TRANSPORT for New South Wales (TfNSW) will send two staff members to Birmingham, Britain, to inspect work being carried out on the same model of CAF LRV as those that operate in Sydney which have experienced cracks over wheel arches.
Sizeable cracks were discovered in all 12 LRVs operating on Sydney’s light rail Line L1 , which runs from Dulwich Hill to Central station, forcing the closure of the line for up to 18 months.
NSW transport minister Mr Rob Stokes says that while his priority is to reduce the time it will take to repair the LRVs, the government still does not know exactly how long that will take.
However, Stokes says he is confident that the repairs can be carried out faster than the 18 months first anticipated.
“My determination is to get that timeline down as far as possible,” he said. “We have gone out with the worst case, so we are working back from there,” he said.” I’m confident that we can do it much quicker.”
Stokes said the government could benefit from learning how the repairs are being carried out in Birmingham, where a fleet of CAF Urbos 3 LRVs had also been withdrawn from service.
TfNSW chief operations officer Mr Howard Collins confirmed two staff members will travel to Birmingham to inspect work on the West Midlands LRVs.
“They’ll be there for a few days to look at the production line, talk to CAF engineers and understand any issues regarding the space and workshop environment,” he said.
CAF engineers have also been sent to Sydney to find a solution, although it is expected the repairs will occur locally, Stokes said.
