Melbourne, Canberra and Sydney via a coastal corridor, based on French TGV technology. The proposal estimated construction costs at A$2.5 billion ($9.15 billion in 2023), with initial revenue of A$150 million per annum exceeding operating costs of A$50 million per annum. The proposal attracted much public and media attention, as well as some private sector capital for feasibility studies.
In September 1984, the Bureau of Transport Economics found that the probable construction costs had been underestimated by A$1.5 billion, and the proposal would therefore be uneconomic. The Minister for Transport, Peter Morris, rejected the proposal.
Very Fast Train joint venture
Later in 1984 Peter Abeles, chairman of TNT, expressed interest in Dr Wild's proposal.
Two years later in September 1986, the Very Fast Train Joint Venture was established, comprising Elders IXL, Kumagai Gumi, TNT and later BHP, with Dr Wild as chairman. They proposed a 350 km/h rail link from Sydney to Canberra via Goulburn, and then on to Melbourne via the coastal route (or alternatively the inland route). A feasibility study estimated to cost A$19 million ($51.3 million in 2023) was initiated by the group in 1988. In 1989, after talks with the Queensland Government, the joint venture group also performed a preliminary analysis of a coastal link to Brisbane. In 1990 the joint venture released the results of the major feasibility study, simply titled VFT – Project Evaluation. It proposed an inland route between Melbourne, Sydney and Canberra, with intermediate stations at Campbelltown, Bowral, Goulburn, Yass, Wagga Wagga, Albury-Wodonga, Benalla, Seymour and Melbourne Airport. It was estimated to cost $6.6billion ($16.6billion in 2023) and take five years to construct, beginning in 1992.
The VFT was opposed by numerous groups, notably the Australian Conservation Foundation and the Australian Democrats. Concerns centred around the environmental impact a coastal corridor would have on fragile ecosystems, noise pollution and the amount of public money that might be required.
After the release of the project evaluation, negotiations continued between the joint venture and state and federal governments. A favourable tax regime was sought, without which it was claimed that the project would not be economically viable. Premier of South Australia John Bannon was among the vocal proponents of tax breaks for major infrastructure projects such as the VFT. In August 1991, the Hawke Cabinet rejected the proposed tax breaks after it was claimed they would have cost A$1.4 billion (A$3.2billion in 2023). Subsequently the VFT Joint Venture folded.
1990s
Tilting trains