A private company has already secured land purchase options to build a city and station near Yass as part of its ambitious high speed rail project connecting Melbourne and Sydney, and a second from Yass to Canberra.

Yass would be one of eight cities to be built along the 915km Sydney to Melbourne route, chairman and founder of Consolidated Land and Rail Australia (CLARA), Nick Cleary said.

The private company has already secured a substantial amount of acreage in the Yass Valley.

“It will mean an extraordinary amount of jobs for the construction phase as well as the build out of the cities as well,” Mr Cleary said. 

“It would mean a tremendous amount of opportunities for education and healthcare which will come from the new inland cities.” 

Yass Valley Property, acting on behalf of the company CLARA to purchase the land around the Valley, has been liaising with the company for 12 months and still hopes to secure more land for the project.

“We have known about it for a while but we haven’t been able to talk about it,” Peter Curlewis of Yass Valley Property said. 

“It’s a fantastic opportunity for the Yass Valley and something the country has been crying out for for a while, more importantly it seems as though it’s really going to happen.” 

Mr Curlewis says the proposed city in Yass is an important stop for the High Speed Rail (HSR).  

“Yass will play a part of the link to Canberra, now that it has the International Airport,” he said. “The train won’t pass through Canberra but Yass will be the hub to connect the Nation's Capital to this line, and vice versa. 

“There will be much potential for jobs growth and infrastructure. The prospect for real estate value looks good, and the employment opportunities for our younger people and trades people will be highly beneficial, this will be a flow on effect from this project.” 

CLARA proposes to build two inland cities in Victoria and a further six in NSW. These cities will be advanced, sustainable SMART cities.

CLARA’s SMART cities’ design focus is on livability and connectivity. They will be compact, innovative and minimise their environmental impact.

The train is estimated to take only two hours to travel from Melbourne to Sydney, the trip from Yass to Sydney is expected to take only 35 minutes. 

Phase One of the project is proposed to begin within five years, with the HSR connection and first stage of the new cities on the line within a decade, this would include the leg from Melbourne to the Greater Shepparton Region.

“We also anticipate stage two to come out of Sydney, and then keep going down the line. The Canberra site will also start at this stage building out to the Yass sight, which will mean Yass Valley will have an active HSR in the next 10 to 15 years,” Mr Cleary said.  

“We have a Melbourne to Canberra express and a Sydney to Canberra express, which will go through Yass - Yass to Canberra will take around 10 to 15 minutes.”

The project will be completed from Melbourne to Sydney, including the Canberra line, within 12 to 15 years. 

“Obviously, the sooner we get started the quicker it can come across, but we don’t want people to think this is going to take 35 years, what we do need for the 35 years is to build out the cities, they need to grow organically so they are self sustaining, and be a vibrant economy within themselves and also contribute to the vibrant economy of the Yass Valley.” 

Mr Cleary says the company is driving the $200 billion, 35-year HSR project, using 'value capture' or a profit margin to developers building along the corridor. 

“We have developed a plan that will allow for a quantum leap forward in the development of our nation to take place as a market-led, commercially viable project,” he said. 

“The proposal is one centered on the concept of de-centralising the Australian population away from our major cities into viable, sustainable and high tech second tier inland cities. 

“The HSR piece is vital to the plan. HSR is the best available technology for the mass transit of people over the proposed distances in a timely and affordable manner.”

Although it is too early to know exactly what level of growth this will provide for the Yass Valley, President of the Yass Valley Business Chamber Michael Pilbrow said that it appeared that the proposal would see the population in the Yass Valley area more than double in size.

“While we’re very keen to know more details, the vision for genuine high speed rail and for genuine regional development is very promising”, said Mr Pilbrow.  “Many people want a rural lifestyle but also need to be close to work opportunities – as well as allowing people to commute to Sydney or Canberra or Melbourne by train, this proposal would provide Yass with the opportunity to grow its own business and employment base”.  

Mr Pilbrow also welcomed the supportive comments from Canberra Airport for the proposal and the link to the Airport: “The linking of the high speed rail and the Canberra International Airport through Yass would position the Yass Valley perfectly to be doing business with the rest of Australia and the world." 

"We look forward to talking with CLARA as they develop their plans so that the Yass Valley business community – and the whole community – can capitalise on this great potential opportunity.”

Mayor Rowena Abbey was also enthusiastic about what the project could do for areas like Yass. 

“This project brings with it enormous opportunity for regional NSW, not just Yass Valley,” Cr Abbey said. “There is a lot of work to happen at a state government level and Yass Valley Council looks forward to having more localised conversations about infrastructure and rezoning at some stage in the future.”

Mr Curlewis is proud to be helping provide this opportunity for the Yass Valley.

“Projects like this will create a lot of job opportunities, real estate values in and around Yass are bound to benefit.”