) )
God knows what you call the Libs now , a PM who is apparently a moderate being dragged by his neck by a pack of smirking petulant adolescents as far right as they please ( all while whingeing it's not far enough
Well you'd have to ask Hillsong Scotty that Meds.
New $1.2bn blowout for NSW light-rail project
Light rail roadworks on the corner of George Street and Martin Place, where work is only half finished. Picture: Christian Gilles
Australia’s biggest light-rail project, from Sydney’s CBD to the eastern suburbs, is in disarray amid demands from its Spanish subcontractors for an extra $1.2 billion and NSW government accusations of a construction go-slow that could delay completion beyond next year.
The demand from Acciona — made through its lawyers and on top of a $500 million blowout already agreed to by the state government — threatens to more than double the original $1.6bn cost of the project linking the city to Randwick.
The latest demand sparked a furious response from NSW Transport Minister Andrew Constance and is headed for a showdown in the NSW Supreme Court next Friday. Acciona’s lawyers claim the government misled the contractor on how many utility lines would have to be moved during construction and the complexity of the work.
The NSW government is furious over reports Acciona has gone on a go-slow, with about 100 people working on the project each day when several hundred should be doing so. As many workers are being deployed daily on the 12km track as are being deployed on the 2.7km light-rail line being built in Newcastle.
State governments around the nation have embarked on a wave of urban transport projects, including the $11bn Melbourne Metro project, Brisbane’s $5.4bn Cross River Rail and Canberra’s light-rail line.
Government sources yesterday suggested the stoush could cause a delay in the project, particularly if the dispute sent the consortium building the line into administration. Work in the CBD has crippled traders on George Street and disrupted traffic to venues such as the SCG and Randwick racecourse.
For the week ending March 22, a progress report showed the project moved only 0.4 per cent forward. This compared with periods last year when 3 to 5 per cent of the project was being built each week.
Sydney light rail extension a ‘horror story’ of missed deadlines and billion cost overruns
THE debacle over Sydney’s transport system is a “horror story”, with cost overruns in the billions and work in some places a year late.
THERE is one scene that sums up the increasing debacle which is Sydney’s multi-billion dollar new tram system. It can be found in a quiet backstreet away from the hubbub of the city’s CBD.
Devonshire Street in Surry Hills, flanked by housing commission flats and historic terraces, was once little more than a residential thoroughfare. Now it’s a construction zone.
Almost its entire length is blocked off for building of the light rail project that will eventually connect the train-deprived eastern suburbs to the city’s heart.
But it shouldn’t be out of bounds at all. Because the work should have been completed by now, ready for the first tram to carry passengers in exactly one year’s time — next April.
Yet, at Devonshire St’s highest point, track hasn’t even been installed. What there is of the uncompleted tram tracks simply stop in the middle of the road. It’s a tram line to nowhere.
Of the 24km of line that needs to be installed, just 63 per cent is in place.
The artist’s impression of Sydney’s new light rail line ...Source:Supplied
... the reality of Sydney’s new light rail line where work is years behind schedule.Source:Supplied
CATASTROPHIC FAILURE
Angela Vithoulkas, a City of Sydney councillor and small business owner whose cafe has been directly affected by the light rail works is livid.
Ms Vithoulkas told news.com.au the construction work has been a “horror story” and a “blame game” is underway between the government and the builders.
“They’re already two years behind schedule in my (area) and when people ask me when it will be finished I have one reply: ‘never’,” she said.
NSW Opposition Leader Luke Foley, who has always been opposed to the light rail extension, said the project was now a “catastrophic failure”.
Without the tracks, the overhead wires can’t be strung or the stops built, let alone the trams be tested.
Is Fascism sticking it's grubby little head up from out of the hole it belongs in ?? - No doubt , but that's why we have history books , to know when to draw that line in the sand
