The NSW government has set the goal of building a high-speed rail network by 2056 on the same day the federal government started establishing a statutory agency to oversee the project.
Federal Infrastructure Minister Catherine King introduced legislation to Parliament on Thursday morning to establish the High Speed Rail Authority.
Labor promised during this year's election campaign to revive long-talked-about plans for high-speed rail travelling from Sydney to Newcastle at 250 kilometres an hour as a "top priority".
It also pledged to set aside $500 million to start acquiring land in the rail corridor, planning and early works.
"We're introducing the legislation to establish the High Speed Rail Authority, which will be the authority that is charged with actually doing all of the planning work, the land acquisition [and] working with the NSW and ACT governments, particularly, to actually get this thing happening," Ms King told the ABC on Thursday.
"This is a long-term project. I don't think that you can envisage that this is going to be built tomorrow.
"But, if we don't take the first step, then it's never going to get done."
Ms King's comments came on the same day the NSW government issued a discussion paper on its "Six Cities" strategy which says the state is "working towards delivering a fast rail network by 2056".
The government has budgeted $275 million for planning fast rail over the next four years and this week released a transport strategy which set the goal of cutting Sydney to Newcastle rail travel to "about one hour".
The transport strategy included maps showing an approximate route for fast rail terminating at Newcastle Interchange.
Shortland MP Pat Conroy said he was "really pleased" the government was "getting on with the job of making high-speed rail between Newcastle and Sydney a reality".
"This is something that has been spoken about for decades, and, while there's a lot more work to be done, this is a very good start," he said.
"High-speed rail will not only bring huge economic benefits, it will also improve people's lives by making it quicker and easier to travel."
The paper also flags introducing "express" coach services between Newcastle and Port Macquarie, which was included in earlier NSW high-speed rail plans.
The government says it will release more details about fast rail in a new plan for the Sydney "six cities mega-region" next year.
A 2019 NSW government-commissioned report on faster rail options by UK expert Andrew McNaughton has never been published.
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