[Peakoil-announce] good news on light rail...

[Jenny Goldie]

Good news on light rail buried under bureaucracy 
Andrew West TRANSPORT 
SMH
August 28, 2010 
IT IS ONE of the few good stories the NSW government has to tell on public transport - yet it has refused traditional bragging rights, perhaps because of a struggle taking place inside the state's transport and planning bureaucracy.

The extension of the light rail from Lilyfield to Dulwich Hill is continuing at a cracking pace. The laying of track is almost half finished. The rest of track should be complete - with new rails and concrete sleepers - by mid- November. Industry sources have told the Herald that test vehicles, although not trams carrying passengers, could be on the rails by early next year.

The cost of the project could come in well below the government's estimate. Transport NSW, in its Product Definition Report, estimated the cost of the project - including the light rail extension and a parallel pedestrian and cycle path - at $150 million.

Rail industry sources believe the cost of the entire project could be as little as $85 million. In May last year, the light rail operators, Metro Transport Sydney, estimated the cost of extending the line by 5.6 kilometres would cost about $70 million.

The Herald understands that the Minister for Transport, John Robertson, is fighting bureaucratic resistance inside the Department of Planning over a new environmental assessment, even though the project uses an existing corridor and converts heavy rail to light rail.

He is believed to have argued the project is ''state significant'', in the hope of speeding up completion. ''Robertson's battling a lot of red tape from the planning people,'' said a source inside Transport NSW.

Mr Robertson's office said that while ''pre-construction work'' was ''progressing well'', a new environmental assessment would have to proceed. ''Subject to planning approval being granted, construction of the light rail stops, lifts at some stations, power upgrades, installing signalling and lighting and building the GreenWay will commence early next year,'' said an email from the minister's office.

''It is anticipated that the new light rail service will begin carrying passengers from early 2012."

The executive director of the Australasian Railway Association, Bryan Nye, said he would not be surprised if the rail extension came in below budget. ''The standard is about $1 million a kilometre for heavy rail,'' he said. ''The cost of a lot of rail infrastructure is actually falling at the moment because of competition between China and Korea.''

Rail industry sources, who declined to be named, estimate the Dulwich Hill extension could cost $85 million, including $30 million for the ''green way''. The light rail stops are estimated to cost from $500,000 for a basic platform to between $3 million to $4 million for stops that include lifts and bridges.

The head of the transport advocacy group Eco Transit, Gavin Gatenby, said the Alice Springs to Darwin railway cost $1.7 billion, or about $1.2 million a kilometre for new non-electrified single track.

''The light rail project throws new light on the real cost of rail construction and what we're seeing is that - in infrastructure terms - it's cheap. This isn't the story we've been getting from NSW Treasury.''