The Fast Train's On Again - Or Is It?

Guess what? The Federal Government's talking about a fast train again - linking Melbourne, Canberra, Sydney and Brisbane - with a few important stops along the way.

Now, I'm old enough to remember when they first started talking about a fast train in the 1970's. By the 1990's there was a consortium formed who were just about ready to build one - they were hanging on John Howard's Government to give them some tax incentives - of course he didn't and the whole project collapsed.

Move along twenty years - and twenty million dollars later (after the inevitable feasibility study) and the plans are on again - or are they?

God knows a fast train linking these cities is needed badly and should have been in place long ago - and could have been had some members of the Federal Gasworks in Canberra been far-sighted enough.

A fast train travelling at 340kph would give a travel time between Melbourne and Sydney of three hours and the same time between Sydney and Brisbane.

If you consider the convenience of getting to a railway station in the centre of the city of departure, travelling in comfort and arriving in the centre of the city of arrival - woould you not think that this mode of travel far outweighs travelling in an aeroplane?

You don't save any time going by air - you have to travel all the way out to an aerodrome and get there at least an hour before the aeroplane is due to go up, stand in queues and go through all the other frustrations associated with air travel. Then, when you land, you have got to travel again from an aerodrome into town. It's just plain silly - especially if a train ticket is not going to cost you any more than an aeroplane ticket.

The fast train project will cost billions and take 25 years to build. (Well I suppose it would take this long if the Government is left in charge - it would probably be up and running a lot sooner if in private hands). Considering our Governments can think up so many useless things to spend out hard-earned money on - let us hope that this time around they might actually spend those dollars on something that is not only worthwhile but vital. We must be the only country in the world that does not have a fast train service anywhere.

Get in touch with your Federal Member of Parliament and tell them to get this thing built!