THEY are two words to gladden the heart of any train travel advocate in the region: faster rail.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
or signup to continue reading
Almost six years after the ambitious announcement of a possible fast rail line from Bathurst to Sydney, and long after any such line seemed officially dead, buried and cremated, the idea has unexpectedly cropped up again.
It comes after the Western Advocate sought information about a "corridor assessment" of the Great Western Highway that NSW Regional Transport Minister Jenny Aitchison has been mentioning as she deflects criticism about her government's pared-back investment for the vital road.
Transport for NSW told the Advocate that it is working "to develop a corridor plan for improving access and capacity along the Great Western Highway between Emu Plains and Bathurst" and the plan will "consider the future needs of both road and rail, local traffic, through traffic and freight".
A Transport for NSW spokesperson said "previous assessments and studies, including an assessment of faster rail options and strategic work completed for the Great Western Highway upgrade between Katoomba and Lithgow, will be reviewed and assessed for their relevancy as possible inputs to the assessment".
![The Bathurst Bullet (left); the Western Advocate's front page in December 2018 after the NSW Coalition's fast rail announcement (centre); and an artist's image released previously of a NSW fast train. The Bathurst Bullet (left); the Western Advocate's front page in December 2018 after the NSW Coalition's fast rail announcement (centre); and an artist's image released previously of a NSW fast train.](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/7PapGKjYPrPEgYfvAPt3Wq/a858981c-32b0-4e2c-9c5e-45aa890b3bc8.png/r0_0_814_499_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
Step back in time
IN 2018, in the lead-up to the next year's NSW election, the then-Coalition government made the surprise announcement that it would be asking expert Andrew McNaughton to examine four possible fast train routes in the state.
One of them, the western link, would transport passengers from Parkes to Sydney, via Bathurst, at up to 250 kilometres an hour, which could mean travelling from Bathurst's Keppel Street station to Central Station in two-and-a-half hours.
"It's unfortunate the announcement was made three months out from an election, which obviously creates the usual cynicism," then-Bathurst Business Chamber president Angus Edwards said.
"Our concern is that a study will be done and it won't meet some government-mandated cost-benefit analysis and that will be the end of the project.
"But we need to see it as a positive step and recognition that having better transport links is very important."
The cynicism was justified because the Coalition was re-elected and the McNaughton report was produced, but it was never made public.
![John Hollis from Rail Action Bathurst, transport planner and University of Technology Sydney senior lecturer Michelle Zeibots and Peter Bilenkij from Orange Rail Action Group at a Central West Rail Action Summit held in Bathurst in March 2024. John Hollis from Rail Action Bathurst, transport planner and University of Technology Sydney senior lecturer Michelle Zeibots and Peter Bilenkij from Orange Rail Action Group at a Central West Rail Action Summit held in Bathurst in March 2024.](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/7PapGKjYPrPEgYfvAPt3Wq/71c0cb43-c583-4a21-9bb5-96d965a1ef01.jpg/r0_376_4032_2894_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
Time is of the essence
THE two-and-a-half-hour trip from Bathurst to Sydney by train might have slowly faded from memory, but the appetite for improvements to the line has remained.
Rail Action Bathurst met with NSW Regional Transport Minister Jenny Aitchison in September 2023 and travel times were part of the discussion.
"It's a matter of, firstly, reviewing the condition of and the travel times on the rail line. That needs to be strategically improved," Rail Action Bathurst's John Hollis said after the meeting.
"Everything takes so long. Even coming from Orange to Bathurst, you're looking at about an hour and 15 or an hour and 20 minutes, as opposed to a 45-minute road trip."
More recently, a Central West Rail Action Summit held in Bathurst discussed the train travel times to Sydney and how making rail more competitive with driving would help ease congestion on the Great Western Highway.
Priority project
IN terms of the new assessment of the Great Western Highway that will look at road and rail, Transport for NSW says the "the timeline for delivery of this new assessment has not yet been set, although Transport for NSW is in the process of formalising scope, stakeholder engagement and timeframe details".
![Image from Newcastle Herald. Image from Newcastle Herald.](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/7PapGKjYPrPEgYfvAPt3Wq/e1ee67db-a5b4-437f-9022-5bf6da52c97a.jpg/r0_0_2880_1619_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
A Transport for NSW spokesperson said the agency will work closely with Infrastructure Australia "to ensure the corridor improvements are a national infrastructure priority".
Early planning work continues, meanwhile, for a future high speed rail line between Sydney and Newcastle - one of the ideas floated way back in late 2018.