New delays for Gawler electrification project just hours after last delay announced

Yet more delays have struck the Gawler rail line electrification project, on the same day as commuters were told of another hiccup.

Yet another delay has struck the Gawler rail line electrification project, on the same day as commuters were told of an April start date.

The state government revealed on Monday that April was the planned start date for services. But Transport Department head Tony Braxton-Smith only hours later appeared before the Parliamentary Budget and Finance Committee and said full services may not commence until May because of delays in securing qualified electric train drivers due to Covid-19 delays.

The April date he says was a “good prospect”, he said, while also revealing a new project cost blowout of $127m to $842m.

Mr Braxton-Smith outlined to the committee all the delays caused by Victorian suppliers struggling due to Covid, weather problems, and poor planning, going back to the previous Labor government.

“Substantial progress has been made with over two billion labour hours logged,’’ he said.

“As part of this 107 train drivers will need to be trained and recertified to operate electric trains.

“Clearly this program is going to be dependent on driver availability, the need to provide services on other lines, the need to test trains and cope with the potential impact of Covid-19 driver availability.”

Easter Road Safety

Mr Braxton-Smith told the committee the latest $127m blowout was caused by Covid-19 delays and the need to purchase twelve new “electric train sets”, which the state government has previously blamed for not being costed in the Labor Party’s original 2018 estimates.

The project cost and completion timelines have gradually blown out since that date with the final completion pushed back from late 2020 to early 2021 and finally early 2022.

Both Labor and Liberals have traded insults on time and cost blowouts. The Liberals say the initial project costing of $615m, made by Labor just prior to the 2018 election, was far too low and based on little groundwork.

Mr Braxton-Smith told the committee the initial Labor costing had been made on the basis of 5 per cent of planning being done, rushed in just before the election, compared to up to 30 per cent being the usual component before costing were reliable.

But Opposition Transport Spokesman Tom Koutsantonis hit back after the meeting, saying “this is a scandal”.

“This is stunning incompetence from the Marshall Liberal Government which is costing taxpayers nearly a quarter of a billion dollars,’’ he said.

“Sadly, it is not only taxpayers who are suffering the consequences, long-suffering commuters on the Gawler line have been left without a train for more than a year.”

Mr Braxton-Smith also revealed to the committee that the Department of Premier and Cabinet had rules no signs with the government slogan “Building What Matters” were allowed to be used during the election period, as they had been deemed political.

He said these signs on the Gawler and other projects would be covered during the campaign.

End date for Gawler line upgrade in sight

Earlier on Monday, the State Government revealed a completion date for the troubled and delayed electrification of the Gawler train line was in sight – but there was one final headache for commuters.

The State Government confirmed that services along the line were expected to recommence in April following “avoidable and unavoidable delays”.

But before the line is returned to action the new development will need to be integrated into the larger Adelaide Metro system, causing wide delays.

Infrastructure and Transport Minister Corey Wingard said all train lines would be closed on the weekend of February 19 and 20 as part of the larger integration.

The Gawler Line, which services the northern suburbs including Salisbury, Elizabeth and Mawson Lakes, has been out of action since, with buses replacing train services.

The project cost and completion timelines have gradually blown out since that date with the final completion pushed back from late 2020 to early 2021 and finally early 2022.

The project has been beset by external issues, including Covid-19 delaying construction and expert labour from interstate and the collapse of SA Structural, which was contracted to provide steel for the project.

However, Mr Wingard has looked further back to identify the source of delays, laying the blame on the former Labor Government who initially proposed the project in 2008.

The 120-year-old bridge on High St, Gawler, facing demolition for the electrification of the Adelaide to Gawler railway line. Picture: Colin James

Mr Wingard said that the initial Labor plan did not factor in the purchase of trains required to actually run on the new electrified line.
“Not only did Labor go to tender with only 5% of the design complete, they also rushed to approve the award of the contract just before entering caretaker mode prior to the 2018 election,” he said.

“That move was a deliberate political move and we know this because in the rushed contract they were so eager to award they forgot the one thing a new electrified train line needs – electric trains.”

Infrastructure and Transport Minister Corey Wingard. Picture: NCA Roy VanDerVegt

Opposition Transport spokesman Tom Koutsantonis denied the oversight and accused the Government of reaching “Olympian levels” of disorganisation.

“We were promised only minor delays, we were promised only days or weeks, but now they are telling us April and they are going to have shut down the whole system for a weekend,” he said.

“It is incompetence at a new level.”

Mr Wingard apologised to commuters for the delays and admitted it had been a difficult project to deliver, but stood by the processes in place to finish the upgrade.

“We are not going to cut corners on safety so that we can start services a few days or weeks earlier,” he said.

Opposition Transport spokesman Tom Koutsantonis. Picture: Naomi Jellicoe

In 2008 the then opposition were vocal critics of the delays in getting the $600m project off the ground.

The entire project was shelved in 2013 following the withdrawal of pledges of Federal funding but it was resurrected by the current State Government in 2019.

In December 2020 it was announced that the project budget had blown out by $100m.