Stakeholder barriers in management for high-speed rail: A case study of Australia

High speed rail (HSR) is one of the significant technological advancements of the 20th Century and has facilitated economic and development growth. Today, it is in operation in at least 22 countries. Australia has had four previous HSR proposals and awaits the fifth. As time passes, and Australia continues without a HSR network, the nation risks stagnant economic growth through foregone technological advancement. This article aims to identify the key stakeholder engagement and management issues which may face selected Australian HSR, and propose solutions to these issues. These solutions will help to overcome the stakeholder engagement and management barriers which have stunted previous proposals. The data collection involved a mixed methods approach, which is novel in Australian HSR research, including a review of extant literature, an exploratory survey of individuals in related fields and interviews of 9 subject matter experts. The key barriers identified include incorrect identification of stakeholders, ineffective engagement of stakeholders, time gap between project initiation and stakeholder identification, stakeholder bias and beliefs that stakeholders would not benefit from HSR. Recommendations were developed to address these issues. These included narrowing the range of key stakeholders as the project develops, focusing on online surveys and small group discussions as engagement methods, involving stakeholders in the planning stage of a HSR project and designing and communicating HSR as a regional development project rather than purely a mode of transport. It is expected that implementing these will help achieve a successful Australian HSR proposal. This research provides significant analysis related to stakeholder management for Australian HSR and has received commendation from multiple interview participants. • Triangulation mixed-methods data collection is novel in Australian high speed rail research • The AHP data analysis method is novel in Australian high speed rail research • Identification of novel barriers which fill barriers in extant literature • Most comprehensive recent study into Australian high speed rail stakeholder management barriers • Recommendations given to these barriers