Melbourne rail - June
13, 2005
Danny writes: Rail has been run down for years in Australia
with little investment in new infrastructure, Alice Springs to
Darwin line aside, and stock. Past state governments have closed
down lines and privatized services especially in Melbourne and
Victoria. So it was with some excitement that a newly elected
state government in Victoria in 1999 promised to introduce fast
trains services for regional cities to/from Melbourne.
Unfortunately, the project has suffered huge cost over runs and
is nearly two years behind schedule. There is a website
on the project.
A few articles in today's Melbourne paper, The Age, prove that
even in a professionally planning and well-managed construction
environment, 'mega-projects' can go off the rails (pun intended)
due to political interference: Long,
slow, wait for a faster train - 'Farce
rail' angers rural voters - Fast
train safety called 'B-class'
No allegations of corruption here, but lots of political ineptitude
and bad project management. Perhaps a few lessons for some in
Thailand.
Melbourne rail
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