Minister Barr: Faster rail between CBR-SYD takes shape
- Written by ACT Government
Released 04/12/2018
I welcome the announcement today from the NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian and the Deputy Premier John Barilaro that a NSW Coalition Government will fund work to improve rail travel times between Sydney and Canberra.
The ACT Government has been working closely with our NSW counterparts over the past two years on improvements to the service, having jointly bid for Federal funding for the project.
Earlier this year, the ACT Government committed up to $5 million in matched funding for business case development on the project, which was matched by NSW Labor.
We know that Canberrans will use a faster train service. In a recent Government survey, 57% of respondents said they would be more likely to travel via train between Canberra and Sydney if the travel time was between 2-3 hours.
With both major parties in NSW making funding commitments for this work, I call on both major parties at the federal level to also commit to being a funding partner for the Canberra-Sydney faster rail project ahead of the 2019 federal election.
We look forward to working with the NSW Government in the months ahead on the business case development and, once that work is complete, the speedy implementation of improvements to the service.
- Statement ends -
Section: Andrew Barr, MLA | Media Releases
