New airport flyers face long wait for metro train line’s opening due to dispute

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A protracted dispute between contractors and the state government is at a stalemate, two years after it erupted behind closed doors.

A multibillion-dollar metro rail line to Sydney’s new international airport is at risk of further delays due to an inability to break a stalemate in a long-running dispute between contractors and the state government.

Despite previously declaring it would become clear by now whether the dispute would be resolved through negotiation or fought out in court, the government remains in a stand-off with the private consortium contracted to build and operate the $12 billion-plus rail line.

Two years after the dispute erupted behind closed doors, it threatens to delay the opening of the 23-kilometre metro line to Western Sydney International Airport until well into 2028, as well as clouding any future multibillion-dollar extensions of it north or south.

The rail line was originally meant to open when passenger flights started at Western Sydney Airport last month. The delay to the line’s opening has forced the government to put on free buses between the new airport and St Marys, where passengers can switch to Sydney Trains services.

Coalition transport spokesperson Natalie Ward said the government needed to come clean on when the project would open, the cost of the delays and whether it would impact future extensions. “The government set another deadline, and the government has missed it,” she said.

“They chose to change the scope of a multibillion-dollar project mid-delivery, and now commuters and taxpayers are wearing the delays and extra costs.”

In late August, Transport Minister John Graham said it would become clear over the following two months whether the dispute would be resolved through negotiation, in which case the government would be able to confirm an opening date. If the negotiations failed, he said the courts would arbitrate.

Graham said on Thursday that Sydney Metro was continuing to work through the commercial issues with the consortium in relation to the project.

“We want to open this project as soon as possible, but my direction to Sydney Metro is to protect…

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