Bungle brings Sydney's largest metro tunnel build to a grinding halt
The project is at risk of further cost increases even if the tunnel is dug deeper – there are claims running into the hundreds of millions of dollars by Malaysian contractor Gamuda for delays to work as a result of the problems, sources say. Halting the boring machines has required a resequencing of work at the Parramatta station.
Gamuda, which declined to comment, is leading a consortium that is building the nine-kilometre stretch of twin tunnels between Westmead and Sydney Olympic Park for the Metro West project. It is one of three major tunnelling contracts for the underground line, which will span 24 kilometres from Westmead to Sydney's CBD once completed in 2032.
The estimated cost of tunnelling works at the line's western end has already surged by $353 million from its original estimate to $2.7 billion, tender documents have shown.
Sydney Metro said it was aware of the matters relating to the Telstra building before awarding the western tunnelling package contract in 2022, and the contractors knew of them before starting work.
The agency said it was working with Gamuda and consortium partner Laing O'Rourke to finalise the design for the remainder of tunnelling and expected the boring machines to start again 'very shortly'.
'Ongoing discussions between Sydney Metro and its contractors are commercial-in-confidence,' it said in a statement.
'Sydney Metro has been working with Telstra to co-ordinate geotechnical investigations at this site to verify ground conditions, foundations and pile depth of the building.'
The agency said geotechnical results had been used as input into the final metro tunnel design and alignment to 'mitigate any risks to the buildings above'.
'Due to the complex function of the 213 Church Street building, Sydney Metro has also completed investigations from an adjoining site to further verify foundation depths,' it said.
Telstra said it was working closely with the government and Sydney Metro to ensure its infrastructure was not affected by the new metro station.
Transport Minister John Graham said it was appropriate that the tunnelling machines 'proceed with an abundance of caution' as they neared the site. 'Thankfully, we expect the [tunnel boring machines] to be back in action very soon,' he said.
Shadow transport minister Natalie Ward said Sydney could not afford for Metro West to lose momentum and be delayed a second time.
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'However, taxpayers rightly deserve to know which expert signed off on the advice that has led to this issue,' she said.
Delays will create headaches for the government, which suffered a blow last month when Australian Turf Club members voted against selling Rosehill Gardens racecourse for $5 billion. The government had hoped to develop it into a new 'mini-city' of 25,000 homes and build a metro station there.
Sydney Metro executives told a hearing in March that analysis provided to the government showed Metro West risks costing more than its $25.3 billion budget.
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Sydney Morning Herald
a day ago
- Sydney Morning Herald
How a $155 billion ‘eco-paradise' fell short of its promise
At 9am, the beachfront was empty, except for a Malaysian couple and their grandson playing near a white concrete staircase jutting out over the sand. Dubbed the 'stairway to heaven', it's intended to be an Instagrammable spot, but it's difficult to pass over its metaphor as a boondoggle leading nowhere. While waiting to check in, I wandered the grounds for five hours, encountering maybe 20 visitors or residents. This paucity contrasted with the number of groundskeepers, maintenance workers and security staff roaming the facility, ensuring every fallen leaf was swept, hedge trimmed and pool sparkling to maintain the vision of a safe and immaculate paradise. At the centre of the estate, an entire building has been dedicated to selling this dream. A large-scale model of the project spans the length of a salesroom floor, capturing the grandeur of the four-island plan spanning 14 square kilometres that seems destined to remain a fantasy. A promotional video playing in the background claims the city is home to 15,000 residents and 'gradually growing'. By midmorning, a few Chinese buyers were flipping through brochures, outnumbered by staff ready to lock in a sale. From the outset, Country Garden gambled the success of its venture on the burgeoning Chinese middle class' seemingly insatiable appetite for real estate. It pitched Forest City as a way for Chinese investors to diversify their assets offshore, while dangling visa incentives and the prospect of residency in Malaysia. It has proved a bad bet. In 2020, Chinese President Xi Jinping began cracking down on the credit binge that the country's heavily leveraged developers had gorged on, setting in train a property-bubble bust that has wiped out wealth and confidence. Across China, cities are now littered with the abandoned ambitions of its developers, many of them falling into ruin. Country Garden has more than 3000 unfinished projects and nearly 1 million outstanding homes to complete, according to Japanese investment bank Nomura. It did not respond to a request for comment. Forest City has also suffered from lingering resentment in Malaysia at the idea of a massive project being built for Chinese buyers. This was fuelled by then-prime minister Mahathir Mohamad, who in 2018 said foreigners would not be granted visas to live there, further dampening demand. Visa controls have since been eased under current Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim. Even with price decreases – a one-bedroom apartment starts at 500,000 Malaysian ringgit ($182,190) – Forest City is unaffordable for many locals and remains pitched at overseas buyers. Forest City may not be the total ghost town it's pegged as by the press, but it's far from the portrait of a vibrant, thriving community. At midday, many of the shops in the mall next to the hotel were still shuttered, some seemingly permanently. Those that were open had no customers, and bored shop assistants sat glued to their phones at vacant counters. At one coffee shop, the server was slumped across a table, asleep. A prime selling point for Forest City is its duty-free status. But a licensing issue meant none of the four duty-free shops in the mall were selling alcohol − one of the main drawcards for visitors, especially those from Singapore, where extortionate taxes make a tipple all but a luxury. One store was reduced to selling only chocolates, though upon entry its shelves were bare save for several boxes of wafer biscuits − a sales challenge that apparently required two shop assistants. One of them, a woman in her 40s, said she had lived in Forest City with her children for four years in an apartment tower behind the mall, having relocated from Kuala Lumpur. 'There are many people who live in my tower,' she says, explaining that most of them were Malaysian renters who commuted into Singapore daily for work. 'I like it here. It's very quiet.' By sundown, foot traffic has picked up. A modest number of people have filtered onto the beach and a volleyball game is under way. The hotel seems reasonably buzzy, due partly to the fact that a tech school, led by US cryptocurrency investor Balaji Srinivasan, has set up shop in the lobby. There are signs of life in towers, too, as lights begin flickering on in some of the apartments, though many remain dark. Country Garden isn't the only stakeholder banking on Forest City's future. Malaysian company Esplanade Danga 88, backed by the state's Sultan Ibrahim Iskandar, has a 40 per cent stake. Recently, the Malaysian government has ramped up its incentives to lure wealthy investors to the project, including offering a 0 per cent tax rate for those who set up family offices in Forest City. For now, it's quite something to climb the 'staircase to heaven' and peer back at the shore and marvel at the sheer scale of Forest City − its unbridled ambition, unfulfilled promise and uncertain future.
The Age
a day ago
- The Age
How a $155 billion ‘eco-paradise' fell short of its promise
At 9am, the beachfront was empty, except for a Malaysian couple and their grandson playing near a white concrete staircase jutting out over the sand. Dubbed the 'stairway to heaven', it's intended to be an Instagrammable spot, but it's difficult to pass over its metaphor as a boondoggle leading nowhere. While waiting to check in, I wandered the grounds for five hours, encountering maybe 20 visitors or residents. This paucity contrasted with the number of groundskeepers, maintenance workers and security staff roaming the facility, ensuring every fallen leaf was swept, hedge trimmed and pool sparkling to maintain the vision of a safe and immaculate paradise. At the centre of the estate, an entire building has been dedicated to selling this dream. A large-scale model of the project spans the length of a salesroom floor, capturing the grandeur of the four-island plan spanning 14 square kilometres that seems destined to remain a fantasy. A promotional video playing in the background claims the city is home to 15,000 residents and 'gradually growing'. By midmorning, a few Chinese buyers were flipping through brochures, outnumbered by staff ready to lock in a sale. From the outset, Country Garden gambled the success of its venture on the burgeoning Chinese middle class' seemingly insatiable appetite for real estate. It pitched Forest City as a way for Chinese investors to diversify their assets offshore, while dangling visa incentives and the prospect of residency in Malaysia. It has proved a bad bet. In 2020, Chinese President Xi Jinping began cracking down on the credit binge that the country's heavily leveraged developers had gorged on, setting in train a property-bubble bust that has wiped out wealth and confidence. Across China, cities are now littered with the abandoned ambitions of its developers, many of them falling into ruin. Country Garden has more than 3000 unfinished projects and nearly 1 million outstanding homes to complete, according to Japanese investment bank Nomura. It did not respond to a request for comment. Forest City has also suffered from lingering resentment in Malaysia at the idea of a massive project being built for Chinese buyers. This was fuelled by then-prime minister Mahathir Mohamad, who in 2018 said foreigners would not be granted visas to live there, further dampening demand. Visa controls have since been eased under current Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim. Even with price decreases – a one-bedroom apartment starts at 500,000 Malaysian ringgit ($182,190) – Forest City is unaffordable for many locals and remains pitched at overseas buyers. Forest City may not be the total ghost town it's pegged as by the press, but it's far from the portrait of a vibrant, thriving community. At midday, many of the shops in the mall next to the hotel were still shuttered, some seemingly permanently. Those that were open had no customers, and bored shop assistants sat glued to their phones at vacant counters. At one coffee shop, the server was slumped across a table, asleep. A prime selling point for Forest City is its duty-free status. But a licensing issue meant none of the four duty-free shops in the mall were selling alcohol − one of the main drawcards for visitors, especially those from Singapore, where extortionate taxes make a tipple all but a luxury. One store was reduced to selling only chocolates, though upon entry its shelves were bare save for several boxes of wafer biscuits − a sales challenge that apparently required two shop assistants. One of them, a woman in her 40s, said she had lived in Forest City with her children for four years in an apartment tower behind the mall, having relocated from Kuala Lumpur. 'There are many people who live in my tower,' she says, explaining that most of them were Malaysian renters who commuted into Singapore daily for work. 'I like it here. It's very quiet.' By sundown, foot traffic has picked up. A modest number of people have filtered onto the beach and a volleyball game is under way. The hotel seems reasonably buzzy, due partly to the fact that a tech school, led by US cryptocurrency investor Balaji Srinivasan, has set up shop in the lobby. There are signs of life in towers, too, as lights begin flickering on in some of the apartments, though many remain dark. Country Garden isn't the only stakeholder banking on Forest City's future. Malaysian company Esplanade Danga 88, backed by the state's Sultan Ibrahim Iskandar, has a 40 per cent stake. Recently, the Malaysian government has ramped up its incentives to lure wealthy investors to the project, including offering a 0 per cent tax rate for those who set up family offices in Forest City. For now, it's quite something to climb the 'staircase to heaven' and peer back at the shore and marvel at the sheer scale of Forest City − its unbridled ambition, unfulfilled promise and uncertain future.
The Australian
3 days ago
- The Australian
Fare-free hours extended on Sydney public transport
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