High speed rail to contribute to Australias economic future

Alstom welcomes the findings of the Australian Governments High Speed Rail Study released today. As the global leader in high speed infrastructure Alstom encourages Australia to understand the role high speed rail can play in Australias economic future.

The study represents Australias most important commitment to transport infrastructure and to the countrys sustainable economic future, according to Alstom Australia CEO Chris Raine.

The report has called for the acquisition of land to secure high speed rail corridors for the future and a state and federal government plan to ensure that these corridors are available to allow staged construction of the network over the next five years.

In recommending the acquisition of land for high speed rail now to reduce future costs, the report is essentially saying that a high speed rail network in Australia is essential, said Mr Raine.

It could take 15 years to build the entire high speed rail network along eastern Australia. With the megatrends of peak oil and a low carbon future converging, we must start work on high speed rail today. We will build infrastructure that will keep Australians connected across vast distances at exactly the time it is most needed.

Established high speed rail networks across Europe and Japan offer powerful evidence of the positive changes it brings to major cities and regions.

High speed rail has been established in France for three decades and has been instrumental in reinvigorating declining industrial regions like Lille. There are numerous examples from around the world which compare directly with the Australia. We have seen regional centres like Newcastle flourish, we have seen a decrease in CO2 emissions and we have seen a reduction in both road and air congestion. said Mr Raine.

In the last 30 years, more than two billion passengers have travelled on the European high speed TGV network without a single fatal accident and there is an established commuter network taking passengers hundreds of kilometres to work every day in less than an hour. This has a powerful effect on the amenity of major cities and the regions around them.

With the Melbourne to Sydney air route being the fourth busiest air corridor in the world and the Brisbane to Sydney route ranking as the ninth busiest in the world, there is genuine potential for passenger traffic to be sufficient to cover operating costs of an Australian network.

Relieving stress on these routes could extend the life of current airports and obviate the need for a second airport in and around the Sydney basin for many years.

Currently, Alstoms AGV operates at a maximum commercial speed of 360km/h. At such a speed it would be possible to travel by rail from the heart of Melbourne to the heart of Sydney in as little as three hours without the need for check-in times.

A high speed rail network is a triple bottom line solution that is better for the environment, has profoundly positive effects on the cities and regions it services and has an extraordinary safety record, Mr Raine said.

It seems remarkable that with the increased pressures on fuel and carbon emissions, we are still quibbling about a technology that solves both of these problems and brings many more additional advantages, concluded Mr Raine.