North Terrace tram extension approaches completion date, six months after it should have been done
FINALLY the completion of the problem-plagued North Terrace tram project looks to be within sight.
DELAYED, massively over budget and missing a key right-hand turn, Adelaide’s tram extension has been off the rails from day one.
The State Government says the trams will be running on the new line by the end of this month — six months later than planned. So how did building a 1km strip of tram tracks turn into such a headache? Simeon Thomas-Wilson looks at the reasons why.
TIME
When the tram extension was announced by the then-Labor government in 2016, the plan was for work to begin in the first quarter of 2017 and finish in the final quarter of last year.
But the project started three months late and major construction only got under way in September 2016.
Former head of the Transport and Infrastructure Department Rod Hook said this meant it was behind the eight-ball from day one.
“It’s taken a full 12 months for a project that should have taken six to complete,” he said.
Several further deadlines for completion have subsequently been missed.
Transport Minister Stephan Knoll said the latest delays, after the Liberal Party won the March election, were because the Government inherited a project “which was already running months late”.
Labor transport spokesman Tom Koutsantonis said the tram extension was on track to be completed by the end of March before the change in government and Mr Knoll had missed every deadline since taking charge of the project.
COSTS
Originally announced as being a $50 million project, just five months later an extra $20 million was provided in the December 2016 Mid-Year Budget Review to buy three additional trams and build an extra stop at Festival Plaza.
A further $10 million was given to the project in July 2017 when the major tender for night works was awarded to a consortiums of Downer EDI Works and South Australian company, York Civil. That money was meant to speed up the project.
MANAGEMENT
The project’s pitfalls have turned into a political blame game. Mr Knoll has promised a review of the tram extension to “ensure these same mistakes aren’t made in future major infrastructure projects.”
Mr Hook said Labor’s purge of key Transport Department staff before the trams works started left it with a lack of knowledge of how to deliver such major projects.
Mr Koutsantonis said the Liberal’s March 20 dismissal of department chief executive Michael Deegan, who was overseeing the delivery of the project, was to blame for the latest delays.
DESIGN/FAULTS
This debate really kicked off when East End developer Steve Maras penned a scathing column for The Advertiser, which criticised the lack of a right-hand turn from King William St — despite the original tender documents depicting one.
The State Government has committed to building a right-hand turn at a later date, which would cost another $37 million.
Workers on site told The Advertiser in February that they were repeating some tasks because the designers kept changing the plan.
Last month it was discovered during a testing phase that the metal handrails at tram platforms had not been properly earthed and the electric current could jump between a tram and the handrails.
The Advertiser has asked the State Government and Labor how this oversight happened, but there has been no meaningful response.
WHAT NEXT
Testing has been completed and a State Government spokesman said passenger services were expected to start by the end of this month.
But with the right-hand turn still being investigated — and the State Government considering extending the tramline further to North Adelaide — taxpayers will be hoping for a smoother ride in future.