The Sydney to Newcastle Fast Rail Improvement project (Tuggerah to Wyong) would be the first stage of rail improvements between Sydney and Newcastle that would facilitate faster passenger rail services.
The project scope includes:
- 10 kilometres of rail upgrades
- two additional tracks, bringing the total on the line to four
- station upgrades at Wyong and Tuggerah, and
- new dual track bridges over the Wyong River.
Services would reach up to 160 kilometres per hour.
The Federal Government confirmed in November 2023 that it would not be contributing funding toward the project.
Key Dates
| Mar 2022 | Project Announcement |
Funding contributions
| NSW Government | |
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In November 2023, it was confirmed that the project would not receive Federal Government funding following the release of the Independent Strategic Review of the Infrastructure Investment Program. The NSW Government allocated $500 million to the project in its 2022-23 Budget. No allocations were made to the project in the 2023-24 NSW Budget. |
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PROJECT HISTORY
| 2017 | The 2017-18 Federal Budget allocated $20 million toward developing a business cases for faster rail connections between Sydney and Newcastle in New South Wales, Melbourne and Greater Shepparton in Victoria, and Brisbane and the regions of Moreton Bay and the Sunshine Coast in Queensland. |
| Jun 2019 | The NSW Budget 2019-20 allocates an investment of $295.0 million over four years for the fast rail network, which includes development for a new alignment between Sydney and Woy Woy. No specific allocations were made. |
| Jul 2019 | National Faster Rail Agency (NFRA) established by the Federal Government as an executive agency under the Public Service Act 1999. |
| Jun 2021 | The NSW Budget 2021-22 allocates an investment of $298.0 million over four years for the Fast Rail Program, which includes planning for connections between Sydney, Newcastle, and the Central Coast. No specific allocations were made. |
| Mar 2022 | The 2022-23 Federal Budget allocated $1 billion toward the Tuggerah to Wyong faster rail upgrade on the Sydney to Newcastle corridor, as part of the Sydney to Newcastle Fast Rail Improvement project - although it did not give a timeline for the funding nor any specific allocations. |
| Apr 2022 | The Federal Government released the National Faster Rail Investment Program, which provided the scope details of the project. The report confirms that to date, the Federal Government had committed $79 million to complete six business cases for faster rail to key regional centres. The Sydney to Newcastle Strategic Business Case was identified as one of the six business cases that was completed. The report also confirmed that that the Federal Government had committed $20 million for the next stages of corridor planning for the Sydney to Newcastle corridor. |
| Jun 2022 | The 2022/23 NSW Government Budget allocated $500 million toward the Tuggerah to Wyong faster rail upgrade on the Sydney to Newcastle corridor, as part of the Sydney to Newcastle Fast Rail Improvement project. |
| Oct 2022 | The October 2022/23 Federal Budget allocated $18 million for the establishment of a High Speed Rail Authority, which would absorb the functions of the NFRA. It also allocated $500 million for corridor acquisition, planning and early works on high-speed rail between Sydney and Newcastle with no allocations made the the faster rail program. |
| Sep 2023 | NSW Budget 2023-24 does not allocate funding to the Sydney-Newcastle Faster Rail program. |
| Nov 2023 | Following the Independent Strategic Review of the IIP, the Federal Government confirmed the project will not receive Australian Government funding at this time. |
| Mar 2024 | The Federal Government issued a Request for Tender (RFT) for eight work packages to support the delivery of the High Speed Rail Authority’s business case for the Sydney to Newcastle section of the proposed high-speed rail network. The work packages available for tender are: Project Controls Services; Network Rail Operations Planning Services; Economics, Funding and Financing, Demand Modelling and Economic Development Strategy; Transport Land Use and Property Advisory Services; Commercial, Delivery Strategy and Industry Engagement Services; First Nations People Participation and Engagement Services; First Nations People Cultural and Heritage Advisory Services; and Technical, Advisory, Environment and Sustainability, Community and Stakeholder Engagement. RFTs close between 12 and 19 April. |
Estimated Total Cost
(2022)
Sector
Rail
Procurement approach
Traditional Procurement |
Unconfirmed |
Location
New South Wales |
Resources
Infrastructure agency resources
Project changes summary - Federal Government response to Strategic Review of IIP
