Forrestfield-Airport Link faces yet another delay as McGowan Government unable to confirm completion date

The opening of the Forrestfield-Airport Link is poised for yet another delay with the McGowan Government unable to say whether the project would be completed by the end of June. Already two years late, the most recently revised timeline for the rail line connecting Perth Airport with the CBD was for services to begin “in the first half of 2022”. However, when pressed on when the Airport Line – as it will be known – would actually start running on Friday, Mr McGowan would only say “coming months is our plan”. “I can’t tell you exactly when,” he said. “I’m told they’re testing trains on the system at the moment, so it will be up and running as soon as engineeringly (sic) possible.” Transport Minister Rita Saffioti told The West the line was “currently undergoing testing and commissioning… which once complete will allow driver training to commence”. But she would not provide an estimated opening date, nor even the month the government was aiming for. “The opening date will be set once the testing and commissioning phase is nearing its end,” Ms Saffioti said. Opposition Metronet spokesman Tjorn Sibma slammed the lack of clarity, saying a concrete opening date for a project that was already two years overdue was a “bare minimum expectation”. He highlighted Transport Minister Rita Saffioti had last month announced upgrades to Bayswater Station – which is used by the Airport Line – would require a shutdown for the month of September. “The irony is we know when this line will closed before we know when it will open - that is as much certainty as they can provide at the moment,” Mr Sibma said. As part of last year’s Budget Mr McGowan was forced to concede a “smoothing” of the infrastructure pipeline to cope with an overheated construction sector would result in year-long delays to the Yanchep extension and Thornlie-Cockburn Link. There have also been big increases to the expected costs of the Thornlie-Cockburn Link ($164 million) and the Yanchep Extension ($175 million) as a result of “resourcing and supply shortages”. In its March Budget the Commonwealth Government tipped an addition $135 million into the Thornlie-Cockburn Link and $90 million into the Yanchep Extension, with the McGowan Government to cover the remainder. Mr Sibma said the McGowan Government’s handling of the Forrestfield-Airport Link raised questions about the delivery timeframes of other Metronet projects. “What it does for me is cast a doubt over whether or not they will be able to deliver the Yanchep extension, or the Morley-Ellenbrook Line or the Thornlie-Cockbun Line within scope and within budget. Ms Saffioti said the Forrestfield-Airport Link remained within its allocated budget of just under $1.9 billion dollars. The Forrestfield-Airport Link was first announced by the Barnett Government all the way back in 2013, with the contract awarded in 2016 and construction – which included tunnelling beneath the Swan River and the airport – commencing late that year. It was incorporated into Metronet by the incoming McGowan Government in 2017 but since then has been beset by a series of issues, including flooding of the tunnels containing the rail lines and serious injuries to workers building the project. Transport Minister Rita Saffioti was forced to announce two 12-month delays, pushing the estimated completion date out first to mid-2021 and then the first half of 2022. “Our METRONET program is continuing to transform Perth, despite the challenging environment we find ourselves in, with a number of job-creating projects underway, supporting a pipeline of works for Western Australians,” Ms Saffioti said. “All projects are still tracking for completion as per previously released dates, with the Victoria Park-Canning Level Crossing Removal and Byford Rail Extension completion date to be confirmed at contract award.”

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Forrestfield-Airport Link faces yet another delay as McGowan Government unable to confirm completion date

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