Re: Fw: Mon.8.4.19 daily digest, part 1
  Prescott

There is some interesting discussion on Skyscraper City forum (where the
graphs came from) about this Sydney/Melbourne disparity at the moment and
the general drift is that it's not down to who the operators are (private
or public), but the level of background government investment over time,
including (in some cases especially) maintenance. That's a difference
between Melbourne and Sydney that's become quite radical in the last
decade. To get it going needs a powerhouse government in office and that's
what is completely puzzling (to an interstater) about the Andrews
government because it's one that should in principle be putting its back
into a major commitment. After all, it came into office cancelling the
East-West link because it was said to be more important to invest in PT -
but then that hasn't happened much subsequently.

One thing that does seem to be common between the two states, however, is
that the transport agencies are quite bumbling and struggling to
effectively implement the political agenda that they're tasked with. I
think that TfNSW has added millions (maybe billions) to the cost of
projects through its general lack of competence. The only saving grace is
that they seem to have saved on the metro what they've overspent on CSELR.

Tony P