Higher speed rail Philip Laird University of Wollongong Engineers Australia July 2014
Acknowledgements Coauthors Max Michell and Scott Martin for a paper Building a railway for the 21 st century: bringing high speed rail a step closer, Conference on Railway Excellence (CORE), Adelaide May 2014 Faculty of Engineering and Information Sciences, University of Wollongong Railway Technical Society of Australasia
1. Current train speeds Outline 2. High Speed Rail - in Japan and around the world 3. Higher Speed Rail 4. Australian Studies to date - from 1981 5. A Sydney Canberra option 6. Conclusions
1. Current train speeds - Southern Tablelands Mittagong - Sydney (up train) 131.6 km - weekday Most trips require a change of train at Campbelltown which have an average speed 55 to 62 km/h Direct 8:53 am taking 1h 41m 78 km/h Canberra - Sydney trains 84 to 88 km/h
Australia s fastest trains Broken Hill to Parkes - DMU 679 km 105 km/h Broken Hill to Parkes - Freight train 104 km/h Melbourne to Ballarat V/L 115 km 103 km/h Perth - Mandurah EMU 72 km 88 km/h Melbourne - Sydney XPT 953 km 87 km/h Brisbane - Rockhampton - tilt 640 km 86 km/h
2. High Speed Rail High Speed Rail (HSR) was at least 200 km/h and is now often taken to mean passenger trains capable of at least 250km/h It started in October 1964 with the Shinkansen on the New Tokaido Line from Tokyo to Osaka in Japan (515km)
Tokaido Shinkansen initial and ongoing success Now up to 400,000 passengers per day - and over 5.5 billion journeys since 1964 Extraordinary safety record/no loss of life from collision of derailment Average delay 0.6 minutes Various extensions (now over 2500 route km in all, with another line due in 2015)
In 1981 - Paris-Lyon TGV in France Extensions include to Brussels and to London (Eurostar, 2007) Italy, Germany and Spain have growing HSR networks.
In 2010 17 billion was allocated for HS2 with former UK Transport Secretary Lord Adonis I would like to see much more High Speed Rail. Some opposition: potentially affected land owners, aviation interests, and a need to upgrade existing railways (as per a House of Commons Committee inquiry in 2011) In 2014, High Speed Rail (London - West Midlands) Bill
In Asia, along with Japan, Korea, and Taiwan, China now has an ambitious programme for HSR Includes Beijing Tianjin 2008, Wuhan-Guangzhou 2009, and, Beijing-Shanghai 2011 Plus other HSR lines and Passenger Dedicated Lines
Now 12 countries with steel wheel on steel rail have HSR networks extending over 10,000 route kilometres. HSR continues to be extended around the world.
What about MAGLEV? Was on trial in Germany (Transrapid) Japan (JR Central) has an active test site for a superconducting MAGLEV with plans for Tokyo- Nagoya by 2026). China has a MAGLEV in Shanghai - from a metro station (away from CBD) to Pudong airport
Advantages of steel wheel on steel rail (SWSR) * Convenient links between city centres * Generally safe * Less land take than highway * More energy efficient than air or road
Costs HSR requires a system approach and is expensive to build. Requires government support and hence (more) taxation to construct. For profitable operations, HSR needs high passenger numbers (well over 6m per annum)
3. Higher Speed Rail (HrSR) If HSR is too expensive, how about HrSR or Medium Speed Rail with a speed range of 160 to 200 km/h? Can be found in Europe (eg Sweden, Switzerland) United States (Washington, New York, Boston) Australia - Queensland Tilt Trains, Victoria Regional Fast Rail and the WA Prospector
USA strong interest in HSR and HrSR In 2010, the Obama Administration, after inviting expression of interest from the States, allocated $8 billion for HSR projects. "High-speed rail travel offers competitive door-to-door trip times, reduces congestion on key routes between cities [and] transportation emissions"
In Canada two main proposals for HSR Windsor - Quebec corridor Calgary - Edmonton in Alberta Both corridors have been studied in the past with a recent Windsor-Quebec government funded study looking at 200 km/h HrSR as well as 250 km/h HSR. Net result: Funds allocated to upgrade existing lines for VIA HrSR trains.
4. Australian Studies to date - from 1981 In 1981, the Institution of Engineers, Australia made a Bicentennial High Speed Rail proposal. This was for a Goulburn Yass deviation and a new route to North Canberra (the T-line ) for faster freight trains with a 2.5 hr XPT Sydney Canberra service.
This HrSR option was not taken up In 1984, the CSIRO proposed a Sydney- Canberra-Melbourne Very Fast Train (VFT) at 300 km/h. Private sector interest (including BHP) far exceeded that of government (Federal, NSW, Victoria, and ACT).
Private sector investigations (costing some $20m) took place along with inquiries by the Victoria and ACT governments and a Senate Committee (March 1991). Proposals abandoned in 1991 due to lack of government support.
In 1993, a new Speedrail consortium (Leightons and Alstom) proposed a Sydney- Canberra HSR line, with trains taking 84 minutes. In 1997, the Federal, NSW, Victoria and ACT governments invited expressions of interest for Sydney-Canberra HSR.
* Speedrail Four HSR/HrSr proposals * Maglev * Electric tilt train (started in 1998 between Qld Brisbane-Rockhampton tracks upgraded for faster and heavier freight trains) * Diesel tilt train (from Siemens cf Nuremberg- Hamburg 200km/h)
Net result Speedrail was chosen in August 1998 The Speedrail consortium spent over $25m to prove up the proposals at no net cost to taxpayer.
The federal government in December 2000 did not support the proposal and commissioned an East Coast Very High Speed Rail (VHSR) study Study released December 2001. It found that Melbourne-Canberra-Sydney-Brisbane could cost as much as $59 billion which stalled High Speed Rail in Australia
In 2010, a CRC for Rail Innovation report High Speed Rail: Strategic information for the Australian context found that the time is right to carry out an in-depth concept study of High Speed Rail in Australia.
Some findings from Rail CRC HSR reports. A. The time is now right for a detailed assessment of HSR in Australia. B. A need to reserve land corridors now for future construction.
C. Energy use of the Shinkansen For travel between Tokyo and Osaka The Shinkansen uses one sixth of the energy, per passenger journey, than does flying - with one tenth of greenhouse gas emissions)
D. On the 10 top routes of the Melbourne-Sydney and Sydney-Brisbane corridors: if HSR was in place by 2020, it could reduce the use of aviation fuel by over 450 million litres each year. E. Reduced emissions and external costs
F. Sydney Airport Issues Sydney is Australia s only slot controlled airport, and in 2009 it was the 28th busiest in the world. It operates with both a curfew and a cap (80 aircraft movements per hour) HSR, if completed by 2020, could release 300 slots at Sydney airport per day
Major Australia HSR study Phase 1 (2011) HSR could achieve speeds of up to 350 km/h and offer journey times as low as 3 hours between Brisbane and Sydney, and between Sydney and Melbourne. The study then proceeded to Phase 2.
Stage 2 recommended a 1,748 km network to include four capital city stations, four city-peripheral stations, and 12 regional stations. Starting with Sydney-Canberra then Canberra-Melbourne, Newcastle-Sydney Once fully operational (from 2065), HSR could carry approximately 84 million passengers each year. The estimated cost of construction would be around $114 billion (in 2012 dollars).
Reaction Submissions invited from the public - 328 from governments, industry and individuals - mostly supportive. A Task Force was formed to examine submissions and in August 2013 recommended a way forward Current government is not keen to commit to HSR (or urban rail) expenditure over the next four years
Other competing rail issues There is a view that instead of HSR, Australia needs to address decades of under-investment in: *Sydney and other major city urban rail networks, *Intercapital city links to allow for Fast Freight Train operations at heavier axle loads (ie to meet Canadian US Class I Railroad standards), * An inland railway, and, to * Upgrade/rehabilitate regional rail (eg grain lines)
5. Canberra Sydney incremental HSR option Stage 1 A new line from a new North Canberra rail station to near Gunning with selective mainline realignment to Mittagong. Stage 2 Construction of a "Wentworth route from near Mittagong to Menangle. Stage 3 Upgrades of the existing track from Campbelltown to Central Station.
Stage 1 A new line from a new North Canberra rail station to near Gunning and then Goulburn (as per the 1981 IE Aust T-Line proposal) Some track straightening Goulburn to Mittagong (including near Werai) OR construction of a new HSR line
Stage 2 Construction of a Wentworth route from near Mittagong to Menangle that was proposed c1993. Today construct to either to HSR or HrSR standards. A HrSR route could tie in (and share 1 km of track) with the proposed 35 km Maldon Dombarton rail link.
Stage 3 Further upgrades of the existing track from Campbelltown to Central. Recently upgraded with the South Sydney Freight line, Glenfield Station flyover, and Kingsgrove to Revesby Quadruplication.
Benefits: Would reduce current Sydney Canberra train time of 4h 11min to 84 minutes or less Potential users * Persons who made 1m SYD - CBR flights in 2013 * Bus users eg Murrays leaving at least 7 am -7 pm On the hour each hour each way: why fly or drive * Most people who drive Sydney - Canberra Indicative cost $3.5 billion as against the Phase 2 report HSR 2013 proposal for a 64 minute journey with new tunnels to cost $23 billion by 2035
More information? A. For background, Butcher C, The Very Fast Train- 30 years on Railway Digest June 2014 Laird P High Speed Rail in Australia - Much studied and slow to Start 2013 EASTS conference at Taipei http://easts.info/on-line/proceedings/vol9/index.html paper #29 B. For Phase I and 2 reports, plus that of the HSR Advisory Group, http://www.infrastructure.gov.au/rail/trains/high_speed/index.aspx C. This talk- Railway Digest August 2014: Medium Speed Rail: Bringing Australian High Speed Rail closer
D. The 2014 report "Improving Regional Passenger Rail Services" from the Bureau of Infrastructure, Transport and Regional Economics (BITRE) reviews the rail upgrading alternatives as options in developing improved passenger rail services. The report is available at bitre.gov.au This report and the CORE paper were prepared independently, but reached similar conclusions.
6. Conclusions HSR is in operation around the world and could well be developed over time in Australia. Australia needs to reserve HSR rail corridors for future development. If HSR does not start this decade, then existing mainline tracks should be straightened for faster freight and passenger trains.