FED:High speed rail's $100b price 'worth it'

AAP General News (Australia)
08-04-2011
FED:High speed rail's $100b price 'worth it'

The federal government has given cautious backing to a high-speed rail link connecting
Australia's east coast, saying it's worth it, despite a hefty price tag of up to 100 billion
dollars.

A 300-page feasibility study report looks at how to link Brisbane, Newcastle, Sydney,
Canberra and Melbourne by a 350-kilometre an hour rail system, with Infrastructure Minister
ANTHONY ALBANESE admitting our relatively small population means the high cost could be
hard to justify.

But he's spruiked the benefits of building 16-hundred kilometres of new high-speed
rail track, saying it bring benefits help almost two-thirds Australians and dramatically
cut carbon emissions.

The 20 million dollar study also explores putting fast rail through Wollongong, Albury
on the New South Wales-Victorian border and Shepparton.

AAP RTV saj/tr/wz

KEYWORD: RAIL (SYDNEY)

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