by Hallu » Wed 15 May, 2019 6:54 pm
France has probably the most extensive high speed rail network in the world. It is indeed greener than air travel, but France has mainly nuclear power plants and hydroelectric dams. If you use coal to power the future Australian fast train it's not really greener than air travel...
As far as the advantages go, it is often cheaper than air travel. Also, you don't have to suffer the misery of going to the airport from the city you're visiting/living in, then check in etc... So the plane is only faster once it's in the air. But since you need to get to the airport an hour early, that the journey from the city centre to the airport is usually 30 min to an hour, then the train is way faster. It's also more comfortable, a lot more legroom in trains, and less scary for most people.
It is expensive to build though. We're talking billions. In France, they built too many of them, the cost is high and they're not all profitable... There's also protests against the train from locals, as it's incredibly noisy when it goes by at 300 km/h. Rail companies tend to do the minimum for noise reduction, as well as wildlife and the environment in general. Also ticket prices fluctuate immensely. A Paris to Bordeaux return ticket can be 50 € on a Tuesday in March or 250 a few days before Christmas...
Overall, I think it's a great idea if you have the tourism industry to back it up, like France, Spain or Italy do, and if you don't build too many of them. For Japan, I think it's more the fact that they have very slow roads (mountainous small country), and a high population. So is it a good idea for Australia ? Air travel is so cheap here that I don't know whether they'll get many customers. Especially since Australia has such a low population. Do people from Melbourne visit Sydney that often and vice versa ?