At the recent AUSRail Conference, both sides of politics made big announcements regarding rail projects, although the projects are wildly different.
Deputy Prime Minister Warren Truss announced that the government will be establishing an Inland Rail Implementation Group to be chaired by his predecessor, the former Deputy Prime Minister John Anderson. Following Mr Truss at the conference, former Transport Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Anthony Albanese announced that he will be introducing a private member's bill into par;iament to further the cause of the east coast high-speed rail line.
Australasian Railways Association (ARA) CEO Bryan Nye said he was delighted to support the next step in the process of building the nation-changing Inland Rail Project.
"The establishment of the inland rail implementation group will ensure this project moves forward towards its completion in 2026," said Mr Nye.
"For such a large project in a complicated policy environment, there is a lot that needs to be resolved – such as the exact corridor, ownership arrangements, funding, and links to the resource sector.
"The establishment of this group is exactly what is needed to grab these issues by the horns and wrestle them to the ground.
"Whilst inland rail is no HarbourBridge or SnowyMountains scheme in the eyes of the public, it's not far off in terms of what it can deliver for the nation's future prosperity.
"The Inland Rail Project will take seven hours off transit times from Melbourne to Brisbane, remove trucks from the Pacific, Newell and Hume Highways, and boost regional development along the entire 1,700km route," Mr Nye said.
Following Minister Truss' address was Shadow Minister Anthony Albanese, who had announcements of his own in the high-speed rail space, stating that he will be introducing a member's bill in parliament next week to establish a special authority to begin preserving the corridor for the future construction of a high-speed rail.
"Today's announcement by Mr Albanese has cemented the fact that the Federal Opposition was, and still is, committed to seeing the idea of high-speed rail in Australia become a reality," said Mr Nye.
"The issue of high-speed rail will not drop off the political agenda, I won't allow it.
"I hope to see bipartisan progress in this space and will be keenly involved in any developments," Mr Nye said.
