Saturday, September 26, 2009

Why are we paying so much for secondhand trams Minister?















Dear Minister Conlon.

MINTRA, SPAIN. 2004 - $21 MILLION
SOUTH AUSTRALIA TAXPAYER, 2009 - $36 MILLION

On 3 August 2004, Alstom announced details of an order from Mintra in Spain for the supply of 70 CITADIS 302 vehicles for Madrid's future light rail network.

The contract was worth 144.6 million euros and, at the time, equated to approximately $AU3.45 million per tram. They were deployed between 2004 and 2007.

Due to a scaling back of the light rail network, Mintra announced that some were surplus and available for lease or for purchase.

On 7 June 2009, Premier Rann announced; ‘…….The State Government has secured a $36 million deal to deliver six European trams to Adelaide….’

Recently, on ABC radio, you stated to me that each tram had a $1 million component for spare parts, and the difference between the original purchase price of $3.5million and the $5million was to bring them to Australia, have modifications done in Melbourne, and finally deployed in Adelaide for Christmas.

You avoided my question concerning warranty, and my questions as to where and by whom maintenance work and repairs is to be done.

I obtained a detailed quotation to ship the six trams from Madrid at a cost of approximately $100,000 per tram. In addition, I have studied the modifications required, and whilst Alstom has a test facility in suburban Melbourne, I doubt that expertise is required to fit a radio or a ticket validator machine.

I believe the taxpayer is due a better explanation as to how the $36million dollars have been spent. Your off-the-cuff explanation concerning transport costs does not hold seawater.