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Photo: Air-conditioning and disabled access have been ongoing problems for NGR train carriages. (Supplied: Transport and Main Roads)The bungled rollout of Queensland’s newest fleet of trains, which have been plagued by defects and disability access issues, will be probed by a government inquiry.
The New Generation Rollingstock trains were delivered more than 18 months late from an Indian builder, and required more than $150 million of extra funds to modify major defects, to ensure they worked properly.
Hundreds of problems needed to be rectified across at least 35 trains, including braking, air-conditioning, ventilation and sightlines for train drivers.
The $4.4 billion trains also failed disability access tests, with the Human Rights Commission refusing the Government an exemption from disability compliance laws.
Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk announced on Monday evening retired District Court Judge Michael Forde would conduct an inquiry into the procurement of the trains, and their failure to comply with disability laws.
“Mr Forde will be able to access relevant documents in the procurement process including technical specifications, design approvals and cabinet documents,” Ms Palaszczuk said in a statement.
The full terms of reference were yet to be decided.
Topics: rail-transport, urban-development-and-planning, state-parliament, judges-and-legal-profession, brisbane-4000, qld
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