Financial and commercial close for Sydney light rail PPP
The NSW Government (Australia), through Transport for NSW (TfNSW), and the Connecting Sydney consortium have signed the PPP contract for the new light rail system for CBD and South East Sydney. The winning consortium has also achieved financial closure.
The NSW Government had announced on October 23 that the consortium, consisting of Transdev, Acciona, Alstom Transport Australia and Capella Capital, was the preferred bidder for the project.
The project financing has been provided by Banco Santander, Commonwealth Bank of Australia, Credit Agricole CIB Australia, Bank of Nova Scotia Asia and United Overseas Bank.
Norton Rose Fulbright has advised the financiers, while Ashurst has advised TfNSW on its PPP contract with Connecting Sydney consortium.
The project involves the finance, design, construction, testing and commissioning of a new 12-kilometre light rail line between the Sydney CBD and south east Sydney, and the operation and maintenance of the Sydney Light Rail network, which includes the new South East Light Rail (CSELR) and existing inner west light rail.
The total project investment is estimated at A$2.1 billion (US$1.7 billion)
The project received planning approval on 4 June 2014 and early works began in August 2014. Major construction is expected to commence by April 2015 with the system open and operational in 2019.
This month we have reported about the commercial closure of another transport PPP project in Australia, the Moorebank Intermodal Terminal. The project includes the development of an import-export freight terminal connected by rail to Port Botany,with capacity for 1.05 million containers a year, and an interstate freight terminal, with capacity for 500,000 containers a year.
During the last two months we have reported about several Australian transport PPP projects:
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