<div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Prime Minister </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/anthony-albanese" rel="" target="" title="Anthony Albanese"><span>Anthony Albanese</span></a><span> has announced he wants to extend a touted east-coast high-speed rail project to Melbourne.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The PM raised the pie-in-the-sky concept while speaking in Melbourne today, after his government yesterday announced </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/national/highspeed-rail-australia-sydney-to-newcastle-link-to-be-shovelready-in-two-years-government-says/3776f232-1ad2-46bd-a731-85721758eafb" rel="" target="" title="$230 million in preliminary funding"><span>$230 million in preliminary funding</span></a><span> for a high-speed rail project linking Sydney and Newcastle.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The massive infrastructure development would connect Newcastle to the Sydney CBD in one hour, link the Central Coast to the capital in half an hour and add billions to the economy, according to a business case spruiked by the government.</span></div></div><div><div id="adspot-mobile-medium"></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>READ MORE:</span></strong><span> </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/world/nancy-guthrie-missing-update-savannah-guthrie--says-her-family-is-offering-a-14-million-reward-for-her-mothers-recovery/6facd400-bc14-4c88-9ef5-c557e8a587b7" target="_blank"><strong><span>Savannah Guthrie says family offering $1.4 million reward for her mother's recovery</span></strong></a></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Albanese wants the project to be "shovel ready" in two years.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Today, the PM revealed he wants the train line extended all the way to Brisbane and Melbourne - with superfast travel between the two biggest cities.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"Yesterday, we announced that we would be taking the first stage of this project, Newcastle to Sydney, into design and development," Albanese said in his address to the Future Victoria Summit.</span></div></div><div><div class="OUTBRAIN" data-reactroot="" data-src="//www.9news.com.au/national/prime-minister-anthony-albanese-grand-plans-for-highspeed-rail-project/b3ff0db1-2d40-4eb7-9852-4847baa933fd" data-widget-id="AR_5"></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"But let me be clear: for high-speed rail to deliver its full economic and national benefits, it cannot terminate at Sydney.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"Australia is the only inhabited continent on earth that doesn't already have high-speed rail. And Melbourne to Sydney is one of the busiest flight corridors in the world."</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>READ MORE:</span></strong><span> </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/national/chocolate-increasingly-targeted-in-thefts-uk-stores-now-protected-in-plastic-cases/3e413a8a-191a-4eca-bd5e-4fa19dc35ebf" target="_blank"><strong><span>Shops locking up chocolate as theft focus shifts in UK</span></strong></a></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Albanese accepted he "will not be the Prime Minister when High Speed Rail is finished"</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>But he said he was "determined to be the Prime Minister who starts it".</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The government has not revealed how much it would cost, nor how long it would take, to extend the network to Melbourne.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The current leader is not the only PM to pitch the idea, with the concept floated several times over the last couple of decades.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>John Howard first gave legs to the idea back in 1998 following a strong community push.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>But the sod has never been turned on a high-speed rail network, with some think tanks and experts, including the Grattan Institute, believing such a project is not suitable for Australia.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"While a bullet train may be a captivating idea, it's not realistic for Australia," Marion Terrill from the Grattan Institute wrote in a </span><a href="https://grattan.edu.au/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/Fast-Train-Fever-Grattan-Institute-Report.pdf" rel="" target="" title="2020 report"><span>2020 report</span></a><span>, suggesting rail renovations to improve speed more modestly as a better alternative.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"Our population is small and spread over vast distances; the countries most like us – Canada and the US – don't have bullet trains either."</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Albanese used his first term as prime minister to establish the High Speed Rail Authority to plan to build a network connecting Brisbane, Sydney, Canberra and Melbourne, as well as Newcastle and Central Coast regional lines.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>An evaluated business case has proposed construction start by 2027 and completion by 2042.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><em><span>NEVER MISS A STORY:</span></em></strong><span> </span><em><span>Get your breaking news and exclusive stories first by following us across all platforms.</span></em></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><ul><li><strong><em><span>Download the 9NEWS App here via</span></em></strong><span> </span><a href="https://apps.apple.com/au/app/9news/id1010533727" target="_blank"><strong><em><span>Apple</span></em></strong></a><span> </span><strong><em><span>and</span></em></strong><span> </span><a href="https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=nineNewsAlerts.nine.com&amp;hl=en_AU&amp;pli=1" target="_blank"><strong><em><span>Google Play</span></em></strong></a></li><li><strong><em><span>Make 9News your preferred source on Google by</span></em></strong><span> </span><a href="https://9.nine.com.au/8x987w" target="_blank"><strong><em><span>ticking this box here</span></em></strong></a></li><li><strong><em><span>Sign up to</span></em></strong><span> </span><a href="https://login.nine.com.au/edm?client_id=nineatnine" target="_blank"><strong><em><span>our breaking newsletter here</span></em></strong></a></li></ul></div></div>