A KEY government adviser was highly critical of the CBD Metro well before the state government had decided to shelve the $5.2 billion project, arguing it could not be justified.

The NSW government yesterday tabled documents relating to the project in State Parliament. A large amount of sensitive material remained beyond public scrutiny.

In the documents released yesterday, specialist engineer GHD was strongly critical of the project, to run from Central to Rozelle, citing patronage and poorly designed facilities and the limited integration of the metro to the existing network.

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Engineer was critical of CBD Metro plan
BRIAN ROBINS STATE POLITICS
July 7, 2010

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A KEY government adviser was highly critical of the CBD Metro well before the state government had decided to shelve the $5.2 billion project, arguing it could not be justified.

The NSW government yesterday tabled documents relating to the project in State Parliament. A large amount of sensitive material remained beyond public scrutiny.

In the documents released yesterday, specialist engineer GHD was strongly critical of the project, to run from Central to Rozelle, citing patronage and poorly designed facilities and the limited integration of the metro to the existing network.
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GHD was especially concerned over the plans for the metro to use the so-called ''rail west'' corridor under Pitt Street.

''Sydney's existing transport network is complex and the addition of another [transport] mode will add to the complexity,'' GHD wrote in a detailed assessment to RailCorp late last year of the metro project. Describing it as a ''critical project'', it argued that any new ''transport product'' should address gaps in the existing network.

When GHD was finalising its report, the then transport minister David Campbell reaffirmed the importance of the project: ''I'm confident that it will play its part as part of the integrated public transport network,'' he said in a television interview last October.

GHD slammed the lack of integration of the metro project, saying it had not been been achieved or made a priority as had been sought.

Detailed financial information about the CBD Metro released yesterday indicated that revenues would total only about $100 million a year over the first 25 years or so of the project, leaving the government more than $3.3 billion out of pocket just to operate the metro, apart from the $5.2 billion construction cost.

In its most recent guise, the CBD Metro was billed as stage one of the city's metro, with stage two an extension from Central to Westmead and stage three involving an extension from Rozelle to Epping.

Recently, the state government agreed to pay the five consortia bidding to build and operate the CBD Metro $93 million in compensation, with smaller claims from smaller businesses affected by the chopping and changing of plans for the project.

''GHD's report to RailCorp proves that the Premier and Transport Minister was intent on pushing ahead with this ill-conceived project, deaf to the chorus around them telling them it was a dud,'' the Greens MLC Lee Rhiannon, who pushed for the papers to be made public, said.

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