He said the corridor was more than just drawing lines on maps and would be a multi-billion dollar commitment. ''You cannot designate a corridor through our cities, suburbs, towns and rural landscapes without being willing to purchase the affected lands and that will be expensive and without an immediate return,'' he told a rail conference in Sydney. ''I plan, as the next stage, to consult with the states and the ACT to ascertain their support for the proposal and their willingness to begin the next step, preserving the corridor for a future high-speed rail line.'' A recent study commissioned by the former Labor government costed a Brisbane-Sydney-Canberra-Melbourne link at $114 billion and taking more than three decades to build. The study found travel along the east coast would double to more than 355 million trips a year.

Sydney-Melbourne is among the top three airline routes in the world, while Sydney-Brisbane and Brisbane-Melbourne are in the top 20. Labor frontbencher Anthony Albanese, a strong advocate of the high-speed rail link, plans to introduce a private member's bill to Parliament this week requiring the government to begin work immediately on securing the rail corridor. The bill will include the establishment of a high-speed rail authority made up of federal, state and territory stakeholders. Bryan Nye, chief executive of the Australasian Railway Association, is extremely happy at the Coalition's commitment, made at the association's national conference in Sydney last week. "Both sides of Parliament say we have to preserve [the] corridor now … what it does is confirm that high- speed rail will become a reality,'' he said.

"This is a really positive indication, and everybody knows that one day, and probably sooner than later, we're going to need high-speed rail. "I've always particularly pushed that we've got to preserve the corridor today, so having both sides of Parliament declaring that is quite outstanding.'' Mr Nye said the government-commissioned study demonstrated the business case for high-speed rail, particularly between Melbourne and Sydney. "I think the reality is that as the population grows, we're going to need this and the most important element is, if you don't preserve the corridor today, you'll never have it,'' he said. "If you don't do it, property developers will build properties on the proposed route and it will become more difficult, so doing it today is vital. "Beyond establishing the corridor, you've got to get each of the governments - Victoria, ACT, NSW and Queensland - to agree on an intergovernmental agreement on how it will all be administered.

''With some political will, it could happen quite quickly.'' Mr Nye said a bipartisan approach was essential as the project would take decades to build. Mr Truss says his priority rail freight project is the Melbourne to Darwin inland rail link, proposed during the Howard government. A high-level implementation group will be formed, chaired by former Deputy Prime Minister John Anderson, to ensure construction begins as soon as possible.