Very Fast Train Joint Venture

The name "Very Fast Train" or "VFT" has become a synonym for high-speed rail in Australia, though no subsequent proposal has adopted the terminology. The VFT was a proposed high-speed railway between Sydney, Canberra and Melbourne in south-eastern Australia.

It was conceived by Dr Paul Wild of the CSIRO in 1984, the proposal was adopted by a private-sector joint venture in 1987, comprising Elders IXL, Kumagai Gumi, TNT and BHP. Several major studies were undertaken in the 1980s and early 1990s, which showed the proposal to be both technically and financially feasible.

This also involved Vlad Mosmondor, who was the designer on the proposed venture, who produced the branding, style, timetables and publication of the ‘VFT Pre-Feasibility Study Report’. Below are some images of the printed materials of the project. The VFT attracted widespread support from both the general public and sections of government, but the joint venture folded following the failure to secure a favourable taxation agreement with the Federal Government in late 1991.

The Very Fast Train remains the most substantial investment into a high-speed rail project in Australia. The only proposal to involve 100% private funding.