A new “transparent roof” over the grand concourse at Central and restoration of the station’s historic sandstone facade,as well as upgrades to other buildings,are part of the long-awaited revamp.
A new “transparent roof” will be built for Central Station’s grand concourse.Steven Siewert
Amid surging construction expenses,confidential board papers for the Transport Asset Holding Entity (TAHE) show it has been searching for ways to slash the cost of the upgrade at Sydney’s busiest train station. The final business case for the project had originally put the cost at $445 million.
However,a team charged with finding savings has proposed cutting the cost by $100.8 million to $345 million,which would include reducing the amount spent on the new roof. It has also suggested a $10 million reduction to the work restoring the station’s sandstone facade.
The revamp is separate to the construction of platforms for a new and a major underground pedestrian link at Central,which has risen in cost by. That project is in its final stages.
The February board papers – obtained by theHerald – show plans to publicly reveal the revamp of the station’s main buildings late this year,months before the next state election.
A major upgrade of Central Station’s historic buildings is set to be pared back.Steven Siewert
The Herald this week revealed TAHE’s to sell or redevelop land across Sydney’s rail network and morph into a big property developer to deliver more than $40 billion in government windfalls.
Part of that plan over the next three years is to accelerate work on an $11.6 billion development of 24 hectares of government-owned land in and around Central Station,as well as a further 10 hectares at Redfern and North Eveleigh.
The confidential documents show plans to sell or develop a 3500-square-metre site on Gibbons Street near Redfern station,as well as a precinct around the historic Clothing Store building at North Eveleigh.
TAHE,which controls billions of dollars worth of the state’s rail assets including trains and stations,has been the subject of a parliamentary inquiry since aHerald investigation revealed it had been set up to
Shadow treasurer Daniel Mookhey said the latest revelations were “proof that no one should trust TAHE with the public’s rail assets”.
“If TAHE wasn’t bankrolling a battalion of consultants to flog off the public’s assets,it would have more money to spend on maintaining them,” he said.
Internal documents show TAHE plans to spend $34.5 million on consultants over four years. Late last year it hired PR firm SEC Newgate to its battered reputation.
A TAHE spokeswoman said the corporation had not finalised detailed plans for the Central Station upgrade and continued to work on the proposal.
“We will always strive for the most cost-effective option without compromising on quality or safety,” she said.
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