The sad state of the region’s train services was raised in a speech in NSW Parliament by Member for Goulburn Pru Goward on November 15.
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She made comparisons to the Spanish railway system, where she has recently been, and said if regional development was to increase in NSW then it needed similar fast transport links.
“It is all about the trains...Do we put a million people onto the highways in their cars, do we bus them or do we provide trains for people to move in some comfort, even with working facilities on board? It is a no-brainer: It has to be trains,” she said.
“We have said until we are blue in the face that developing our towns would take the population pressure off Sydney.
“Our regional towns and cities want and would welcome the growth. Residents do not want to see their children leave home at 18 and return only to bring back the grandchildren.”
Ms Goward said debate about a Very Fast Train had dragged on for decades to no effect.
“Despite 30 years of debate about a Very Fast Train, nothing has happened,” she said.
She labelled current train travel times in the region as an “embarrassment.”
“The 85km from Goulburn to Canberra takes an hour and 30 minutes—that is, if you can manage working hours around the twice daily service,” she said.
“From Goulburn to Sydney it is three hours and 35 minutes by train—no wonder commuters do not consider that as an option.
“I have spent more than 10 years as the member for Goulburn, quietly desperate for a solution.”
She spoke about her recent visit to Spain and how its train network was the “envy of the world.”
“The train in Spain is not mainly on the plain; it is everywhere,” she said.
“Some 40 years ago, the Spanish Government contracted Spanish engineering company Talgo to provide upgraded regional train services.
“The Talgo technology is simple. It allows train sets to ride through curves without reducing speed on the existing track. I travelled on trains that can move at up to 200km an hour.
“This has enabled Spain to halve travel times between centres and grow cities such as Saragossa from a population of 326,000 in 1960 to 685,000 today.
“Ciudat Real's population is five times larger than it was before the 1960s, and Puertollano has also added new schools and high schools. Young people in those towns can now afford to go to university without leaving home for the big centres. Sound familiar? It is.”
She said Australia was now also investigating similar tilt-train technology.
“Australia is not the only one now looking at this intermediate technology...There is still a way to go in this debate, but what I do know is that we need to have it. Sydney is full and the regions want people: Trains make sense,” she said.
Ms Goward said the regional lines did not require electrification at this stage and it was too expensive.
“This is an enormous cost over 300km. The intermediate technology is therefore a much more affordable way of achieving the commuting speeds we need.
“Twenty-five minutes to Canberra would get all those cars off the road. As our population would grow rapidly with commuting trains, electrification becomes more feasible.
“Spain took rail induced decentralisation in stages - we might need to do the same. Who knows, other companies may have made even better submissions to our recent tender round, but Spain’s story really impressed me.”