Speedrail

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Speedrail was a consortium of the companies Alstom and Leighton , which was supposed to build a high-speed line between the Australian cities of Canberra and Sydney by 2004 . The project of the same name was surprisingly stopped by the Australian government at the end of 2000, as was (2002) considerations for a follow-up project based on it.

history

Considerations for a high-speed line along the Australian east coast (2001)

In 1997, plans for a high-speed line between Canberra and Sydney were published.

On August 4, 1998, the French Speedrail consortium of Alstom and Leighton was declared the preferred bidder for a planned route. The 300 km long route, to be traveled at 320 km / h in 51 minutes without an intermediate stop, was to be financed entirely privately and, after 30 years, transferred to the Australian state. The cost was estimated at 3.5 billion Australian dollars . Construction should begin in 2000 and be completed in 2002. Alstom offered nine 320 km / h TGV trains with eight cars each. Among other things, Siemens was inferior with a 200 km / h diesel-electric variant of the ICT .

At the beginning of 2000 the consortium submitted a positive technical and economic assessment of the project. A 220 km long new line for a maximum speed of 360 km / h was planned; In some cases, existing lines should also be used and expanded to three tracks. The trains were to run every 45 minutes, with construction starting in 2000 and being completed in 2004. In 2002 the first of eight Alstom trains was to be delivered.

The project was unexpectedly stopped by the Australian government in mid-December 2000 with reference to unresolved funding issues. Instead, a profitability study was to be carried out for an approximately 1,300 km long high-speed network between Melbourne, Canberra, Sydney, the Gold Coast and Brisbane . After the study denied the profitability of such a network - the need for subsidies from public funds was estimated at around 80 percent of the total costs - planning was discontinued in 2002.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c Message "Off" for Speedrail project . In: Eisenbahn-Revue International , issue 2/2001, ISSN  1421-2811 , p. 84.
  2. ^ Message TGV for Australia . In: Eisenbahn-Revue International , Issue 9, 1998, ISSN  1421-2811 , p. 376
  3. ^ Message Sydney - Canberra economically . In: Eisenbahn-Revue International , issue 3/2000, ISSN  1421-2811 , p. 134
  4. ↑ Moshe Givoni: Development and Impact of the Modern High Speed Train: A Review . In: Transport Reviews . 26, No. 5, ISSN  0144-1647 , pp. 593-611