[ad_1]
The delivery of the multi-billion dollar new NSW intercity train fleet from South Korea has been delayed, which may delay the start of their first pbadenger services until the first half of the year. next year.
The first train to leave the badembly line was originally scheduled to arrive by boat in March, but it is unlikely to be delivered until November or December.
Trains will be tested three to four months after arrival. As a result, it is unlikely that the initial project will be the completion of scheduled pbadenger services on the Sydney to Central Coast and Newcastle railway line at the end of the year.
The construction of a $ 265 million maintenance facility for intercity trains at Kangy Angy on the central coast also fell behind due to factors such as multiple design changes.
According to some sources, about one-third of the facilities, covering 50 hectares, have been completed. It will not be operational until next year.
NSW Transportation Secretary Rodd Staples said the first of the new trains would arrive by the end of the year, and that a "timetable for their entry into service would be confirmed once they were arrived. "
Transport Minister Andrew Constance in front of a model of one of the new intercity trains. Image: Janie Barrett
"All projects of this size involve a number of moving parts and we will continue to work closely with RailConnect so that these trains can enter the tracks as quickly as possible for our intercity customers," he said.
"Trial [in Korea] started in March 2019 and allowed us to run the trains all day long rather than being limited by short stopping times on the dense Sydney Trains network. This means that any adjustment can take place at the manufacturing plant before the train is shipped to Australia. "
RailConnect is a consortium of Korean companies Hyundai Rotem, Japan and Mitsubishi and Australian ASU, which will maintain the fleet.
The Berejiklian government ordered an additional 42 cars for the intercity fleet in February, bringing total orders to 55 new trains and 554 double-decker cars.
Mr. Staples stated that the order for additional cars had "also affected the delivery schedule".
This larger order increased the cost of the contract between the government and the RailConnect consortium for train construction and maintenance from $ 130 million to $ 2.43 billion. This figure does not include the cost of Kangy Angy's maintenance facilities.
The new trains will replace the four-decade-old V-Set, which is expected to retire by 2022. Their arrival will also release Oscar trains that will be redeveloped and converted to services on the Sydney suburban network, which is experiencing a record growth demand.
According to the original schedule, the new intercity trains were to enter service on the Blue Mountains line at Mount Victoria by the middle of next year, followed by Lithgow about four months later.
Illawarra commuters will have to wait until 2021 for intercity trains to be put into service on the rail link between Sydney and Wollongong and Kiama.
Although commuters tend to favor reversible seats in cars, the largest bureaucrats in the transportation sector have opted for fixed seats for new trains in pairs for security reasons. They were therefore lighter and required less maintenance.
The folding seats were also found to be more vulnerable to damage and vandalism due to their moving parts and presented a greater fire hazard because they were made of more combustible materials.
[ad_2]
Source link
