Consultants paid $10m to fix QR’s rail fail debacle
QUEENSLAND Rail spent $10.5 million on consultants to help fix its rail crisis last year because it did not have the required in-house expertise.
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QUEENSLAND Rail spent $10.5 million on consultants to help fix its rail crisis last year because it did not have the required in-house expertise.
The massive spend – which dwarfs the 2015/16 spend by fourfold – brings the total cost of the train crisis to $51 million since mass cancellations brought the organisation into disrepute a year ago.
New figures show the organisation’s 2016-17 consultancy bill was a whopping $8.5 million, compared to just $2.1 million the previous year.
About $8.1 million of that was spent implementing the Strachan review – deployed to review the underlying issues of the “rail fail” – which cost an additional $2.5 million.
The hefty bill adds to the $26 million spent on overtime payments to train crew over the past 12 months so QR could properly staff its services, and the $14.4 million cost of replacement buses and taxis during the height of cancelled services from October to January.
QR says external assistance was needed to help fix its deep-seated problems because it did not have the know-how within the organisation.
“As part of our commitment to fixing the trains and implementing all recommendations of the Strachan Commission of Inquiry report, Queensland Rail has engaged external consultants as necessary to assist with the delivery of a range of crucial business improvements which required additional expertise,” chief executive Nick Easy said.
He said all work being done was to deliver a world-class service to southeast Queenslanders.
Opposition transport minister Andrew Powell said the cost of consultants was unacceptable.
“The cost of Labor’s rail fail is rocketing towards $50 million when you add it all up, and that simply isn’t good enough,” he said.
Originally published as Consultants paid $10m to fix QR’s rail fail debacle
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