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Bob Carr built nothing. He made sure only private/public infrastructure was built which all were economical disasters. Micheal Caton infuriates me and I avoid all his movies.

Elbo's gotta go....

I typeset the VFT proposal report you refer to back in the 1980s… it made so much sense then… and could have been complete up the eastern seaboard by 2000… the route would have enabled growth in regions rather than the ridiculous situation we face in Sydney and Melbourne. I often wonder if housing availability and affordability in Australia would be different if the VFT had gone ahead.

I find it insane that we spend over 300 billion on nuclear submarines but 1/3rd of that could of gotten us high speed rail?

I wonder what would happen if there was a government soon to go to a federal election during an economic downturn that could benefit from a jobs-creating project, especially one that would also help us more easily hit our internationally-agreed emissions reductions targets. Especially a Labor government who's trying to ward off Green challengers from the left. If only we were to have such a perfect confluence of events, maybe they would figure actually _costing_ a promise to take to said election promising to actually build some high speed rail along the East Coast instead of continually just talking about it. Ah well, not like we'd ever find ourselves in that situation, right?

They should make the Indian pacific train high speed

“We need forty years of feasibility studies for high speed rail, but let’s give all the money for toll roads and adding lanes to highways!”

I won't be Happy till we get the FFT !

it is such a shame that with all this investment into inland rail, that they could have dual tracked the eastern corridor, thus removing siding delays and increasing speed.

Warchope... pronounced War - Hope

how much $$$$$ bureaucratic waste can a KOALA BEAR 🙄🙄😱😱🤬🤬

This episode helped with understanding this problem.

An excellent summary of the history of the concept. Well done!

It's funny that we might get Bunbury Fast Rail before East Coast HSR

I'm sorry but if you're Australian you can't pronounce 'z' like that.

Clara will go ahead, they started Melbourne gelong. Qld to nes rail is being built, bridges are being raised for double stack containers. They have the backing. It will be the 15 minute smart cities. I’ve been watching since it started and made videos.

Governments: "We need to commission a feasibility study on this expensive project" Review panel: confirms it is feasible Governments: "I'll ignore that"

Excellent Video. Very well researched and presented. What is the best way for rail professionals to keep in touch or follow what you are up to.

Re here in Victoria.Forget rebuilding the old north eastern lines,leave them for freight.Instead ,why not run a medium fast train(200kmh) in the easement up the middle of the Hume freeway.(like the new diesel/ electric /batteryhitachi HTR412 models which can run on diesel outside of the cities,then use their pantograph to slot into the suburban system).Some of the benefits would be no level crossings from Albury to Melbourne.I know there are a few bends but some of these are near towns so the trains would be slowing anyway.The stations would be at the overpasses near the towns.I dont see a future on the old lines but if you built the new ones for the long term without freight trains flogging them then decent 200 ks plus speeds would be safely attainable.The last stretch from the ringroad in is either viaTullamarine or even join up with the Upfeild line .Another way is just build a cut and fill an underground line straight up Sydney road and remove all the trams off it which then wouldn’t be needed,and then you could shut down the upfeid line completely,sell off the land to pay for the new line,and use the land for high density multi storey housing with no carparking and put a bike path through the centre of it(the millenials would love it)..As for super fast trains between Melbourne and Sydney we already have them.They are called Qantas.Why compete with an efficient system? Fast trains should be for getting people from between the cities to the cities.Have a look at the x2 train from Sweden.I think they tested one near Canberra a few years ago.

Love the video. Thanks for making it. But sorry having VFR completed by 2058 is absolute disgrace! By 2030 we will be having free engery (Plasma energy) plus by this year the whole world will be changed due to natural disasters etc which also includes Australia where we will need to learn how to filter our own water. So yeah no point in have VFR at all even though I wish it have this within the next 5 years because if we can build so much things quickly, upgrading rail doesn't take that bloody long. As you pointed out at the 55 minute mark, thats the problem with these people who do these studies. People will live remotely if there is a very fast train. It is a no brainer!

Love this video. After visiting Europe and Japan it was very depressing riding back to Newcastle in the slowest train possible. One of the things you could’ve mentioned is the constant lobbying by the airline industry to keep trains bad to ensure that their golden triangle doesn’t get touched.

*Good info,* good video @ 22:48 "....before continuing above ground to Newcastle, Taree, Wuch-hopie..." *That's Wauchope... pronounced "War-hope"* (sometimes it's pronounced "war-chop" with the "o" being said the same was as the "o" in Ohm, or "War-cope") *_Thank you for the "goofs" at the end of the video. Looks like you have a good sense of humour_*

The English are dumb too incompetent may as well just build maglev for HSR instead you going to overspend may as well get the fastest tech.

If this guy would only speak a little slower would turn in to good english

Wong funded HSR from Kiev to Gaza - $4.9 trillion - opens next week. 🤣

Slow history? If it went any slower it would be going backwards! Complete duplication from Brisbane to Melbourne and straighten the bloody track out! Oh yes, the powers that be could buy some more rolling stock to replace the 40 plus year old junk we have at the moment!

11:38, why use 25kV AC when the NSW rail system used at the time and continues to use 1.5kV DC. It would mean another type of train that in the NSW railway's inventory while requiring a separate infrastructure for maintenance and apart from boosting the size of freight trains would limit existing trains to the network that had 1.5kV DC infrastructure in place. Were dual voltage trains considered viable, the existing network slated for conversion to 25kV AC or was this problem considered not a problem worth addressing?

Stand in front of a wall as your backround as your editing is not seamless. Also research your pronunciations of towns. You made a hash of Wauchope and another. Bombardier needs a bit of attention as well. You may need to consider talking a little bit slower as well. My wife could not continue listening as it was all lost.

Great work putting this video together. I have been following this for years, but still learnt a few new things. Loved the range of locations for your filming.

The reason we dont have high spped rail is because all polluticians are liars. Abbott was the best, when he said the technology for high speed rail doesnt exist. This, from a goose who ate a raw red onion, skin and all, live on tv. Though they can quite happily spend, what was it, $360 billion on some stupid submarines, to keep the yanks happy.

You're forgetting that we have planes. We can already commute even faster than high-speed rail. Remember, high-speed rail won't be cheap to use, cheaper. Sure, but not cheap.

Such a great video! Always good to hear more people discuss such a unique history in Australia. I'm keen to know how you create your maps of linking different places in Australia (e.g. Melbourne to Brisbane with a respective line and highlighted circles indicating the region(s) and/or stops). Keep up the quality content!

Great work on this one man. Very well explained and presented!

Australia does have high speed public transport. It called aviation. Interstate HSR would cost an abominable amount with all the consultants, contractors and bureaucrats turning it into a job for life at the taxpayers expense and it would run at a loss at the taxpayers expense forever. Freight makes money, passengers do not with the exception of The Ghan, Indian Pacific, Great Southern which are slow and cost thousands of dollars a seat. Victoria have only just now started in getting a simple train to the Airport for god's sake.

Great video! Basically no politicians want to make the final decision, much easier to have another study and hand it on to the next person.

The biggest problem with long distance high speed rail in Australia is finding a significant customer base. Distances are so great that anybody who can afford it is going to fly. Others, particularly families, are going to go by car, overnighting at motels, as they do now. People on low incomes will travel by road coach. I can remember the excitement in the 1960s when standard gauge was extended from the NSW border to Melbourne, Adelaide and eventually, Perth. These days, the Sydney-Perth 'Indian-Pacific' train is essentially a tourist hotel on wheels, which runs weekly in each direction, making a detour to Adelaide and including stops in the middle of nowhere, e.g. the Nullabor Plain, so that the passengers can stretch their legs and have a barbecue. The Ghan from Adelaide to Darwin is run in the same lines. Curiously enough, the current Canberra-Sydney service seems to be holding up, even though it's an hour slower and appreciably more expensive. The reason for this is that the winding route through the Molongolo Gorge and the Southern Highlands is very attractive.

Excellent video, now that I've moved from Sydney to Canberra I am more invested in HSR than I've ever been before (and that was already a lot!)

China is good at TBM tunnels but fail at maglev where Japan is the opposite so they could work together in Australia. Why an underground Japanese SC maglev? It enables a secure straight tunnel that is no more expensive than on the surface. This enables the overnight container trains to replace trucks as it has to go 600 km/h which is impossible with wheels. A single guideway between passing stations allows this speed. A 14 meter diameter single tunnel can be driven Sydney to Melbourne in two years by FIFO Chinese workers with 60 TBM from 30 launch sites with a further year to install the Japanese SC maglev. This is the email I sent to Peter Dutton Connecting Sydney WSA to Melbourne with overnight container trains earning $1.4b p/a will get bipartisan support with daytime fares only $10 anywhere with half hour frequency. Because proven 1997 to 2011 daytime 600 km/h southbound daytime Japanese SC maglev trains have to wait half an hour while northbound trains are between passing stations it enables them to have 2 stations in each city, with trains terminating at Parrahub I suggest Campbelltown for the second southbound station. For the connection to Brisbane via Newcastle and Coffs harbour the two stations would be Parrahub and Hornsby.

The Federal Government is incapable of building HSR, just look at the clown show that is Inland Rail !

Im not Australian but I still found this super fascinating.

The viewliner design is owned by Amtrak, I expect getting production rights and building a modified version in Australia would be fairly cheap. I’d also say go big and plan another sleeper route at the same time so you can justify 30-40 cars. Given the weight limits trying to add HEP to a GT46 seems worse than getting a baggage generator combo car.

i find it interesting that the vft would have followed a similar route through vic to an interstate bus route i encountered while staying in gippsland

really great fun seeing so many propsals get canned because of it requiring 'significant subsidies to build and operate' as if theyve just discovered that you need like.. pay for infrastructure to be built? the only roads in the country that dont require significant subsidies to build and operate are all universally hated because their private operators are charging out the ass in tolls

As a Queenslander, we will find a way to put those pesky southerners in check.

In my opinion the strongest chance of HSR in Australia is in Victoria from Melbourne to Geelong through progressive upgrades of the line. Either way if HSR does get built I would hope they make it possible for double deck 10-carriage trains to be used. I would also rather Victorian 1,600mm gauge which is a double edged sword, as it's more expensive. But would incentivise local jobs (NSW has been enjoying purchasing non-Australian made trains recently). New tracks would hopefully mean the tracks / infrastructures quality is going to be perfect, minimal sharing tracks with other trains, & wider / more stable trains are possible although it isn't that much of an issue with modern technology. But I do know beggars can't be choosers & would be very happy if we just got more frequent Sydney - Melbourne XPT services.

it seems that we get so very close to finally building, but then the government changes... and its all restarted

If Albo wants High Speed Rail, all he has to do is make politicians and staffers take the train or bus to Parliament House from Brisbane in the North to Adelaide in the West. Suddenly HSE funded as pokies realise the current situation is shit.

Thanks for the detail on the CSIRO proposal. I worked there at the time. I remember a lot of discussion and detailed route planning. 22:49 FYI Wauchope is pronounced war-hope. Cheers

I'm 52. I've been waiting for a HSR, or at least some form of VFT, for the majority of my life. Whilst we have anti investment and anti rail losers running this country, especially the LNP, I'll never live to see a decent rail service here, even the Fastrack model. Imagine if Dutton put the same energy he's put into his white elephant nuclear power proposal, into Fastrack or HSR.

Um, ah, um, Utopia is a comedy, not a documentary