Suburban Rail Loop East Cost Surges by $1.7B

0:00Reporting from the Daily News, now, I'm Cory with the latest in Sydney. The cost to scrap Victoria's suburban rail loop East has jumped by $1.7 billion. That's from a new contract. The state government signed with the Transitlin X Consortium to run and maintain the line from Cheltenham to Box Hill. Starting in 2035 through 2050, this adds to a $6.7 billion deal already in place for building the tracks, tunnels, and systems. Here this week, a mid-year financial report revealed the full details. Unmy construction contracts that only pay for work done, this operations deal must be paid in full if the project gets canned. So far, contracts for the project total, $14.5 billion, with early works already costing $2.5 billion, and tunneling set to begin soon. Government officials defend it as best practice, saying it keeps the same team involved from design through operations to avoid overruns. They insist the project is on time and budget, and scrapping it would kill jobs and waste

1:04resources like tunnel machines. Opposition leader Jess Wilson promises to pause and review the $34.5 billion first stage if her coalition wins the November. 28th election. Their transport spokesman calls it financial recklessness, arguing growth areas need other infrastructure sooner since the line won't open until 2035. Meanwhile, the report bumped the bill's contract value to $7.4 billion, including GST. Though taxpayers put $6.7 billion, after refunds, Victoria's net debt hit over $160 billion by year's end, with forecasts up to $192.6 billion by 20, 28.29. We'd like to thank our sponsor for making this episode possible, a pillow that plays your sound quietly, comfortably, effortlessly. Build for night time listening, S-O-L-I, solelypillow.com