Moss Vale

Now we are really getting into the heart of the Southern Highlands, with its beautiful rolling pastures, cute hamlets, manicured golf courses, and of course the Shoalhaven Escarpment on the southeastern side. The existing railway between Bundanoon and Moss Vale is pretty windy, so we will need to build a completely new track through moderately difficult terrain.

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Towrang to Marulan

This sector involves some difficult terrain, with the Wollondilly River winding between hilly country. The eastern part of the alignment approaching Marulan is unproblematic; curves are minimal and there is even a former trackbed on the north side of the tracks that can be reutilised for most of the length.

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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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Bridges and Viaducts

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After tunnels, bridges and viaducts are the second-most expensive line-item in the most of the various proposals for Australian high-speed rail. Here we will provide estimates for cost-per-kilometre of standard bridge types, as well as rail-specific cost-functions for major bridges that require unique specification. AECOM13 estimates The 2013 high speed rail…

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An empirical rough order of magnitude cost function for bridge structures

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Bridges (over water) and viaducts (over land) can be some of the most expensive infrastructure projects in the world, especially for very long spans. The ability to obtain rough order of magnitude (ROM) costings for bridges based on very preliminary specifications is therefore an important tool for the design of any road…

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A critique of the 2013 HSR study

The 2013 Phase 2 report into high-speed rail by AECOM took two years and 20 million dollars to complete, and it is a remarkable piece of work, comprising detailed alignment routes, costings, economic analysis and much more. It is easily the most comprehensive HSR study undertaken in this country to date. It’s a…

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