Hassell, the Australian architecture and design practice, has been shortlisted for work on the country's proposed high speed rail network, according to trade publication Architecture & Design. The publication described the development as "a high speed rail Australia milestone" — the first consultancy appointment of its kind for a project that has been studied, costed and reshuffled for more than two decades.

The shortlisting signals a transition in the programme from strategic planning to the design and engineering questions that will determine what gets built, where, and in what sequence. Architecture & Design's headline did not specify the design package, the length of the shortlist, or the contracting entity.

Hassell is headquartered in Adelaide and operates from studios in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Perth, London, Singapore, Shanghai and Dubai. The firm's transport portfolio includes Adelaide Railway Station, the Western Sydney International Airport terminal and stations delivered for Brisbane's Cross River Rail. A high speed rail commission would extend that track record to a national-scale programme.

What is the Australian high speed rail project?

The Australian government's high speed rail proposal covers an east coast corridor linking Sydney, Canberra, Melbourne and Brisbane. The Commonwealth High Speed Rail Authority, established in 2023, holds the mandate to develop a business case and to progress early planning, with the Sydney-to-Newcastle corridor identified as the first stage for detailed work.

That 130-kilometre corridor is the densest intercity rail market in the country. Existing NSW TrainLink Hunter Line services run close to capacity during commuter peaks, and the alignment between the two cities has been the focus of capacity studies for years.

Why does the shortlist matter?

Consultancy shortlists on infrastructure programmes of this scale usually precede design and advisory contracts worth tens of millions of dollars. The decision to involve an architecture practice at this stage indicates that station, precinct and urban integration questions are now on the table, alongside the broader systems, alignment, procurement and business case work that has dominated the programme to date.

Station design and precinct planning are not cosmetic exercises. They determine interchange efficiency with suburban and metro services, set modal split outcomes for decades, lock in land-use decisions around new stops, and shape the political reception of the line in the suburbs and regional centres it serves.

What role has Hassell been shortlisted for?

The Architecture & Design headline did not name the design package. The scope of an architecture shortlisting on a high speed programme typically covers station buildings, interchange design, urban integration, depot and maintenance facilities, or a combination of these. The final contract award will indicate which element Hassell will lead and which competitors remain in the contest.

Major recent high speed programmes have split such work into separate packages for each major station, for corridor architecture, and for depot and stabling facilities. If the Australian programme follows that template, the eventual commissions could be among the largest single architecture packages ever let in the country.

What does the milestone change — and what does it not?

A shortlisting puts a named firm on the project's delivery team and creates a clear line of accountability for design outcomes. It does not commit the federal government to a construction start, set a target in-service date, or unlock funding. The High Speed Rail Authority's business case for the first stage remains the gating document for any subsequent decision to proceed.

Nor does the shortlisting resolve the strategic questions that have dogged the programme since the first East Coast Very High Speed Train Scoping Study in 2001. Technology choice, route alignment, station locations, procurement model and federal-state cost sharing all remain open, and each will shape how the design work translates into built form.

What comes next

A formal contract award will follow the shortlisting, at which point the scope and value of Hassell's commission will become public. The High Speed Rail Authority is expected to publish its Sydney-Newcastle business case during 2025. Until then, the Hassell shortlisting marks a procedural step in the consultancy procurement cycle and brings the project to the threshold of the design work that will determine its physical shape.