The High Speed Rail Authority has appointed Bechtel as Delivery Partner for the development phase of the Newcastle to Sydney high speed rail project, according to railwaygazette.com.

The two-year development phase aims to get the project ‘construction ready’ pending a final investment decision.

Bechtel said the appointment reflects its international rail experience and work on major Australian infrastructure projects including the Sydney Metro and Western Sydney and Perth airports.

‘Bechtel is proud to partner with the High Speed Rail Authority to help deliver one of the country’s most significant and forward-looking infrastructure programmes’, said Dr Richard Freer, Managing Director of Public Infrastructure, Australia at Bechtel, on July 15. ‘This award reflects our deep global rail experience and capabilities, coupled with over 70 years of delivering some of the most impactful projects across Australia. We look forward to working closely with the High Speed Rail Authority to help turn the vision of high speed rail into reality.’

The High Speed Rail Authority was established in 2023 as an Australian government corporate entity tasked with leading the planning, development and delivery of a high speed rail connecting Brisbane, Sydney, Canberra, Melbourne and regional communities across the east coast.

The first stage would run from the new Western Sydney Airport to Newcastle, with intermediate stations at Parramatta, Sydney Central, Central Coast and Lake Macquarie. Trains would run at up to 320 km/h on dedicated tracks, taking 1 h from Newcastle to Sydney compared with 2 h 34 min or 2 h 54 min for the hourly semi-fast and stopping services on the existing electrified line.