The federal Government was probably right is stopping any further taxpayers’ money going to assessing the very fast train project between Melbourne and Brisbane via Sydney and Canberra, or, indeed, a single Canberra-Sydney link. Very simply it would cost too much. It is still open to private enterprise to do a completely privately funded venture if the thing is so good.
More likely, though, the high cost and low population density of Australia would make the thing unprofitable and a bigger burden on the Australian community than it is worth.
Much the same could be said about the Alice Springs-to-Darwin standard railway. It is a pity that the Government did not do an about turn on that one as well, but the political fallout would be immense, given the closeness of the Northern Territory’s two federal seats.
And on the subject of expensive trains, much the same thing could be said about a light rail from Gungahlin to the centre of Canberra. Once again the proponents seek to attract public funds or public land value into the private venture.
This is not to say that trains do not have a valuable role. They do. But it is important to get their financing and patronage right.
The main trouble with the very fast train is that the costs mean that ticket prices would have to be so high that the low end of the market is priced out and would prefer bus or car and that the high end of the market may as well pay the little extra and fly. There may well have been some benefits for Canberra in construction jobs and in improved access to Sydney, but it would have come at great cost to the taxpayers of Australia in general.
Deputy Prime Minister John Anderson cited a cost of $50 billion for the very fast train. For just a few per cent of that, the existing track could be significantly upgraded and the rolling stock improved, perhaps with the addition of tilt trains. This would make the train trip cheaper and faster than car. At present it is cheaper, but not faster. It would be faster and much more comfortable than bus. It would also take a lot of freight off the roads. This has been the approach in Queensland. Instead of aiming at speeds of up to 300km/h, upgrading the existing track can result in a train doing 160km/h for much of the time. It would mean a two to two and a half hour trip to Sydney from Canberra. In Queensland, the Rockhampton-Brisbane route has just taken its millionth passenger.
There is a similar argument against the light-rail project in Canberra. We have a hopelessly under-used bus system. Why build expensive light-rail infrastructure until the buses have fulfilled full potential? Until the ACT Government increases parking fees in Civic and introduces a sensible, simple fare structure, people will continue to use their cars. Perhaps, the Government should consider the proposal made by the Australia Institute to run a regular lottery with bus tickets to entice people on to public transport.
Public transport has many environmental and economic benefits for Canberra and Australia, but grand schemes are not a substitute for practical action to make present infrastructure work better through policies that gradually build up demand for public transport and gradually make users of private transport pay the real costs of doing so. That is more likely to achieve results than scoping studies with highly optimistic projections of demand for very costly new projects.