The CLARA high-speed rail plan is a forlorn hope

The CLARA plan for high-speed rail, costing $200 billion and creating eight new inland cities, depends on unrealistically large numbers of houses being sold for unrealistically high prices while interest rates stay unrealistically low. Hot Rails is not impressed…

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Passenger demand for a Sydney-Canberra fast train

We use a variety of different sources to estimate the captured and induced demand for the proposed regional high-speed rail link, and find much higher ridership than projected by previous studies due to serving a large number of regional stations.

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Bowral / Mittagong

The geography between Moss Vale and Mittagong presents a significant barrier to infrastructure development, both due to the built up areas of Bowral and Mittagong and also the imposing topography of Mt Gibraltar. For this reason, re-use of the existing corridor is the best and probably only option here.

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Goulburn approach

The final sector on the Canberra Line is the run into Goulburn, a major regional centre for which access is a priority. The existing line diverges from the Main Southern Line just south of the city, however existing radii are tight at approximately 240m. There are several options for high-speed entry…

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So what is a “hot rail” anyway?

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In the jargon of American rail workers, a “hot rail” is a section of railroad over which the passing of a train is imminent; the closer or faster the approaching train, the hotter the rail. Most of Australia’s railways have been cold for decades, and there is no political, business or…

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