The High Speed Rail Authority has released tender documents. Let's not lose this opportunity to build the best possible HSR network.
High speed rail (HSR) isn't just about neutralising the distance between Sydney and its siblings. It can revolutionise transport within Sydney. In short, we can give the Sydney commuter rail network a new high speed backbone.
I have written in previous op-eds that the key to a successful HSR network is volume. Making it something that everyone will use and benefit from.
This means treating high speed trains as nothing special. Tap your card and step onboard. This ease of use should extend to people who are simply travelling from one part of Sydney to another.
Imagine stepping out of a high speed train, traversing the usual escalators and then finding yourself standing on Sydney's Pitt Street Mall. Or alternatively, you're now in Parramatta Square. This is the high speed network we should aspire to.
We can accomplish this by building a segment of the high speed network between Parramatta and Sydney CBDs - with a station stop at Central. An 11-minute transit unifies these cities. Limiting trains on this line to 10 cars enables stations to be built directly under each CBD. It also reduces the cost of stations - particularly at Central which now requires only two additional HSR platforms.
At the intersection of the CBD to CBD line and the high speed main line is the core station. It is designed for fast and seamless transfer between high speed trains. Step off a high speed train, ride one flight of escalator and step onto another high speed train. All within a few minutes.
Note that the core station's precinct will become a major destination in its own right. Potential locations exist at Rosehill, Olympic Park and Flemington.
The accompanying graphic shows the structure of the network. The figures are transit times in minutes relative to the Sydney CBD, including transfer.
Existing transit times are crushed to a third. Instead of the hour-long commute from Campbelltown, you will reach the CBD in 22 minutes. Liverpool to Macquarie Park is slashed from 78 minutes to 23. Blacktown is now 25 minutes from the Sydney CBD. Hornsby and Berowra are no longer outposts.
In many cases, this will take cars off roads.
Tens of millions of journeys a year will transfer to the high speed network. This frees capacity in the existing network. It enables simpler timetables. It improves reliability.
A Central station HSR terminus?: If your destination is the Sydney CBD, then it is preferable to remain on a high speed train until you arrive in the centre of the city.
Rather than being faced with a time-consuming interchange at Central, followed by another train or tram ride. If your destination requires interchange at Central, this will be faster if Central is not a massive HSR terminus. Making Central station a HSR terminus means a less desirable outcome. We can do better.
Cost: I propose a singular network with common facilities, built in two segments. The total length of track, including the CBD to CBD segment, is almost exactly equivalent to the length of track required for a network with a dual (north and south) HSR terminus at Central. The proposed additional stations are likely to cost less than the alternative - a multibillion retrofit of Central station with a HSR terminus. Think heritage issues, reconstruction of surrounding infrastructure, resumptions and years of disruption.
This is not necessary.
Parramatta and Western Sydney: Sydney's population centroid is a few kilometres east of Parramatta. Half of Sydney lives west of here.
Maximising social and economic return on investment means including Western Sydney. Saving tens of billions in future road costs means connecting all of Sydney. So, there is no good reason to deny direct HSR access to Parramatta, at least. We can provide connectivity to Central station with only two platforms and also deliver people directly to Sydney CBD, without spending billions on a HSR terminus.
A well-designed HSR network can massively improve transport within Sydney.
