Labor leader Chris Minns said it was time to end the transport infrastructure delays and cost overruns caused by the government’s obsession with overseas procurement. “It’s time to build our transport infrastructure right here in NSW,with local jobs and local know-how,” he said.
However,Regional Transport Minister Sam Farraway said the opposition needed to come clean to the people of regional NSW and let them know whether it would cancel the train project.
Transport for NSWhas been at loggerheads with the consortium for the last 18 months after directing the manufacturer to make “contentious design changes”. The trains were purchased to run on interstate lines from Sydney to Melbourne,Brisbane and Canberra,as well as across NSW.
The dispute has centred on the space between passenger seats,toilets,rubbish bins,crew seats,the audio entertainment system and the location of bicycle racks,as well as protective grilles on the front of trains.
TheHerald has previously revealed the consortiumwants a three-year delay to the delivery of the trains but neither it nor the government has publicly disclosed the amount of financial compensation sought.
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Infrastructure NSW warned in its “deep dive” assessment that the cost of the botched project will blow out by $1 billion,citing “considerable uncertainty” about the cost of settling the outstanding claims and disputes.
Last August a confidential analysis by Transport for NSW forecast the cost of the trains will surge by almost $827 million to $2.29 billion. The figure excluded the cost of settling the dispute with the consortium.
Transport for NSW said in a statement that it was not uncommon for suppliers to make claims,and it was “working closely” with the consortium to deliver the new train fleet.
The first of the 29 new trains was meant to start running on key interstate lines from Sydney to Melbourne,Brisbane and Canberra,and across NSW last month. However,internal forecasts show it could be as late as December 2025.
Transport for NSW has a range of timeframes for train deliveries it categorises as “optimistic”,“realistic” and “pessimistic”. Under the worst-case scenario,the last of the new trains will enter into service in four years’ time in April 2027.
Major delays to the project mean passengers will be stuck travelling on decades-old XPT,Xplorer and Endeavour trains much longer than planned,which poses risks to the reliability of services and increases maintenance costs.
CAF,which also builttrams for Sydney’s inner west line, was approached for comment.
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