A high-speed rail line from Sydney to Newcastle could potentially cut the journey from 2.5 hours to just one hour, while traveling at an incredible 200mph.
But the cost of connecting NSW’s two most populous cities could exceed $40 billion, based on estimates of the cost of a high-speed rail line for a shorter route.
Modeling two years ago by the NSW government showed a high-speed rail line from Sydney to Gosford – 83 kilometers south of Newcastle – would cost up to $32 billion.
The modelling, carried out under then Liberal Prime Minister Dominic Perrottet, shows how enormous the financial challenge would be of extending such a line to Newcastle – 168km from Sydney – as envisaged by the federal government.
Construction of a rail link from Sydney Olympic Park to Gosford would take 12 years after planning permission was granted, according to secret documents. obtained by the Sydney Morning Herald.
The Perrottet government’s plans were never made public and were shelved when the Coalition lost the 2023 NSW state election to Labor.
Any future plans for such a route would therefore be heavily dependent on federal funding and provide a first plank for an eventual high-speed line from Brisbane to Melbourne.
The Albanian government was presented with a business case at the end of 2024 for a high-speed line connecting Sydney to Newcastle.
A high-speed rail line from Sydney to Newcastle could potentially cut the journey from 2.5 hours to just one hour, traveling at an eye-watering speed of 200mph (stock image)
The cost of connecting NSW’s two most populous cities could exceed $40 billion (pictured, passengers disembarking from train at Sydney Central Station)
With a federal election just months away, pursuing the project would be part of the Labor manifesto, leaving it open to opposition questions over its enormous cost.
A major difference between the state coalition plan and the federal Labor plan is the potential speed of the trains.
While the state plan allowed for trains up to 155 mph, the federal plan would allow trains to travel up to 200 mph.
Another difference is that the federal High Speed Rail Authority (HSRA) plan includes a line running under Sydney Harbor to Central Station.
The previous NSW Coalition government’s proposal was to locate Sydney’s main station in Olympic Park, 19km west of Sydney’s CBD.
HSRA’s CEO Tim Parker did not say how much a new line from Sydney to Newcastle would cost cost, saying it was a different project from the state government’s previous plan.
‘It’s not that much of a cost. it’s the benefits it brings,” he said.
Any funding decisions for a high-speed line from Newcastle to Sydney will depend in part on a review by Infrastructure Australia, which is currently taking place.
The federal government has committed $500 million to planning a high-speed rail corridor on the Sydney-Newcastle route, with $79 million of that to explore the business case.