East Coast HSR Could Cut Carbon

The Corridor for phase two of the Study. Source:
HIGH SPEED RAIL STUDY – PHASE 1AECOM Australia Pty Ltd 

 Each year 7.88Million trips are made by air between the two most populous cities in Australia, making the Sydney-Melbourne corridor the 5th busiest in the world. Other people travel by car and almost exclusively by car to every town and city in between. Think of how much CO2 that produces. High Speed Rail makes sense, a clean and efficient way to transport people between the CBDs of Sydney,  Canberra, Melbourne, Newcastle and Brisbane. Today the federal government released their report into high speed rail, and it argues a strong case.

By 2056 almost 30million people will live in the corridor between Brisbane and Melbourne. If we are to stop our cities from sprawling out of control and becoming crippled by congestion, more people are going to have to live in regional cities. High speed rail can get them there. If we are to reduce our emissions, we need high speed rail. If we are to keep regional cities like Newcastle alive, we need high speed rail. Potentially it can be powered entirely by renewable energy, reducing the carbon emissions of a trip to Melbourne to 0.  Other nations around the world including China, the USA and even Morocco are building high speed rail to prepare themselves for reductions in emissions and the rising cost of oil.

Think about it: 3 hours from Central and you are in the heart of Melbourne or Brisbane, no airport queues, no take off and landing. 40 minutes and you are home from work in Sydney CBD, except you live in Newcastle. What is clear is; the longer we delay the start of construction, the greater the need will become and the more expensive it will be in the long run.