This was published 15 years ago
Sydney to Canberra in 50 minutes: fast tracking second airport
By Jano Gibson
A high speed train link that shuttles passengers between Sydney and Canberra in as little as 50 minutes could turn the national capital's airport into a viable second airport option for Sydney.
Canberra Airport today released its 2009 preliminary draft master plan, which outlines its plans over the next 20 years.
The airport says it is better placed than any other aviation facility between Melbourne and Brisbane to provide a secondary aviation hub to Sydney Airport, which is expected to be at or close to capacity within the next two decades.
"Using current technologies, a high speed train could take less than 50 minutes from Sydney railway station via Sydney Airport and then non-stop via a new rail corridor to Canberra Airport," the plan says.
The prospect of a very fast train linking Sydney and Canberra, and possibly even Melbourne, was boosted in December, when Infrastructure Australia included the idea on its shortlist of projects warranting further analysis. At a cost of $32 billion to $59 billion, the Sydney-Canberra-Melbourne very fast train link was the most expensive project on the shortlist.
The Federal Government has said it wants to develop a second aviation hub for Sydney that lies outside of the Sydney basin, which would likely see it located near Newcastle, the Southern Highlands or Canberra.
"Whilst the definition of the Sydney basin remains unclear, it has been established that a high-speed rail link will be required to link Sydney with the new airport site," the plan says.
"Canberra Airport submits that the use of an existing major airport facility, such as Canberra Airport, will significantly mitigate the economic cost to the Commonwealth of this infrastructure.
"For example, the cost of developing a new international airport between Sydney and Canberra, with a dedicated high speed rail link to Sydney, would be substantially greater than extending a high speed rail line to Canberra and utilising existing airport facilities at Canberra Airport.
"Furthermore, a high speed train link to serve a second Sydney Airport in Canberra would not simply serve the needs of the Airport site, as it would at a greenfields Airport site, but would also serve the significant population catchment in and around the ACT."
The airport said a high speed train would result in an initial reduction in the number of flights between Sydney and Canberra but the long term benefits would be significant.
"In particular, it gives Canberra a bigger potential role as Sydney's second airport, as the travel time between Sydney and Canberra by surface modes of transport decreases significantly from three hours to possibly less than an hour."
Jano Gibson is the Herald's Urban Affairs Reporter