By Catherine Naylor
As the workers of south-west Sydney pulled themselves out of bed on Tuesday and prepared for another M5 commute, motorway workers in a control room in St Peters had one job left to do before they could reopen the M8 tunnel for the peak-hour rush.
The technicians and engineers from private operator Transurban were not anticipating any problems when they flicked the switch to turn on the M8’s fire sprinkler system, just before 5am.
But over the next 33 minutes – as traffic on the M5 backed up all the way to Prestons and technicians scrambled to turn the system off again – 1.5 million litres of non-potable water poured into the tunnel.
By the time enough water had drained away for Transurban to open the tunnel again just before 8am, thousands of motorists had become stranded in a 26-kilometre traffic jam that stretched from the tunnel entry at Bexley North to the M7 Interchange.
It did not clear until 9am.
“There were works overnight in the M8 and that included testing of the fire system. That system malfunctioned, and as a result, the operator didn’t open the tunnel,” Transport Minister Jo Haylen told Afternoons with Deborah Knight on 2GB on Tuesday afternoon.
Traffic chaos in Sydney on Tuesday.Credit: Nine/livetraffic.com
“Safety’s always got to come first. But we know that so many commuters were inconvenienced as a result.”
A spokesperson for Transport for NSW said crews had expected the operation to be a “quick routine test”.
“Multiple [system] failures came up, which caused quite a significant amount of water to go onto the road,” they said.
Roads Minister John Graham said a fault in the M8 tunnel’s fire suppression software system on Tuesday morning also showed the sprinklers were operating in one section of the tunnel when in fact they were operating in another.
“Now that’s fine during the testing. If that had happened in real life in an emergency that obviously could have been a big problem,” Graham said.
Transurban has been closing the M8 periodically over the past three months to test systems including ventilation, lighting, drainage and signage before the tunnel connects with the Rozelle Interchange, which opens on November 24.
Graham said the government would not be refunding tolls, as he did not want taxpayers to cover the cost of the disruption caused by Transurban.
The M5 toll costs $5.54 per car from the M7 interchange to King Georges Road.
Transport Minister Jo Haylen says Transurban, and not motorists, should foot the bill for Tuesday’s disruption. Credit: Kate Geraghty
Haylen also said she believed Transurban should foot the bill. More than 100,000 trips are made on the M5 and M8 every day.
“They caused the disruption, we think it should be on them to make it right,” Haylen said. “It’s absolutely on them, and there are a lot of angry motorists who would agree, I’m sure.”
Transurban apologised for the delays, but said no refund would be given.
A Transurban spokesperson said the company’s priority was “the safe operations of Sydney’s motorways”.
South-west Sydney mayors said the traffic chaos was indicative of the inequality their communities faced every day when it came to the city’s roads, and called for motorists to get a refund of their Tuesday morning toll.
“Not only do the high cost of toll roads divide Sydney, but today our residents are paying premium tolls ... for a car park,” Fairfield mayor Frank Carbone said. This was “impacting our residents’ ability to put food on the table for their families”.
More maintenance is scheduled for the tunnel on Wednesday and Thursday night, but Transport for NSW said it was not expecting a repeat of Tuesday’s disruption.
Public submissions this year to a government review of NSW toll roads identified toll waivers and reductions for congestion as a key issue.
CBD light rail services were also disrupted on Tuesday.Credit: Louise Kennerley
Meanwhile, transport officials had to scramble to fix light rail services in the Sydney CBD to avoid more peak-hour chaos on Tuesday evening.
Services ground to a halt when overhead electricity wires came down on a tram at Haymarket about 10.45am. The issue, which affected the L2 and L3 services, was resolved and trams resumed just after 4pm.
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