Bunbury Faster Rail - Provision of the Services of Business Case and Economic Advice

The Australian Government announced the ‘20-Year Faster Rail Plan’ in March 2019. Subsequently, a new agency, the National Faster Rail Agency (NFRA), was established to implement this plan. The NFRA released a blueprint for a network of improved passenger rail services across Australia, including the Perth to Bunbury link. The Australian Government has committed $79 million to develop faster rail business cases for connections between major capital cities and key regional centres across Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria, and Western Australia.

The Australian and the Western Australian Governments have agreed to provide funding to develop a Strategic Business Case to investigate supplementing or replacing the existing Australind passenger train service with faster rail technology in the longer term.

The Strategic Business Case will determine the suitability of faster rail technology, amongst other options, along the Perth to Bunbury corridor, identify existing constraints and determine future demand and operational requirements. The Strategic Business Case will consider alternatives such as upgrades to the existing rail corridor as well as options for a new, dedicated rail corridor. In addition, the Strategic Business Case will consider a range of other potential solutions to address the identified issues and prioritise them based on demonstrated need and desired transport outcomes.

Refer to PTA210160 - Book 3 - RFT Proposed Short Form Consultancy Services Contract, Schedule 9 - Consultants Brief for further details.