Canberra opens public purse for private fast-rail project's plan

A consortium that said it would privately fund a fast rail line from Melbourne to Sydney will get a share of $20 million in public funding from the Turnbull government.

A 2016 image from Consolidated Land and Rail Australia (CLARA),
the company planning a fast rail link between Melbourne and
Sydney. It will be given millions of dollars in public money by t
he Turnbull government to write the business case for its
 first stage, to Shepparton.

Consolidated Land and Rail Australia, or CLARA, is a private company that claims it can build two inland cities in Victoria and a further six in New South Wales that are linked by high-speed rail lines between Melbourne, Sydney and Canberra.

Their rail line would, CLARA's plans say, be paid for by the company taking options to buy land in regional areas at a low price. The land would then be sold at a far higher price once a rail line was built nearby.

The “uplift” in land value would provide billions of dollars in profit, CLARA's directors say.

Read the story by Clay Lucas in The Sydney Morning Herald - “Canberra opens public purse for private fast-rail project's plan.”

(Many argue that projects such as this are only possible through Public Private Partnerships (PPP), but immediately private profit at public expense becomes integral to the equation, it is without fail the public who are sacrificed, especially when the profit margin is to be sustained/maintained.

The State Government doesn’t appear to be onboard with what is proposed, and as it is the final leg of the Shepparton to Melbourne trip - from Craigieburn to the city - that can be excruciatingly slow, it will not be until decisions are made about that last 30 or so kilometres, a decision that needs the stamp of the State Government, that we can seriously talk about creating any sort of fast train into the city - Robert McLean)