Sydney’s $2.1 billion light rail project has been pushed back another two months
THE completion of the long delayed Sydney light rail project — slated for March 2020 — has been pushed back even further with the boss of the Spanish subcontractor claiming the government has known of the extra hold up since August.
NSW
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THE completion of the long delayed Sydney light rail project — slated for March 2020 — has been delayed again with the firm building it claiming the NSW government has known of the setback for months.
The boss of Spanish subcontractor Acciona Australia Bede Noonan has told a NSW parliamentary inquiry the formal completion date of the $2.1 billion project has been pushed back from March to May 2020.
He said the government were first advised of this during a monthly update in August — however ministers have repeatedly said it’s slated for completion in March.
“We have not withheld any information from government in relation to time in any way, shape or form,” he told the upper house inquiry investigating the impact of the CBD and South East light rail project.
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Transport for NSW Secretary Rodd Staples said the agency did “not accept” the May 2020 completion date put forward by the contractors.
“The program we’re working to is March 2020 and we’re also working with the contractors to see whether we can move that forward to December 2019,” he said.
Mr Staples also refused to speculate on whether the cost of the project had blown out from $2.1 billion to $3 billion.
“The cost that you heard today is the cost to the contractor, not what the taxpayer needs to pay,” he said.
Mr Noonan said the delay — which risks making the project 14 months late — was due to Ausgrid’s “failure” to perform essential works to move overhead electricity wires in Kensington and Kingsford underground.
Asked how many separate warnings Acciona has provided to Transport for NSW regarding the latest delay, Mr Noonan said the company had provided about 45 monthly updates since construction began in 2015 — about half warned of delay risks.
Mr Noonan said the government were advised of the new May completion date during a monthly update in August.
It was also revealed Acciona’s costs needed to construct the light rail line are expected to have doubled from $900 million to $1.8 billion, potentially taking the total project budget from $2.1 billion to $3 billion.
Mr Noonan said while the formal completion date had been pushed back to May, Acciona and project partners were working on a number of ways to mitigate delays.
“The way we’re all working together is still to try and achieve that December completion date,” he said.
Mr Noonan also claimed changes to Ausgrid guidelines for dealing with utilities under the light rail route after the public-private partnership partnership was signed in 2015 had resulted in a 865-day delay to construction of the project.
Acciona, part of the ALTRAC Consortium charged with building the light rail, is suing the NSW government for $1.1 billion over the contract.
The company has accused the government of misleading it over utility services before it signed up for the project.
Business owners whose livelihoods have been severely impacted by the project yesterday told the inquiry of how the former project director suggested they “go to Bali for six months during construction”.