Infrastructure Australia’s decision to “green light” the next stage of the Newcastle-Sydney high-speed rail project has been warmly welcomed.

Business Hunter and Lake Macquarie Council were among the first to hail the organisation’s announcement to support the development phase of the network, which would link the former steel city to the Central Coast by 2037.

Pending funding, Sydney Central and Western Sydney International Airport are slated for completion in 2039 and 2042 respectively.

It comes after Infrastructure Australia finally completed its evaluation of the High-Speed Rail Authority’s (HSRA) business case for the initial 194km route , with construction to potentially begin in 2027.

“At a time when our region is really facing up to some of the economic challenges of the energ

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