The light rail line between central Sydney and the eastern suburbs could be built cheaper if the government abandoned plans to run trams without overhead wires down George Street, according to a light rail expert.
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Fairfax Media reported on Monday the cost of the project was expected to blow out from $1.6 billion to $2.2 billion when the government signs terms later this year on the contract to deliver the light rail line.
The blow-out has dismayed light rail advocates, who view it as typical of a disturbing trend in NSW to put outsized cost estimates on public transport projects.
Greg Sutherland, a former adviser to a NSW transport minister and a director of the Sydney Tramway Museum, says the cost of the project could be partly reduced by removing the requirement for trams to run without overhead wires between Circular Quay and Town Hall.
"When you've got a major product you don't introduce unnecessary enhancements that actually make the system less able to perform," said Mr Sutherland, also an electrical engineer.
Transport Minister Gladys Berejiklian has named the preferred tenderer for the light rail project as a consortium called "Connecting Sydney", which includes the French rail manufacturer Alstom.
Alstom's wire-free light rail system, which powers trams on an energised third track, is the dominant product of this type in the world. It has been installed in the French cities Bordeaux and Reims, as well as Dubai, and is planned for Rio de Janeiro in Brazil.
The company says that trams running on its wire-free lines perform the same as trams powered overhead.
But Mr Sutherland said the system would add to the price of each tram, and also add to the cost of providing power to the light rail system.
In the Scottish city of Edinburgh, which decided against installing a wire-free section of tramway, the city estimated that wire-free running would add 20 per cent to the cost of electricity.
Transport for NSW and the City of Sydney Council both back a wire-free stretch along George Street for aesthetic reasons.
"This is a once in a lifetime chance to transform George Street into a beautiful public space that is welcoming and attractive," a spokeswoman said.
In Alstom's system, the third energised rail is powered only when a tram runs over it.
Gavin Gatenby, from the advocacy group EcoTransit, said the government risked locking itself in to products from one manufacturer by adopting wire-free technology.
