Sydney light rail contractor Acciona pulled from Queensland project over two major accidents
THE Daily Telegraph can reveal the Berejiklian government wants urgent talks with its Queensland counterpart after it ordered Spanish light rail contractor Acciona to halt construction on key sections of a massive Toowoomba range crossing.
NSW
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THE light rail construction company holding Sydney to ransom is part of a consortium that has been forced to stop work on a major road project in Queensland because of major safety concerns.
The Daily Telegraph can reveal the Berejiklian government wants urgent talks with its Queensland counterpart after it ordered Spanish light rail contractor Acciona to halt construction on key sections of a massive Toowoomba range crossing.
They have been pulled off the project for at least a week after two major safety accidents.
As many as 10 heavy vehicle rollovers had already occurred before a crisis point was reached. Acciona, who are building Sydney’s light rail, is one of two construction companies building the “Toowoomba Second Range Crossing” under a consortium operated by Nexus.
Queensland Transport Minister Mark Bailey declared he was “not satisfied with the operations on (the) site”.
The Daily Telegraph has learned NSW Transport Minister Andrew Constance has asked our transport department to urgently seek advice from the Queensland government.
Specifically, Mr Constance wants advice on Acciona’s involvement with concerns surrounding the Toowoomba bridge and their involvement with the Nexus contract.
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This is not the first time Mr Constance has sought assurances over safety regarding Acciona. In a March 22 letter to Acciona’s president Jose Manuel Entrecanales, he referred to “numerous site safety incidents”.
“Coming on top of ongoing concerns about the poor quality of your work, your numerous site safety incidents, your ever-dwindling numbers of workers along the route and your unwillingness to provide a meaningful timeline for completing your part of the project, I cannot express strongly enough the NSW government’s disappointment,” he said in the letter.
Sydney’s light rail project has been crippled by delays, with claims by the government Acciona is staging a deliberate “go slow” that could see the project’s opening date delayed until at least March 2020
The company is locked in a legal battle with the state government, claiming it engaged in “misleading and deceptive conduct” by withholding information about underground electricity infrastructure.
CFMEU construction national secretary Dave Noonan said it was “clear Acciona is not a good operator in the Australian construction sector”.