By rosebell
In order to progressing a high-speed rail link between Sydney and Newcastle, the business case has been approved by the Australian government’s independent assessment body.
According to the released assessment report by Infrastructure Australia, the route would expand 194km and include four stops.
Involving early contractor involvement to complete at least 40% of the design, it has given support to the two-year development phase.
Being mostly located between the Central Coast, Central Sydney and Western Sydney International Airport, almost 60% of the line would be in tunnels,whereas train speeds of up to 200km/hour, about 40% slower than the theoretical maximum.
Fastering travel speeds would require a significantly increasing the tunnel diameter, but considering that it would have minimal impact on journey times it not justify the extra costs, as the government’s High Speed Rail Authority (HSRA) says.
Shorter tunnels along the route between Central Coast and Newcastle are designed for the maximum line speed of 320km/hour.
The scheduled time plan in HSRA’s business case for initial delivery and operations on the Newcastle to Central Coast (Stage 1A) section is 2037, while the line reaching Sydney Central (Stage 1B) in 2039, and Western Sydney International Airport (Stage 1C) would be delivered in 2042.
The Newcastle to Sydney corridor is the part of a proposed national high-speed rail network. The long-term vision is to connect Brisbane, Sydney, Canberra and Melbourne through more than 1,800km of dedicated lines.
