Labor has pledged to deliver high speed rail between Sydney and Melbourne by 2035, with Prime Minister Kevin Rudd promising $52 million to get the multi-billion dollar project started.
Mr Rudd on Monday said a Labor government would introduce legislation to preserve a 1748 kilometre rail corridor between Melbourne and Brisbane,and set up a new authority to oversee delivery of the project.
"This is an exciting project for Australia's future," Mr Rudd
said of the rail plan, which Labor sees as crucial to supporting jobs beyond the China mining boom.
The funding promise is in response to a final report of the High Speed Rail Advisory Group, which has recommended completion of a first stage between Sydney and Melbourne, via Canberra, by 2035.
Once completed, a travel journey between the two state capitals would take two hours and 44 minutes.
The journey would also take in stops in the Southern Highlands, Wagga Wagga, Albury Wodonga and Shepparton.
Mr Rudd said the 2035 rail plan would be cheaper than the opposition's paid parental leave scheme.
"Put that into context - what is more necessary for the nation's future?" Mr Rudd told reporters in Sydney.
"A high speed rail network which links these vital cities along Australia's east coast, or an unaffordable, unfair paid parental leave scheme?"
