High-speed trains may be too far for Australia: Here's what we can do while we wait

High-speed trains in Australia have been mooted by politicians and public transport aficionados for decades. There have been an endless number of reports, plans, business cases and routes planned over the years and nothing has changed. The most recent government has committed more funding for studies into its viability, which, at this stage, I’m not sure if it’s with a genuine desire to get it rolling or just a desire to not let is die. Don’t get me wrong, I love high-speed rail and I think every country should have that kind of public transport. Australia is no exception, but there are a few of fundamental problems with getting it off the ground here.

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The first main problem is the uncertainty of it's success. The large distance gives a prospective travel time of around 3 hours between Sydney and Melbourne (the most viable route due to the 10million population between the two cities), so it's not a slam dunk that the train will beat the airplane for people. With a higher-density of population, like in Japan and Europe, it would be more viable, as there would be population centres in-between to serve. In Australia, between most major cities, we only have a few towns and they do little to justify the construction. Cost also comes into play for customers, as it’s not guaranteed that the ticket will be cheaper than flying, at least not without a subsidy. The viability of the line is therefore less clear than other countries which have jumped into high-speed rail with more enthusiasm.

 

The second problem is the cost of construction. With a distance of over 700km between Sydney and Melbourne, and the high cost of construction in Australia, it will be enormously expensive. The only countries that have built high-speed rail in recent years have been China (who have a much lower labour cost), and countries that have smaller distances to cover with higher population densities (and therefore more customers to cover the cost) such as Spain and Japan. Can Australia overcome those burdens? And if they do, how long will it take to construct?

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I want high-speed rail in Australia to happen, but I’m not that confident it will happen any time soon, especially with the succession of unambitious governments we keep getting. Without high-speed rail, however, sustainable, convenient and efficient travel will not exist. With the slow progress on greening air travel, and the distances to travel by car (electric or not) being too big to be convenient or compete with the mighty aeroplane, what are we to do?

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I think we have an opportunity to take a leaf out of the growing trend in European travel, spurred on by the flygskam (flight shame) movement, that is pushing everyone towards the train. Over there, as is also seen in many Asian countries, people are not just taking the train - they are sleeping on them. I think Australia should be jumping on this trendy band wagon.

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Sleeper trains are taking off big time in Europe right now, with new routes being added all the time, new train carriages being built, and with exceedingly high demand for tickets. They are not new of course, and Europe isn’t the only player. I’ve taken modern and comfortable sleeper trains in China, and dirty old rattly ones in Vietnam. You can find sleeper trains all over the world, and Australia doesn’t miss out. There are sleeper trains leaving Melbourne and Brisbane (kind of, sometimes, you may need a coach transfer...) towards Sydney each night, as well as trains in the opposite direction from Central Station. The Sydney to Melbourne sleeper train is under threat, however, with new carriages ordered not having sleeper berths, but it's proving very popular while it lasts. Overall, the offering in Australia is slim, and the looming backwards step of removing sleeper berths on the Sydney to Melbourne route is a backwards step.

 

If we embraced sleeper trains a bit more, we could give the world a real show of what’s possible, and that’s without the massive price tag and uncertainty that comes with high-speed rail. Our sleeper train network could be so much more, and they could fill the void that exists in our high-speed rail dream.

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Sleeper trains are great. They leave in the late evening, so you have the full day beforehand to explore and have fun (or work, if you have to…), and then they arrive early in the morning, so you have the full day ahead of you for more fun (or work…). They also act as your hotel for the night, so any extra cost of the train ticket is more than made up for in hotel savings. They’re also really fun too. Who doesn’t like riding the train through the night getting gently rocked to sleep, and waking up to sunrise as the countryside glides by? Sleeper trains are also environmentally friendly; they are one of the lowest emission ways to travel. The best part of embracing a sleeper train future is that we wouldn’t have to wait long to make it happen. All the track is in place (some duplication works in Brisbane would help though), and the stations. We would just need some new trains and the political will to make it happen. With that, we could have a dreamy world of convenient sustainable overnight travel between all the major east coast capitals, and even further with an extra day on board to get to Perth, Alice Springs, Darwin, or Cairns.

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There could be whole network of sleeper trains across the country and, once demand rises with a wave of the enthusiasm that I'm sure will grow quickly, we could have several trains leaving each station every night, giving people the option to choose their preferred departure time.

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How much will this cost though? Well, nothing compared to the high-speed rail option, but it will need some investment from state and federal government to make it happen. Sleeper trains need to compete against air travel, and some level of subsidy would do great things to nudge people to take the more environmentally friendly option. It could even be subsidised by a carbon tax on the airlines, shifting the balance of cost to the choice that is better for people and planet. The cost of a ticket, even without any subsidy, should still be viable, however. The current cost of a bed on a sleeper train between Sydney and Melbourne is $235+, which is not the cheapest, but it’s comparable. If we had more trains, this should come with lower overall operating costs, so hopefully ticket costs can be brought down slightly.

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Sleeper trains in Australia make a lot of sense. The distances are such that train travel during the day is a long stretch and you lose an entire day of whatever trip you have planned. Travelling overnight, when you are asleep, is like a little bit of magic, teleporting you from one end to the other while you are away in dreamland. Sleeper trains in Australia should be culturally normalised, not a rare oddity. They should be something Australians have and should be proud of. They should be something that European and Asian travellers, that have them in their own country, can come and find here too. Geographically, Australia is tough for a high-speed train, but it’s perfect for sleeper trains. Imagine being in Adelaide, Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, or Gold Coast, and being able to hop on a train in the evening and being at any one of the others the next morning. Imagine there being a true alternative to flying. It would be genuinely transformational for Australia. 

 

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