NSW Government handling of light rail project an expensive joke

In a further sign of the Transport Minister’s shambolic handling of the Sydney Light Rail project, a Parliamentary Inquiry has been told there’s a risk of even further delays and cost blow outs.

The Acciona CEO fronted the inquiry into the project today and confirmed there’s a significant risk of delays beyond the government’s May 2020 completion date, as well as no guarantee that the cost wouldn’t jump again.

The admission comes on the back of an Auditor General’s report which revealed the project is already set to blow out beyond $2.1 billion. A reserve contingency fund of more than $200 million has already been exhausted.

RTBU Tram and Bus Division Secretary, David Babineau said the NSW Government’s handling of the light rail project has been disgraceful.

“This is incompetence at best, deliberately deceptive at worst.”

“The NSW Transport Minister has refused to be honest with NSW taxpayers about what it is costing us and when we’re going to get it. This is taxpayer money – we’re paying to build it, suffering the results of poor planning while the project limps along, and then we’ll all pay to use it.”

“The NSW Government’s handling of the whole project is turning out to be an expensive and disruptive joke.”