The ARA’s CEO Caroline Wilkie, General Manager – Advocacy and New Zealand, Simon Bourke, and General Manager – Passenger Rail and Safety, Jesse Baker, met with the CEO of the High Speed Rail Authority (HSRA), Tim Parker, last week to discuss the activities of the agency and opportunities for collaboration. It was pleasing to hear about the work progressed to date, including the release of tenders earlier this week for eight packages of work that will support the development of the Sydney-Newcastle business case by the end of the year. 

In parallel to the Sydney-Newcastle business case, the HSRA is also taking initial steps to begin the process for revisiting the overall business case for the project. It was encouraging to hear that the project will have a strong economic development focus, including an emphasis on supporting local manufacturing where possible and exploring more innovative and productivity focused approaches to project delivery. 

The ARA also held discussions with senior officials from the Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development, Communications and the Arts (DITRDCA) with a focus on the upcoming ITSOC and ITMM meetings and the key issues being progressed through the National Rail Action Plan.  

For further information please contact Simon Bourke, General Manager – Advocacy and New Zealand.