(CityRail) NSW has no extra money for rail link / Waratah testing (13 August 2010)

NSW has no extra money for rail link
Updated 6 hours 3 minutes ago

The New South Wales Government has revealed it will take money from its Metropolitan Transport Plan budget to pay its share of the Parramatta to Epping rail link

The State Government will contribute $520 million towards the 'missing link' in Sydney's rail network as part of Federal Labor's election promise to fund most of the $2.6 billion project.

Earlier this week the Prime Minister Julia Gillard announced that, if Labor is re-elected, $2.1 billion would be made available for the project in 2014 when construction begins.

Preliminary funding would have to come from the State Government which has now revealed it does not have any money set aside.

It means its share will have to come out of its existing $50 billion budget for the Metropolitan Transport Plan.

Earlier the State Opposition seized on a letter it obtained, dated August 2, in which the Parliamentary Secretary for Transport says the deferral of the rail link has allowed the State Government to direct funds to higher priority projects.

The Opposition is now demanding to know if any major transport projects will be axed to allow the rail line to happen.

Opposition Leader Barry O'Farrell it will mean more broken promises.

"What is at risk - is it the north west rail link, will that be pushed further back?" he said.

"Is it the south west rail link which has been cancelled twice before by this State Government?

"Is it the western metro, which is meant to deliver to people as far out as Penrith to improve transport services?"

A spokesman for the Transport Minister John Robertson says the government's contribution to the rail link is only 1 per cent of the budget and they are confident they can still fund other major transport projects as promised.

Category:

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• railcorp
• sydney
• nsw
• railway
• train

[willam1992]

hahahahahaha that's why you don't vote for labour they screw us every time I remember bob car do U

[TheWowowo]

Well what do you expect when tenderers go way over budget and then ask for more money to finish projects. Credit and finance deals that are so complex that practically no funds are really ever available except the funds that go into the parent companies pockets. Govt needs to stop paying when continually asked for more money. Tenders say X amount well thats what you get and no more.

[samuel2291]

its funny the northwest rail link bit was made so long ago that it had Tangaras

[johns78c]

"a lazy half a billion dollars..." isn't that exactly the amount that was wasted on the metro line before it was canned?

[lemontea57]

cityfail, if i ever leave for another country, our public transport system would be one reason

[doodoo675]

@DIMATIF Ok, I Was curious.

[DIMATIF]

@doodoo675 They put extra power's in there i was there :)

[KidFromAus91]

So many new rail lines, so many new trains............. so many delays

[doodoo675]

I Thought the Carlingford Line cant handle 8 Cars, did they upgrade the power for use with the testing, i thought it cant go past Rosehill with that amount of power.