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A fast rail from Canberra to Sydney is back on the agenda with momentum for the project growing. Chief Minister Andrew Barr will take part in a panel discussion alongside a top NSW bureaucrat and the National Faster Rail Agency at a summit on Friday. The western Sydney Boomtown summit will discuss how the project will be staged and funded. Mr Barr said the immediate focus should be on making the train faster and not on developing a high speed network. A train journey between the two cities can currently take up to five hours. "The key point I will make is that we should not make the good the enemy of the perfect," he said. "Let's bring our current 19th century service into the 20th century. "The new trains that the NSW government have bought and a range of sensible and affordable signalling and track improvements will deliver faster rail quickly. "They will deliver worthwhile time saving benefits in the short term, and in the medium term help to build a more favourable environment for the consideration of high-speed rail." Mr Barr said he had discussions with the NSW Premier, Deputy Premier and Transport Minister about delivering faster rail services between Canberra and Sydney. He will on Friday join panellists including the deputy secretary at NSW Department of Premier & Cabinet, CEO of Campbelltown City Council and the acting CEO of the National Faster Rail Agency. Campbelltown council has been lobbying the NSW government for a fast rail connection in Campbelltown. Of the four potential routes being considered by the government, the council sees a train to Canberra, via Goulburn, as the best option. Previous research has shown 57 per cent of Canberrans would travel by train to Sydney if the travel time was between two to three hours. Mr Barr said better connectivity between Sydney and Canberra was needed to unlock further opportunities in tourism, freight and affordable housing along the corridor. READ MORE: The ACT and NSW have been jointly considering faster rail since the release of the Faster Rail Prospectus by the federal government in 2017. The ACT government committed up to $5 million in matched funding for the development of a detailed business case to prioritise upgrades to the current service in 2018. In late 2018, the NSW government announced $5 million funding to investigate fast rail options. That plan identified Canberra to Sydney corridor as one of the four to be investigated. These investigations are being led by UK high speed rail expert Professor McNaughton through the NSW Department of Premier and Cabinet. "The ACT continues to engage with key stakeholders, including NSW local governments, to support improvements in Canberra to Sydney rail," Mr Barr said.

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