The Government’s latest photo opportunity on the Parramatta Light Rail reminds us of the Liberals’ legacy of transport failures.
Parramatta Light Rail 2
The NSW Liberals have also announced they will build stage 2 of the Parramatta Light Rail 15 times before, even though the project hasn’t started yet, is five years late and won’t be completed until 2031.
Former Transport Minister Andrew Constance first announced Stage 2 in 2017, then re-announced in 2019, and construction was supposed to start in 2020. But this Government failed to progress an EIS until November 2022, more than five years after the project was first announced.
Inner West Light Rail
You will recall that the firm building the trams for Parramatta LR1 is the same one responsible for the Inner West Light Rail debacle.
The Inner West Light Rail CAF Urbos 3 Trams – which first had defects in 2019 and then all developed serious cracking, has put the entire fleet out of action for almost a year.
It is just one in a litany of overseas procurement failures from the Liberals.
Ferries
The Emerald Class Ferries – which are now out of service indefinitely after experiencing steering failures and have also had cracked fuel tanks, hot oil sprayed around the engine room after the lubricating oil system failed, failed emergency doors, damage to rudders in heavy swells, windows shattered in heavy swells and can potentially become airborne in heavy swells.
The River Class Ferries – which were riddled with asbestos, faulty electrical equipment and cabling, substandard fit and finish, couldn’t travel at night because of reflective wheelhouse glass, couldn’t travel under the bridges on the Parramatta River with passengers on the top deck and couldn’t safely enact an emergency stop.
NIF
The New Intercity Fleet Trains – which did not fit the tracks and the tunnels on the network, sat in storage costing taxpayers up to $30 million a month.
Regional Fleet
The Regional Fleet Trains – which will be 1205 days late because of rectification works that need to be performed by the overseas manufacturer.
Budget blowouts
Last year it was revealed the Metro West line would also blow out its budget, reaching $27 billion and arriving almost a decade after it was first promised.
It followed the CBD Light Rail final cost being disclosed at $3.3 billion, more than double the original estimate.
Sydney trains
This is not to mention the last month it was revealed that the proportion of Sydney trains running on time has plunged.
Labor will return domestic manufacturing
A Minns Labor Government will build new trains right here in New South Wales and will begin the procurement process for the next set of trains to replace the ageing Tangara fleet in its first term.
Labor will also set a target of 50 per cent minimum local content for future rolling stock contracts, by the end of our first term – just like Victoria.
In addition, Labor will increase tender weightings to 30 per cent capturing local content, job creation, small business, and ethical supply chains – to get us to where Queensland is.
Quotes attributable to Jo Haylen, NSW Shadow Minister for Transport:
“The Govt’s transport procurement policies have comprehensively failed. They’ve bought trains, trams and ferries from overseas that keep on breaking down and failing both passengers and taxpayers.
“The Inner West Light Rail Line was shut down for months because the government bought 12 overseas built trams that cracked.
“Now the government has bought 13 of the same overseas built cracked trams. They keep doing the same thing while expecting a different result.
“There is no guarantee that what happened to passengers in the inner west won’t happen to light rail passengers in Parramatta.
“That’s why we need to build this kind of transport infrastructure here, so passengers get a reliable product that doesn’t break down all the time.”
JO HAYLEN MP
NSW SHADOW MINISTER FOR TRANSPORT
