A $15 BILLION bid to build a high speed rail (HSR) service that would cut travel times between Geelong and Melbourne to 17 minutes has failed to make it to the next stage of a federal government prospectus.<\/p>\n
However, proponents of the MegaRail consortium that applied to the Faster Rail Prospectus say they are \u201cdisappointed but not discouraged and certainly not derailed\u201d.<\/p>\n
Late last year, MegaRail announced it had qualified for stage 2 of the prospectus, which is exploring improvements to the rail connections between cities and surrounding regional areas.<\/p>\n
On Friday, Minister for Infrastructure and Transport Michael McCormack announced the three projects chosen for stage 3 that will share in up to $20 million in matched funding towards business cases.<\/p>\n
MegaRail \u2013 a HSR between Geelong and Dandenong \u2013 was not among them, but MegaRail secretary Debra Stirling said her consortium had an 80-week program ready to go that would deliver the business case for between $15 million – $20 million.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Faster Rail Prospectus was only offering up to 50 per cent of the business case cost and we have been working already on funding the other half. Now we just need to deliver more.\u201d<\/p>\n
One of the three chosen projects was Consolidated Land and Rail Australia (CLARA), which will build a HSR service between Melbourne and Shepparton that will cut travel times from three hours to 32 minutes.<\/p>\n
Ms Stirling said CLARA was very different to MegaRail as it \u201cclaimed not to require government funding and was effectively a real estate play\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur project is premised around establishing HSR in existing cities (Geelong, Werribee, Melbourne and Dandenong) with the benefits going to those existing populations and the region generally.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt requires a significant government contribution on behalf of taxpayers. But it would mean up to 200,000 people per day would have their commute reduced by circa 75 per cent.\u201d<\/p>\n
She said state government support \u201cwould greatly assist our case as we go forward\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe government has various immediate transport priorities they are working on, but our project is a long-term solution.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is a congestion buster \u2013 removing the vehicle capacity equivalent of a 12-lane freeway every hour \u2013 and is a mode changer for commuters, not a stop gap.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
A $15 BILLION bid to build a high speed rail (HSR) service that would cut travel times between Geelong and Melbourne to 17 minutes has failed to make it to the next stage of a federal government prospectus. However, proponents of the MegaRail consortium that applied to the Faster Rail Prospectus say they are \u201cdisappointed […]<\/p>\n