Advertisement

Transport boss ‘doesn’t accept’ new Sydney light rail delays

Sydney’s light rail had its first daylight test with Premier Gladys Berejiklian on board on Tuesday.

Sydney’s light rail had its first daylight test with Premier Gladys Berejiklian on board on Tuesday. Photo: AAP

Sydney’s troubled light rail project faces another delay and cost blowout.

But a Transport for NSW boss says he doesn’t accept the new timeline provided by the construction firm building the line.

Spanish company Acciona on Thursday told a parliamentary inquiry the completion date – originally planned for early next year – would again be extended from March 2020 to May 2020.

Acciona Australia managing director Bede Noonan said it would be delayed the extra two months because electricity distributor Ausgrid failed to move overhead wiring in Kingsford and Kensington.

He claimed the NSW government knew of the latest delay two months ago.

“I don’t want to answer on behalf of the government but it is quite clear that we notified it in August,” Mr Noonan told the inquiry on Thursday.

But Transport for NSW deputy secretary of infrastructure and services, Stephen Troughton, said the updated timeline had been rejected.

He said it would be delivered by March 2020, or potentially December next year.

Mr Troughton also shrugged off claims of another cost blowout.

“I have not had any information from them, to me, on what they’ve spent on the project … It’s not about what they’ve spent, it’s about what they’re entitled to,” he told the inquiry.

“The NSW taxpayer is not responsible for delayed starts, mismanagement, their issues involved in delivering a project. It’s not responsible for miss-bidding.”

light rail sydney

Acciona Infrastructure Australia managing director Bede Noonan gave evidence on Thursday. Photo: AAP

Mr Noonan laid much of the blame on the project’s massive delays on Ausgrid, which he claimed presented new requirements after the project’s contract was signed in February 2015.

Mr Noonan told the inquiry Acciona originally expected construction to cost about $900 million, but the firm had already spent $1.45 billion on an expected total of $1.8 billion.

The issue is currently the subject of a court battle, with Acciona seeking more than $1.1 billion extra from the state government.

If its court claim succeeds, the project’s cost to taxpayers would be north of $3 billion rather than the revised $2.1 billion. The original cost was $1.6 billion.

Mr Troughton conceded the final cost won’t be known until the court makes a ruling on the damages claim.

Transport Minister Andrew Constance has alleged the Spanish-owned firm engaged in a “go-slow”.

Acciona told the inquiry it knew underground utilities were the No.1 risk to the project but Ausgrid’s post-contract document “bore no resemblance to what we had agreed to”.

The document stated how Acciona had to treat, modify or expand state-owned electricity wiring pits along the route.

Mr Noonan said expanding pits often meant having to bore into areas not surveyed pre-contract, followed by a lengthy process to identify and move pipes underground.

“We dig a hole, find something, you stop,” Mr Noonan said.

“[This is why] the public are going, ‘Why is there no work going on?’ ”

The inquiry on Wednesday heard from distressed residents and business owners along the 12-kilometre stretch of construction work.

Some businesses have been forced to close and or lost half their clientele as a result of noise, dust, vibrations, and temporary fencing from construction works.

As at September 28, 96 businesses have been paid a total $12.2 million in compensation. Some of those businesses have received four rounds of payments, with one receiving a total of $500,000.

There are 760 businesses on the alignment.

Residents and business owners have given evidence to say their mental health has been devastated.

Transport for NSW on Thursday said it was aware of three formal notices issued to Acciona by the Environmental Protection Agency because of noise, vibration or out-of-hours work.

The department said some night work was necessary, and more than 8000 offers to provide alternative accommodation for affected residents have been made.

The inquiry heard 98 per cent of the track work has been completed and that the “really invasive” works were finishing up.

Once completed, the light rail is expected to carry 13,500 passengers an hour between 7am to 7pm, with services up to every four minutes.

-with AAP

Stay informed, daily
A FREE subscription to The New Daily arrives every morning and evening.
The New Daily is a trusted source of national news and information and is provided free for all Australians. Read our editorial charter
Copyright © 2024 The New Daily.
All rights reserved.