FORMER deputy prime minister Tim Fischer has given up on a high-speed rail system servicing the Border anytime soon, instead he is now arguing for what he calls “higher speed rail”.
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Mr Fischer announced his new stance during a speech at the opening of Quest Albury on Thursday night.
“It wouldn’t be quite as good as high-speed rail, but we will have to wait another 15 years or more for high-speed rail,” he told those at the opening.
Mr Fischer’s new position is also formed because he has noticed a “slippage” on the high-speed rail project.
“The high-speed rail project would underpin and triple the size of Albury-Wodonga within 20 years of it commencing operation,” he said.
“From memory, it would offer a one hour service from the super hub station, most logically Barnawartha North, to Melbourne and a one hour and 50 minute service to Sydney central.
“Think what that would do for Albury-Wodonga.”
However, not keen on waiting 15 years or more, Mr Fischer said pressure should be put on members of Parliament to go for “higher speed”.
“While we wait, and this is something I have never said before, but now that I have done some more homework, I think we ought to be aiming for a first interim phase of what might be termed higher speed rail,” he said.
“It would mean 160km/h from Albury to Sydney and 130km/h from Albury to Melbourne.
“It would take hours off the current service.”
Mr Fischer pointed out Albury Airport was closed on Thursday for several hours due to fog.
“It’s not rocket science, we can do this,” he said.
“China has done it in not much more than a decade, from no high-speed rail to a huge network right across China.”
Mr Fischer said most of the track was already complete.
“Much of the track is done, and the ask is simple — to replace the antiquated rolling stock that V/Line offers us three times a day and renew the XPT, which the NSW state government has announced,” he said.
“A modern, replacement XPT would take something like two hours off the Sydney line without any track alteration and take about 45 minutes off the Melbourne service.
“This is achievable if there’s enough pressure to replace the antiquated carriages crawling down the railway line most, notably between Albury and Melbourne.”