Earlier this week, the Australian government announced that they are now in the development phase for a High Speed Rail between Sydney and Newcastle. This $659.6 million development phase will take two years, allowing time to carefully plan the line before construction begins. If this long-awaited dream becomes a reality, travellers will be able to zoom from Sydney to Newcastle in just one hour, or from the Central Coast to either Sydney or Newcastle in less than 30 minutes. But, what about us here in Melbourne? The Sydney-Newcastle leg marks just one stage of a High Speed Rail along the east coast. According to the High Speed Rail Authority, this project has the potential to extend beyond Sydney to Brisbane, Canberra, and yes, Melbourne. But, even if everything goes on track, it’s a long way away. This network aims to be complete by 2060.
High Speed Rail from Melbourne to Brisbane
If this project comes to fruition, Australia’s east coast will be connected by a high speed rail network. This network would stretch over 1,800 kilometres between Melbourne, Canberra, Sydney and Brisbane, with dedicated tracks allowing trains to reach up to 320 km/h. With a high speed rail, a trip from Melbourne to Sydney would take about four hours.
The first stage would put stations at Newcastle, Central Coast and Sydney Central. This section is Australia’s busiest regional corridor, with almost 15 million passengers a year. At a later stage, there will be a station in Parramatta and the future Western Sydney International airport. A station at the airport would lay the foundation for future extensions to Canberra and Melbourne.
At the moment, the 90-minute flight between Melbourne and Sydney is one of the busiest air routes in the world. According to the data specialists at the Official Aviation Guide, in February 2026, the Melbourne-Sydney route was the sixth busiest domestic route in the globe, with a whopping 693k seats scheduled for the month. Qantas says that, on average, there are 37 flights a day from Melbourne to Sydney. While a high speed train ride between Melbourne and Sydney would take longer than a flight, it would provide an alternative for passengers. Less flights would also reduce emissions.
With an estimated completion date of 2060, we’ll try not to get our hopes up. But, if you’d like to learn more about the project, you can check out the business case here.