High Speed Rail

High Speed Rail (HSR) represents a significant step forward in the future connectivity between cities on the east coast of Australia. Since initial investigations into its feasibility began in the early 1980's, there have been many attempts at implementing such a system. The federal government's latest report, released recently on the 4th of August, details the projected cost of the scheme and suggests potential routes for the service to run. According to this and other studies done into the project, a HSR network would capture over 80% of the market currently travelling between Sydney and Canberra via plane, and 99% of the market currently travelling between the two cities via car and other vehicular transport. Routes between Sydney and either Brisbane or the Gold Coast would capture over 50% of the current market for air transport, while the Melbourne to Sydney route would capture just under 50% (Infrastructure Partnerships Australia, 2010). Such a network would not only allow for a more comfortable mode of travel, and for the development of regional centres along the network line, but an opportunity for architecture to create spaces which honour their city. 


Train stations can be someone's first impression of a city, and as such should personify all that the city is or aims to be. Take for example King's Cross/St. Pancras in London, it is an internationally renowned train station and the centre for much domestic and international travel. An icon in London's rich urban fabric, King's Cross station as stood since 1852, and undergone several renovations and extensions to become what it is today. If the HSR network were to go ahead in Australia, it would enhance the mobility of parliament, with the opportunity to include government areas not only in the train station, but the trains themselves. With the number of journeys undertaken by politicians as they move between the eastern capital cities, this prospect could be a new and exciting way to move parliament into the future.


Infrastructure Partnerships Australia. 2010. East Coast High Capacity Infrastructure Corridors - A realistic pathway to very fast trains. Retrieved from https://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&q=cache:Rx3S0EI3IQgJ:www.infrastructure.org.au/DisplayFile.aspx?FileID%3D433+EAST+COAST+HIGH+CAPACITY+INFRASTRUCTURE+CORRIDORS+-+A+realistic+pathway+to+very+fast+trains&hl=en&gl=au&pid=bl&srcid=ADGEESiNhQV6ssxBY3RQRD3xM-Im0xN9FMBEl5IM_rh466zYlYoj__4Bgl5gJlsc80FaKsumwmC-ALVytOUUvxtFW30Z699Ynhxk9ct0ei6e9JHAwPLV2cogxjf1t63V93bkJ3RmfBOz&sig=AHIEtbT74nkVYLRI_xzVGgTxNLecbUoH8g&pli=1



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