The HSRA Business Case shows that the economic value of high‑speed rail lies less in transport benefits than in housing supply and regional development. Realising those benefits will depend on governance — not just delivery.

This article examines why intergovernmental agreements, value capture and land‑use coordination are the real challenges facing high‑speed rail, drawing lessons from Inland Rail, City Deals and international experience. The central argument is that the success of high‑speed rail will ultimately be determined by the strength and durability of the institutions built around it.

This article provides a link to a detailed paper that considers the proposed delivery strategy for the initial Newcastle to Sydney stage of Australia’s first high speed rail project. We point out some weaknesses within the strategy — and how it could be refined without losing its core strengths.

Is megaproject and PPP risk allocation broken? Why should project owners change their approach? What can be done to fix it?

Infralegal is delighted to have participated in today’s Grattan Institute webinar on getting better ‘bang-for-buck’ from transport infrastructure projects. As our founding principal, Owen Hayford, said, Australian taxpayers do pay too much for our transport infrastructure but not for the reasons that the Grattan Institute suggests.

The Grattan Institute’s most recent report on the transport sector “Megabang for megabucks: Driving a harder bargain on megaprojects” caused quite a stir when it was released two months ago – mostly because of its opening sentence:

Taxpayers end up paying too much for major road and rail projects in Australia because governments don’t drive a hard bargain on contracts with the big construction firms.

But is that right?