Inner West light rail in ‘good’ condition 12 months ago

Officials are clueless about what caused cracking on the Inner West fleet as results of a condition report 12 months ago are revealed.

The crippled Inner West Light Rail fleet was deemed to be in “good” condition by government bureaucrats less than a year ago, with the track assessed to be in “excellent – adequate” condition.

Less than 12 months after Transport for NSW projected the fleet to remain in “good” condition by 2030, all 12 trams have been taken out of action for up to 18 months, with officials still clueless about what caused major cracking in the fleet.

It can also be revealed that in financial year 2019-20, the plagued trams met a key reliability target in only one out of 12 months.

Transport Minister Rob Stokes has also failed to give a guarantee that the Spanish manufacturer of 12 cracked tram carriages would pay for the repairs.

Buses are replacing the Inner West Light Rail line with trams out of action for up to 18 months. Picture: NCA NewsWire/Bianca De Marchi

The cracks have been blamed on a “design fault,” but the Spanish manufacturer has suggested the damage may have been caused by running the trams on poorly maintained tracks or even because the trams were travelling too fast.

The speculation that tracks had been poorly maintained comes despite officials deeming the tracks were in “excellent – adequate” condition last year.

The “sensitive” government report obtained by The Daily Telegraph reveals that in the final quarter of 2020, authorities believed the Inner West Light Rail would still be in good working order by 2030. Transport for NSW Chief Operating Officer last week said some of the cracks in the fleet appeared to have “some longevity,” but authorities were clueless about the problem last year.

Labor Leader Chris Minns said the projections shows Transport for NSW has “egg on their face”, because the government’s decision to buy Spanish-built trams didn’t even last another 12 months”.

“Every single carriage is cracked and commuters are left paying the price – in time and money,” Mr Minns said.

A Transport for NSW spokesman said the assessment of the fleet was in addition to “regular inspections”.

“The expected condition of the fleet in ten years’ time is a forecast of conditions based on current and future maintenance work,” he said.

Cracks in the CAF Urbos 3 trams. Picture: supplied

More cracks in the trams.

Before the Inner West Light Rail fleet was taken out of service, it was also failing to meet reliability targets.

In 2019-20, it only met the “mean distance between failures” target once – in August.

Mr Stokes on Wednesday stopped short of giving a guarantee that manufacturer CAF would pay to fix the broken carriages, when asked for a commitment by the Labor Leader.

“It is my expectation that the taxpayer not pay one cent toward the costs of rectification,” Mr Stokes said.

He said it “remains the expectation” of the government that taxpayers won’t pay, but did not give a commitment.