SYDNEY, Feb. 21 (Xinhua) -- A highly anticipated metro rail network in Sydney, Australia, faces a cost blowout of 3 billion Australian (1.9 billion U.S.) dollars, New South Wales (NSW) government officials said on Friday.
The project includes a tunnel underneath Sydney Harbour, and links a number of the city's outer suburbs with the central business district and entertainment area.
NSW Transport Minister Andrew Constance told the Sydney Morning Herald that while the original cost of the metro line was expected to be under 12.5 billion Australian (8.2 billion U.S.) dollars, it was now more likely to be as much as 15.5 billion Australian (10.2 billion U.S.) dollars by it's scheduled completion in 2024.
Constance blamed "market forces" for the cost blowout and pointed to other projects in Australia which have recently gone over budget, including transport projects in the city of Melbourne.
"I am sorry it happened this way but it is very much market forces at play in terms of the build. We are not denying there hasn't been significant cost pressures on the project," Constance said.
"There has been an overheated infrastructure market for contractors and, of course, that means that ... it has been very much an uplift for suppliers as opposed to procurers. (But) I am not trying to pass off the buck here. Ultimately we take responsibility ... for where things are at."
Constance said that a major underground walkway beneath the city's Central Station which was added after the initial budget estimates had also contributed to the cost blowout.
The metro project links the suburbs of Chatswood in the north and Bankstown in the west, via a tunnel underneath Sydney Harbour which connects with the inner city.
Another infrastructure undertaking by the NSW Government, the recently completed Sydney Light Rail, also went significantly over budget, with a final price tag of 2.9 billion Australian (1.9 billion U.S.) dollars, almost double that of initial estimates.
The project includes a tunnel underneath Sydney Harbour, and links a number of the city's outer suburbs with the central business district and entertainment area.
NSW Transport Minister Andrew Constance told the Sydney Morning Herald that while the original cost of the metro line was expected to be under 12.5 billion Australian (8.2 billion U.S.) dollars, it was now more likely to be as much as 15.5 billion Australian (10.2 billion U.S.) dollars by it's scheduled completion in 2024.
Constance blamed "market forces" for the cost blowout and pointed to other projects in Australia which have recently gone over budget, including transport projects in the city of Melbourne.
"I am sorry it happened this way but it is very much market forces at play in terms of the build. We are not denying there hasn't been significant cost pressures on the project," Constance said.
"There has been an overheated infrastructure market for contractors and, of course, that means that ... it has been very much an uplift for suppliers as opposed to procurers. (But) I am not trying to pass off the buck here. Ultimately we take responsibility ... for where things are at."
Constance said that a major underground walkway beneath the city's Central Station which was added after the initial budget estimates had also contributed to the cost blowout.
The metro project links the suburbs of Chatswood in the north and Bankstown in the west, via a tunnel underneath Sydney Harbour which connects with the inner city.
Another infrastructure undertaking by the NSW Government, the recently completed Sydney Light Rail, also went significantly over budget, with a final price tag of 2.9 billion Australian (1.9 billion U.S.) dollars, almost double that of initial estimates.
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