1 train (8 carriages)
or
20 buses
or
250-1000cars
The first high speed rail (HSR) in the world was built in Japan way back in 1964, famously known as the bullet train. High Speed Rail has since become a permanent fixture of transport infrastructure throughout Europe, China, South Korea and Taiwan.
The benefits of high speed rail include:
- run on electricity unlike planes, thus reducing the demand for oil
- reduction in greenhouse gas emissions due to a decrease in the number of plane trips (less oil being consumed)
- ticket prices immune to raising oil prices, unlike planes and cars
- as renewable electricity replaces coal and gas derived electricity, greenhouse gas emissions from transport would be significantly reduced further.
Mid last year the Greens political party in Australia successfully lobbied for the commencement of a 12 month study analysis on the viability of a HSR service spanning the major cities on Australia's east coast. The study to be completed in June 2011 is assessing the environmental and economic benefit of such a project.
Potential Station Locations: Sunshine Coast - Brisbane - Gold Coast - Casino - Coffs Harbour - Taree - Newcastle - Gosford - Hornsby - Sydney - Campbelltown - Canberra - Albury - Melbourne .
These trains operate at speeds between 250-500km/hour and can cut long distance journeys by land in half, making them an extremely exciting prospect.
East coast HSR estimated jouney times:
Sydney - Melbourne: 3 hours
Sydney - Gold Coast: 2.5 hours
Sydney - Brisbane: 3 hours
Gold Coast - Brisbane: 30 minutes
If high speed rail intrigues you then you should have a little watch of this video and see these powerhouses in action!
If you still havent had enough of these badboys check out this link and click on where it says "A Realistic Pathway to Very Fast Trains" - It is a document about the potential of HSR in Australia.
http://www.infrastructure.org.au/Content/veryfasttrains.aspx
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