One in five light rail workers direct traffic as government urges contractors to close some sites for public convenience
ONE-fifth of workers on Sydney’s crippled light rail project are directing traffic as the construction sites hold the city hostage, dogged by chronic delays. The Daily Telegraph can reveal dismal worker headcounts have been provided to Transport Minister Andrew Constance since November.
NSW
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ONE-fifth of workers on Sydney’s crippled light rail project are directing traffic as the construction sites hold the city hostage, dogged by chronic delays.
The Daily Telegraph can reveal dismal worker headcounts have been provided to Transport Minister Andrew Constance since November.
Transport for NSW officials have counted, on average, just 506 workers a day across 31 sites. Each day there are up to 100 traffic controllers.
It can also be revealed the government has urged the contractor to close some sites for public convenience because of minimal progress.
The government wants Acciona to take down barriers at sites including George St in the city and Devonshire St in Surry Hills, where dozens of businesses are affected.
The government was originally advised no more than half of the 31 sites jamming the city would ever be worked on at one time. Instead, they have all consistently been barricaded.
Transport for NSW has conducted its daily headcount at each site since November, advising Mr Constance of the number of workers on the route.
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ALTRAC, the private consortium running the project, separately provided the Telegraph with figures from Acciona, the Spanish contractor building the light rail.
“Acciona advises on average there are over 1400 workers on the project, including 900 construction workers in any given week across the 31 (constructions zones) and the Randwick Stabling Yard and Lilyfield Maintenance Facility,” the statement said.
The spokeswoman also rejected claims there was a “go slow” on the project. She said when “administration and specialist disciplines staff, and subcontractors” were included, 276,126 “man hours” were worked by 1726 staff in March.
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The summary given to Mr Constance shows the head count has dropped dramatically since November, when there were an average 664 workers a day. Just 430 on average a day were recorded in December, 496, while 509 were seen this month. In one bizarre example provided to Mr Constance, on one day this month there were 340 staff working on a 2.7km light rail route in Newcastle and fewer than 150 workers on the 12.5km line in Sydney.