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Sent: Saturday, 27 February 2021, 12:13:51 pm AEDT
Subject: Fri.13.11.20 daily digest

Roderick

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Fri.13.11.20 Metro Twitter
Moreland and Coburg remain closed until mid-December while work continues on station buildings. Trains run express Anstey - Batman, with buses connecting with trains at Anstey and Batman, also parallel route 19 trams. Bell Street, Coburg, is closed until early Wednesday (level-crossing work). Detour via Moreland Road or Gaffney Street.
Still in force? Spencer St northbound is reduced to one lane near Collins Street, as City of Melbourne upgrades continue outside Southern Cross station. Consider using King Street instead. Works are expected to be completed by mid November.
In force until late 2021.  South Gippsland Highway, Dandenong South is reduced to one lane towards Cranbourne, as level-crossing work continues. Be alert for changes between Princes Hway and Dandenong Bypass. See  http://levelcrossings.vic.gov.au/disruptions/south-gippsland-highway-dandenong-south-changed-traffic-conditions
Werribee/Williamstown line: Buses replace trains on sections of the line at various times until the last train of Mon 9 Nov (works).
Buses replace trains on sections of the Sunbury line until 3.30 Sun 22 Nov (works).
8.22 Pakenham/Cranbourne lines: Minor delays (police attending to a trespasser between Hughesdale and Oakleigh). Trains may be held or altered.
- 8.41 clearing
- 8.47 What's the point in trespassing in that section of track achieve nothing there's a bike park next to the railway corridor which is totally good for Walking On
- 8.54 How quickly the police go not even one police either at Hughesdale or Oakleigh
South Gippsland Highway, Dandenong South is reduced to one lane towards Cranbourne, as level-crossing work continues. Please be alert for changes between the Princes Highway and Dandenong Bypass. See http://levelcrossings.vic.gov.au/disruptions/south-gippsland-highway-dandenong-south-changed-traffic-conditions
11.54 Glen Waverley line: Citybound trains will not stop at Heyington (an ill passenger requiring medical attention). Passengers travelling to Heyington from stations between Glen Waverley & Kooyong should travel through to Burnley & change to an outbound Glen Waverley service.
- 12.26 Citybound trains are now stopping.
18.55 Buses replace trains between Eltham & Hurstbridge (equipment faults near Diamond Creek). Buses have been ordered, ETA 1 hour.
- 19.05 Consider alternatives.
- 19.30 Buses ETA 45 minutes.
- 19.37  Buses ETA 20 minutes.
- 19.45  Trains have resumed after the equipment faults were fixed.
Mernda/Hurstbridge lines: Buses replace trains Parliament - Reservoir/Heidelberg from 20.15 until the last train of Sun 15 Nov (maintenance and level-crossing works).  Buses depart from Federation Sq during night-network hours.

Our services across the Victoria border will recommence operations from Wed, 25 Nov.
See http://transportnsw.info/covid-19/covid-19-safer-travel-guidance#accordion-regional-travel for the latest COVIDSafe travel advice & info, and http://transportnsw.info/regional to plan and book your trip.

COVID-19 IN AUSTRALIA Nov.13
2 New cases 82 Active cases    25290 Recovered    907 Deaths.

As it happened: WA to drop hard border as PM confirms all states to open by Christmas; Victoria records zero new COVID-19 cases for 14th day straight Roy Ward and Tom Cowie November 13, 2020
Summary
All states and territories have agreed to reopen Australia's internal borders by Christmas, except for Western Australia, Prime Minister Scott Morrison has announced. 
South Australia will relax its hard border with Victoria on December 1. WA will allow travellers in from tomorrow, however those from NSW and Victoria will need to quarantine. 
A Queensland-developed vaccine shows promising results with Federal Health Minister Greg Hunt announcing today that stage three trials are ready to begin.
NSW has recorded its sixth consecutive day of no new locally transmitted cases. Victoria recorded its 14th consecutive day with no new cases or deaths.
* 16.08 WA border to reopen tonight. They've been isolated from the rest of the country for 222 days but Western Australia will finally drop its hard border from midnight. Premier McGowan has announced that the state will move to a "controlled border" from 12.01 am tomorrow.
Every traveller will need to meet certain requirements, however the 14-day quarantine period will apply only to those travelling from NSW or Victoria.
* 15.33 Sunday scorcher as holidaymakers flee the fallen 'ring of steel'. Henrietta Cook. Melbourne is expected to hit a scorching 33 degrees on Sunday as holidaymakers take advantage of the "ring of steel" being lifted and soak up the warm weather across the state.
Temperatures will soar above 30 degrees across most parts of the state, with Mildura forecast to reach 42 degrees, and a severe fire danger rating issued for the north west due to the hot and windy conditions.
"We are expecting a hot day on Sunday," Bureau of Meteorology forecaster Jun Chen.
"It's going to be quite windy as well. The fresh northerly wind will bring back all that hot air to most parts of the state."
* 14.29 South Australia to lift border with Victoria from December 1. South Australian Premier Steven Marshall has announced his state will lift its border with Victoria from December 1.
"I am very pleased to announce that, as of December 1, we’ll be lifting the border with Victoria," Mr Marshall said.
"This has been a border which has been in place for an extended period of time. It’s been a very important border to keep our state safe, but this border will be removed as of midnight on December 1.
"This will be a huge relief to people as we head into December. We’ve always said that we don’t want to keep the restrictions in place for one day longer than we need to, but we have had to have this border arrangement in place, and it has been our first line of defence and kept South Australia safe and strong.
"We’re also very pleased that, as of midnight tonight, the Western Australian border will be relaxed with South Australia."
* 12.54 Morrison says all Australian states bar WA agree to re-open borders by Christmas. Marissa Calligeros. All states and territories have agreed to a plan to reopen Australia's internal borders by Christmas, with the exception of Western Australia, Prime Minister Scott Morrison has announced.
"The framework for national reopening, last time, we were able to adopt that in principle but we had two jurisdictions that were still in caretaker mode," Mr Morrison said.
"The plan I outlined at our last meeting ... has now been agreed with the one exception of Western Australia, which I have already flagged.
"The plan importantly embeds public health metrics in ensuring that when Australia opens safely that it remains open safely, and that is incredibly important."
Australia's Chief Scientist, Dr Alan Finkel, is due to provide an update shortly on the review of each state's contact tracing systems.
"There is a set of recommendations, all of which have been adopted by the National Cabinet today," Mr Morrison said.
* 12.27 Bye bye bubble: How flying will change once WA's border reopens on Saturday. Heather McNeill. Another 3500 to 4000 eastern states travellers are anticipated to travel to Western Australia each week once the state’s hard border is lifted on Saturday.
Speaking on Radio 6PR, WA Police Commissioner Chris Dawson said the move to a controlled border – which would allow open travel from all states except New South Wales and Victoria – was expected to return Perth’s domestic arrivals to up to 30 per cent of pre-pandemic levels, triple the current intake.
* 10.03 'The days of every worker spending every hour in the office are gone': Andrews. Henrietta Cook. The days of 100 per cent of employees working in city offices is over, Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews has declared. "The notion that every worker will be spending every hour where they used to work is gone," he said.
Melbourne's deserted CBD during the lockdown.CREDIT:WAYNE TAYLOR
<www.theage.com.au/national/coronavirus-live-updates-victoria-chases-13th-day-of-no-new-cases-nsw-seeks-border-opening-usa-europe-continue-to-face-growing-wave-20201113-p56e91.html>

Deal cut on Metro Tunnel's blowout billions after government 'cave in'. Timna Jacks and Noel Towell October 15, 2020
Taxpayers will fork out extra cash to cover cost overruns on the $11 billion Metro Tunnel project after a deal was struck with the project's contractors.
The state government would not confirm how much more it would pay, with the contractors believed to have agreed to cover a share of the cost blowout in the deal that was struck on June 30.
Premier Andrews and Transport Infrastructure Minister Allan inspect the Metro Tunnel in FebruaryCREDIT:JOE ARMAO
The project's cost overruns are widely reported to be as much as $3 billion, with the Cross Yarra Partnership (CYP) consortium building the project understood to have under-bid on the project that has since faced unexpected construction and geological challenges.
The government has repeatedly claimed that it would not pay any more than the agreed $11 billion for the project.
In December Treasurer Tim Pallas said the project's price was "fixed" and Victoria would not be forced to chip in extra cash.
"The state’s interests have been well protected in the contract," he said at the time.
In the wake of warnings from the Victorian Auditor-General of a project cost blowout, Public Transport Infrastructure Minister Jacinta Allan said the "overall project is within project budget".
CYP – made up of Lendlease Engineering, John Holland, Bouygues Construction and Capella Capital – switched off the project's tunnel-boring machines in December last year and demanded that the government stump up funds to help cover the extra costs.
The government said at the time that shutting down tunnelling was an "obvious tactic" aimed at squeezing money out of Victorian taxpayers.
"We have a message for those building companies," Premier Daniel Andrews said. "These tactics will not work.
There have been problems with the State Library station.CREDIT:JOE ARMAO
"We have a contract and we expect the contract to be honoured, we expect the project to be properly delivered against the terms of that contract."
A mediator was called in to broker an agreement and negotiations have continued throughout the year. The government still expects the project to be delivered by late 2025.
A government spokeswoman said discussions of this nature were common for large infrastructure projects.
“Mega infrastructure projects around the world face challenges that they have to work through with their contractors – this is no different," the spokeswoman said.
video Metro Tunnel project cost blown out The Daniel Andrew Government has insisted the $11 billion Metro Tunnel project remains on budget.
"Discussions with the contractors are continuing, as we get on with this vital project."
Ms Allan said on Thursday morning that the agreement with the project consortium had not yet been finalised.
"A set of commercial principles have been agreed to and those principles have not been finalised," Ms Allan said.
Another of the government's signature projects, the West Gate Tunnel, is expected to face $3 billion in cost overruns and is running a year late in a three-way dispute between the government, Transurban and its builders that is likely to wind up in court.
The government says it is refusing to pay more than the $2.7 billion it has already spent on the new toll road.
In an audit of the project’s budget last year, the Auditor-General said contractors had run into difficulties building in a physically constrained construction environment at the State Library station.
After tunnelling was halted last year, opposition transport infrastructure spokesman David Davis wrote to the watchdog about last-minute government-ordered changes to the project's signal boxes and vents that were driving up costs.
He said the government had under-estimated the power needed to run high-capacity trains through the tunnel and upgrades were needed as a result.
"The government failed to scope this properly and now Jacinta Allan has caved in and will pay billions to clean up her own mess," Mr Davis said on Thursday.
"The government has lost control of its major projects, costs are blowing out, time is blowing out and the community is paying."
The tunnel will see nine kilometres of tunnel carved beneath the CBD for a new rail line with five new underground stations. It will run between South Kensington and South Yarra, joining the Cranbourne-Pakenham and Sunbury train lines.https://www.theage.com.au/national/victoria/deal-cut-on-metro-tunnel-s-blowout-billions-after-government-cave-in-20201015-p565a5.html
<www.theage.com.au/national/victoria/deal-cut-on-metro-tunnel-s-blowout-billions-after-government-cave-in-20201015-p565a5.html>

Station redesigns drove multibillion-dollar Metro Tunnel blowout. Timna Jacks November 12, 2020
The Metro Tunnel's builders warned the Andrews government that design changes worth close to a billion dollars at two CBD stations were driving a massive cost blowout to the flagship project.
Confidential government reports leaked to The Age reveal the government pushed back on initial claims made by the constructors – the Cross Yarra Partnership Consortium (CYP) – dismissing the proposed $3.3 billion in extra costs as “overly conservative” and possibly inflated and labelling a projected delay of as much as 18 months “materially overstated”.
Premier Daniel Andrews underground at the State Library station last week.CREDIT:JASON SOUTH
However the secret documents from October last year reveal the government was at that time estimating a six to eight month delay on the $11 billion project. Premier Daniel Andrews and Transport Infrastructure Minister Jacinta Allan have consistently said the project would be built on time, by the end of 2025.
In December last year the dispute between the builders and the government culminated in the consortium switching off the project’s tunnel-boring machines in a public demand for more cash.
Despite initially refusing to bow to the demands for extra money, the state government agreed in June to chip in more than $1 billion under an in-principle agreement struck with the consortium, made up of Lendlease Melbourne Metro, John Holland, Bouygues Construction, John Laing and Capella Capital.
The government has not confirmed the current cost of the project.
An internal review of CYP’s cost forecast by Rail Projects Victoria (RPV) – the state agency overseeing the Metro Tunnel – provides a rare insight into the dispute between the government and the builders.
The documents from October 2019 confirm that CYP was claiming a $3.3 billion blowout and more than a year’s delay – which was roundly rejected by the government – and reveal the key drivers of the project's cost overruns; namely, design changes at State Library station and rising labour costs.
The consortium forecast that the cost of building the station would rise from an initial $480 million to $915 million.
Design changes including height increases in the main station cavern, relocation of passenger lifts, an escalator and fire and station control rooms all drove up costs, along with CYP's decision to redesign the strutting system for the station's access shafts.
RPV accused the contractor of "mispricing the project" and "changing the approach to delivering the works resulting in cost overruns" in the October review.
The state agency said the $26 million CYP claimed it needed to spend on labour at the State Library station was “excessive” and engaged an external consultant to run a forensic review of the proposed expenditure.
The cost of the State Library and Town Hall stations were together tipped to rise by 98 per cent from $907 million to $1.8 billion – an increase of $893 million.
The budget for the remaining stations – Arden, Parkville and Domain – were said to have increased by 58 per cent from $828 million to $1.3 billion.
CYP also blamed unforseen mechanical, electrical and plumbing costs for the project's blowout. CYP forecast these costs would rise by 71 per cent to $949 million.
This was largely driven by sub-contractor overheads, labour rates and materials mark-ups. But RPV dismissed this, finding that when benchmarked against similar Australian metro-style projects, the Metro Tunnel forecasts were 20-30 per cent higher per square metre.
Labour was also offered as another driver of cost increases, with CYP forecasting a 25 per cent increase in required labour, costing $275 million, or 14 per cent of the overrun on direct costs.
CYP attributed this to higher than expected labour rates and poor productivity due to changes in construction methods. But RPV suggested the labour rate was overstated by up to 2.5 per cent.
Sub-contracting was another proposed reason for the cost rises, with CYP using sub-contractors to "de-risk" the project by avoiding industrial relations issues. However, this ultimately added to costs, with a review of a package of works at Domain station showing it would have been 7 per cent cheaper to do without sub-contractors.
The parties have been unable to agree on who is liable to pay for changes to the CBD station cavern designs and construction methods, while the contractor has been accused of under-bidding for the work.
RPV’s review, which was submitted to an independent mediator, acknowledged that CYP faced significant cost pressures and delays but rejected as extraordinary and potentially inflated the consortium’s proposed $3.3 billion blowout.
Late last year, CYP was forecasting a 56 per cent cost overrun on the $5.1 billion it received in capital payments under its tunnel and stations public-private partnership deal.
Play video Metro Tunnel project cost blown out The Daniel Andrew Government has insisted the $11 billion Metro Tunnel project remains on budget.
CYP argued it was owed a total of $8.4 billion – $3.3 billion more than had been agreed to in its contract. This was lower, at $7.6 billion, when the consortium's profit margin was excluded.
At the time of forecasting, the Metro Tunnel was only 10-15 per cent finished, but the project was already grappling with a 15 per cent cost overrun.
The review was prepared before the pandemic. Works have continued on the project despite COVID-19 restrictions being in place.
The documents reveal that the government took a hardline position early on in the negotiations, repudiating many of CYP’s claims and admitting to requesting only $41 million in modifications to the project. The government pushed for cost-saving measures, including a speedier delivery.
RPV said it "cannot understand" why CYP introduced additional costs that were not in any previous forecasts, accusing the consortium of making a "significant estimating error or the forecast is being inflated".
An artist's impression of what the finished platform will look like at State Library Station.
"Typically, cost overruns of this magnitude can be attributed to extraordinary events or issues that have a [sic] significant cost impacts. CYP have not faced any of these very significant issues and there is limited context to explain the extent of the cost problems forecast by CYP," the review stated.
In its forecasts, CYP asserted that changes in the cost of raw materials and the quantities required was driving up costs — an argument that has been echoed by the Andrews government to explain cost increases on major projects — but RPV said this only contributed to 4 per cent of the cost overruns.
The consortium first revised its budget in April 2018 and made a further three revisions over the following months. The consortium allocated about $370 million of its profit margin to covering unexpected costs in 2018.
By May last year, CYP and the government entered formal dispute resolution process over the project's cost pressures.
An Andrews government spokeswoman said the Metro Tunnel was "on track to be completed a year ahead of schedule" and the project would deliver major benefits to the city.
"Under the mechanisms of the PPP [public-private partnership] contract, the Victorian Government has been working in good faith with our contractors to deliver this urgent project as soon as possible.
"The Metro Tunnel project will change the way Victorians move around our city forever and our workers on the ground have been making huge progress in difficult circumstances."
A spokeswoman for CYP said the government would provide a response on their behalf.
Summary of CYP's cost forecast
Chart
D&C Subcontract Price    CYP’s Forecast Final Cost    Variance between Forecast Final Cost and D&C Subcontract Price
Direct costs    Apr 2018 ('000)    Mar 2019 ('000)    ('000)    %
CBD stations (Town Hall and State Library)    $907,671    $1,800,866    $893,195    98%
Box stations (Arden, Parkville and Domain)    $828,482    $1,308,552    $480,070    58%
Tunnelling activities and precast yard    $520,071    $666,054    $145,983    28%
Mechanical, electrical and plumbing (MEP)    $555,875    $949,422    $393,547    71%
Total: Direct Costs    $2,812,099    $4,724,894    $1,912,795    68%
Source: Rail Projects Victoria
RELATED ARTICLE Premier Daniel Andrews and Transport Infrastructure Minister Jacinta Allan inspect the Metro Tunnel in August last year. Deal cut on Metro Tunnel's blowout billions after government 'cave in'
<www.theage.com.au/national/victoria/station-redesigns-drove-multibillion-dollar-metro-tunnel-blowout-20201112-p56dva.html>

Builders sought $300m in extra profit on blown-out Metro Tunnel costs. Timna Jacks November 13, 2020
The Metro Tunnel's builders tried to secure $300 million in extra profit on the $11 billion project while at the same time warning of a major cost blowout and more than a year's delay.
Confidential government reports obtained by The Age also allege the Cross Yarra Partnership Consortium (CYP) tried to charge taxpayers $100 million for company overheads, including bid costs and consultants fees, despite some of the items already being paid for by the project.
Workers inside the cavern at the State Library stationCREDIT:JASON SOUTH
The consortium – made up of Lendlease, John Holland, Bouygues Construction, John Laing and Capella Capital – warned the project would cost $3.3 billion more than planned and predicted a 15-to 18-month delay several months before they switched off tunnel-boring machines during construction in a public demand for extra cash.
The leaked review of CYP’s cost forecasts by the government's project-managing agency Rail Projects Victoria in October last year shows the consortium looked to maintain its 10 per cent margin on the project's blown-out costs, lifting its profit by 56 per cent to $800 million.
This marked a $300 million increase on the profits agreed to under the original $6 billion public-private partnership deal to build tunnels and stations.
The confidential RPV documents also show that the consortium was to receive a $12.5 million bonus for completing the project, even if the works ran late. CYP proposed to charge an extra $381 million to accelerate works in order to deliver train services on the scheduled starting date in November 2025, the report shows.
While forecasting major cost blowouts, the consortium proposed to charge the government $111 million for company overheads, including $41 million in bid costs, $38 million for consultants – including flights – and $6 million in payroll account fees, which RPV said should be covered by the builders.
It was "inappropriate" for the companies to profit on a project that was facing considerable cost blowouts, Rail Projects Victoria argued. The consortium was also paid for a portion of these costs under the terms of its original contract, RPV said.
"These costs are not required to ‘efficiently’ deliver the [tunnels and stations partnership] and in some instances, duplicate margin / overhead costs," RPV wrote in its review.
"In such a significant cost overrun position (with additional cost to the state, and other CYP parties), the state does not find it appropriate that any party make a margin on cost overruns where the underlying arrangement was for a fixed price.
"RPV would expect that the [joint venture] partners are making a significant margin on these internal consultant costs."
The documents expose a level of tension between CYP and the government in the months leading up to CYP calling a halt to tunnelling on the project, with RPV accusing the consortium of limiting their access to key documents.
At the time, the Andrews government was rejecting the bulk of CYP's claims, disregarding the projected cost overruns as "overly conservative" and the delays as "overstated" the confidential documents revealed.
But the government ultimately bowed to pressure in June this year, when it entered an in-principle agreement with CYP to pay more than $1 billion of the extra costs.
The deal is expected to be signed in coming weeks but the government is yet to confirm the project's current price tag.
RPV’s advisers could only review CYP files on CYP computers at the consortium's premises. The advisers were not given source documents and had to witness them or take screenshots instead.
“This approach was inefficient and limited the level of analysis that RPV and its advisors could perform," RPV said in its review.
RPV also criticised CYP's forecasting methodology, arguing their forecasts were based on separate, standalone Excel spreadsheets generated by different project managers, and RPV had uncovered errors and double-counting of costs. CYP’s own independent review highlighted similar issues, RPV warned.
“This is not good practice, is inherently unreliable and builds in conservatism. RPV’s review has uncovered errors/inconsistencies," the review stated.
RPV also accused CYP of introducing several additional costs that were not in previous forecasts and said a large driver of cost overruns was staffing, which was "somewhat subjective" and difficult to verify against current costs.
“There is more potential for labour cost assumptions to reflect a commercially conservative position."
On Thursday, The Age revealed that design changes at two CBD stations cost close to a billion dollars and were a key driver of cost overruns on the project.
CYP had forecast that the State Library station's price tag would rise from an initial $480 million to $915 million, due to changes including height increases in the main station cavern, relocation of passenger lifts, an escalator and fire and station control rooms.
A government spokeswoman referred to an earlier statement, stating the Metro Tunnel "is on track to be completed a year ahead of schedule" and would deliver major benefits to the city.
CYP said the government would comment on its behalf.
RELATED ARTICLE Premier Daniel Andrews underground at the State Library station last week. Station redesigns drove multibillion-dollar Metro Tunnel blowout
<www.theage.com.au/national/victoria/builders-sought-300m-in-extra-profit-on-blown-out-metro-tunnel-costs-20201113-p56eb0.html> [repeated article]

Weddings, funerals and stadium limits grow as Qld restrictions ease. Matt Dennien and Lydia Lynch November 13, 2020
<www.brisbanetimes.com.au/national/queensland/weddings-funerals-and-stadium-limits-to-grow-as-qld-winds-back-restrictions-20201113-p56eez.html>