TCPA Reports
TCPA reports are generally written to promulgate ideas, and represent the collective view of the committee at the time.
Growing Victoria’s Regions: Rail the Catalyst for Regional Growth
This report, jointly produced by the Rail Futures Institute Inc. (RFI) and the Town and Country Planning Association, is a development of an earlier report, Rail as a catalyst for Regional Growth (2022). Focusing on Victoria’s ten key regional cities, it draws together detailed feedback on proposals for Regional Victoria to accommodate a much greater proportion of Victoria’s future population growth, and associated transport initiatives. It proposes an integrated strategy for growing regional city populations and making better use of Victoria’s rail network.
Better and faster regional passenger rail services are a key enabler for growth in Regional Victoria. They effectively “shrink distance”. This document lays out a comprehensive 30-year plan for regional rail development and deliverable policies for re-balancing more of Victoria’s population growth towards its regional cities.
We are confident that this work should provide Victoria’s urban and transport planners with a clearer understanding of the role of the rail network and services in shaping Victoria’s regional economy; and the role of regional cities in shaping the use and development of railway services and infrastructure.
We have produced two documents:
- A Summary Report that has been distributed widely
- The Main Report that provides the more detailed analysis (December 2024).
This is intended to be living document, updated from time to time.
A Decentralisation Strategy for Australia
One of our members, Ross Lowrey, has been collaborating with Garry Glazebrook to develop a decentralisation strategy for Australia. Garry is a retired transport and urban planner from NSW who formed Fastrack Australia to raise awareness of the potential for higher speed rail in South-East Australia.
Together they have produced a report that presents the case for the decentralisation of Australia and the importance of faster rail connections to support the growth of regional cities. They advocate a national settlement plan based on the rollout of faster rail connections to regional cities, along with a range of other government incentives and actions needed to promote regional growth.
In addition, both Ross and Garry were invited to present their ideas to an online webinar conducted by the ACT Division of the Planning Institute of Australia on 24th March 2022.
A Decentralisation Strategy for Australia
Rail as a Catalyst for Regional Growth
The Rail Futures Institute Inc. (RFI) and the Town and Country Planning Association Inc. (TCPA) have pleasure in jointly releasing a Discussion Paper, Rail as a Catalyst for Regional Growth, which explores the opportunity post pandemic for Victoria’s regional cities to accommodate a much larger proportion of the State’s future population growth.
The Discussion Paper aims to provide Victoria’s Urban and Transport Planners with a clearer understanding of the role of the rail network and services in shaping Victoria’s future regional economy; and the role of regional cities in shaping the use and development of railway services and infrastructure. It identifies eight key topics to stimulate further discussion and to feed into a more detailed Regional Rail Strategy to be released later in 2022.
Rail as a Catalyst for Regional Growth – Full Report Summary Report
High Speed Rail for Regional Growth
Ross Lowrey has done extensive research to determine whether high speed rail has any impact on regional growth and economic development. His report provides a comprehensive review of his findings and summaries of key references. These were originally published by Fastrack Australia, an advocacy website to promote the development of high-speed rail in South-East Australia.
High Speed Rail for Regional Growth – Full Report
The key lessons are presented as a series of six Briefing Notes.
Regionalisation will drive higher economic growth
Fast connectivity is essential for higher economic growth
Build a national passenger rail network in stages
The Australian Government must lead and fund rail infrastructure