I heard a story while in Singapore in August 2016 which is rather disturbing. Apparently, Singapore purchased some Metro train sets (admittedly not HSR, but indicative) from China. They were delivered with fanfare. It was later discovered that they had cracks in their bogies. They were returned to China for repair with the reverse of […]
Paying for High Speed Rail
Summary The good news is that revenue from the sale of housing built on the 21 square km of new ‘land’ created above the trenches in the inner-city of Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane by HSR would be enough to pay for the whole capital cost of HSR, FFR from Melbourne to Brisbane and the housing […]
Private Financing of High Speed Rail in Australia
The work of John Alexander’s Committee of Inquiry into HSR and value capture to date and the announcement of the CLARA Project base on value capture have spurred me to revisit my thinking on paying for the private VFT Project for High Speed Rail (HSR) and Fast Freight rail (FFR) and housing between the west […]
Comments on the CLARA HSR Proposal
3/52 Grey StEast MelbourneVic 30020419 006 002peter.knight@veryfasttrain.com.auWWW.veryfasttrain.com.au 17.7.16 The EditorThe Australian Dear sir Comments on the CLARA HSR Proposal Advantages The CLARA (Consolidated Land and Rail Australia) project is impressive, indeed “uplifting”. It is predicated on Maglev technology, which is extremely fast. It would take only 1 hour 50 minutes express from Sydney to Melbourne, […]
Issues for Australia Addressed
Australia and other countries are experiencing voluntary, self-imposed austerity by consumers and companies. They are restraining consumption and investment. As a result, incomes and growth are below the long term average increase. People are unwilling to accept government austerity as well. It could take 10-20 years for austerity to unwind. It might get worse. It […]
Why High Speed Rail should be built in Australia now
Australia and other countries are experiencing voluntary, self-imposed austerity by consumers and companies. They are restraining consumption and investment. As a result, incomes and growth are below the long term average increase. People are unwilling to accept government austerity as well. It could take 10-20 years for austerity to unwind. It might get worse. It […]
Victorian Government Rail Blunder?
There is a railway boom coming to replace the mining boom. Some $200 billion non-mining investment in interstate High Speed Rail (HSR) and Fast Freight Rail (FFR) down the east coast would be spent over the next 10 years, paid for completely by value capture. It would boost economic growth from year two. There are […]
Further letter to Premier of Victoria
16.5.16 The Premier of Victoria Parliament House Melbourne, Vic 3000 Dear Mr Andrews I seriously appeal in the strongest and starkest terms to the Victorian Government to stop the ‘SkyRail’ project between Dandenong and Melbourne now. “SkyRail’ will block the entry of High Speed Rail to the Southern Cross Station intermodal transport hub in the […]
Additional submission to Parliamentary Committee
On further reflection, may I make three points: High Speed Rail interstate travel between Melbourne and Sydney CBDs must be within three hours. It is the key factor for success. It is the strategy to be competitive with air. If it is more than three hours, or if it is not a non-stop express right […]
Letter to PM Turnbull
18.4.16 The Prime Minister of Australia Parliament House Canberra, ACT 2600 Dear Mr Turnbull Thank you for your confident leadership in adopting High Speed Rail for Australia. It is the right thing to do, it is profitable and it is self-financing. It will reassure the public that the deeply concerning issues around liveability, population doubling […]