Grattan Institute

Should Australia dump the decades-old dream of building a bullet train from Brisbane to Melbourne via Sydney and Canberra? The east-coast bullet train advocated by the federal ALP could be an expensive folly: Australia’s small population and vast distances present major economic and environmental risks. How realistic is the notion that upgrades to regional rail would ease population pressures on our major capitals and boost struggling regional cities and towns? What’s the best way for governments to help commuters get to work in the booming outer suburbs of the capital cities? The alternative of renovating rail lines to boost train speeds from capital cities to surrounding regions is less expensive and might be worth doing – but these renovations are unlikely to fulfil all the wishful thinking of their proponents. Watch Marion Terrill, Grattan's Transport and Cities Program Director, Gabriel Metcalf, CEO of the Committee for Sydney, and Kat Clay, Head of Digital Communications, in a lively discussion on