Article: Transport Department buys back scrap Hitachi train parts

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Transport Department buys back scrap Hitachi train parts

Transport Department buys back scrap Hitachi train parts
Article from: Herald Sun

Ashley Gardiner

May 29, 2009 12:00am

THE Government has been forced to buy back old train parts it sold for scrap - but at about 50 times the price.

Taxpayers paid $157,000 for the old Hitachi train parts, a huge mark-up on the $2600 the Government sold them for more than five years ago.

It is the second time the Department of Transport has been forced to buy Hitachi trains back, with $60,000 spent on three carriages in 2006.

The trains were supposed to have been scrapped after the Commonwealth Games, but six are still in service to cope with booming patronage and are expected to run until 2013.

Opposition transport spokesman Terry Mulder said the purchase represented a new low of incompetence.

"This is an absolute embarrassment," he said yesterday.

"This is one hell of a loss for the taxpayer. It beats backing racehorses, that's for sure."

Mr Mulder said the news would leave Victorians with little confidence in the management of public transport.

"This would have to be one of the worst acts of incompetence. It shows a complete and total lack of planning," he said.

Mr Mulder used Freedom of Information laws to get the document -- speaking notes for Public Transport Minister Lynne Kosky should she be asked about it in Parliament.

The note details how dozens of the old trains were sold in 2003 for $2600 per three-car train. But the Government has spent the total sum gained to buy back parts from just one set of carriages.

"Sources of spares for Hitachi fleet are either second-hand or via manufacture. Second-hand spares are significantly cheaper," the note said.

"DoT paid a further $157,000 for bogies and other spare parts to enable the remaining six Hitachi trains to be safely maintained until they are retired.

"This was considered to be a fair price for the quantity and type of parts obtained."

The September 2008 document said air-conditioning was not installed because it would cost $2 million a train.

Stephen Moynihan, a spokesman for Ms Kosky, defended the department's spending decision. "It was significantly cheaper to purchase spare parts then have them manufactured," he said.