And with only 1300 people a week using the train for a trip to Sydney, it appears our snail rail is not catching on.

The ACT Government's proposal to shunt the Kingston railway station east to make way for development has sparked a debate about the role of rail in the capital.

It takes four hours and 20 minutes to traverse the Canberra-Sydney corridor. For some Canberrans riding the rails is a labour of love. Stalwarts such as Irene Clarke, 80, will take the railway over the highway without fail.

''It's peaceful and you can see the countryside ... I think it's wonderful,'' Mrs Clarke said as she prepared to board the noon train.

But ANU urban policy expert Patrick Troy said the Canberra-Sydney train trip could take just two hours, if not for jurisdictional buck-passing and infrastructure mismanagement.

The XPT trains operating across the eastern seaboard were based on the British 125s, so named because they could travel at 125 miles per hour, Professor Troy said.

But on legs such as Queanbeyan to Goulburn the track is too poor for the XPTs to reach their potential, he said.

''They couldn't ever take them much above 40km/h on the line between Canberra and Goulburn because the track was so poor,'' he said.

For more, pick up a copy of today's Canberra Times