Transfield Services has been fined and forced to forfeit a key contract area following poor performance
April 26, 2013
South Australian bus operator Transfield Services has been fined and forced to forfeit a key contract area following a series of poor performance reviews.
The South Australian Government will
fine Transfield $181,297 for failing to reach reliability benchmarks and has transferred the company’s north-south contract area to east-west contractor Torrens Transit.
Transfield has lost eight key routes, including areas such as Marion and Port Adelaide.
Transfield has been under fire for poor performance since winning
a $567 million contract in 2011 to operate Adelaide bus services.
In the first 12 months after Transfield was awarded the contract, the company was fined about $250,000 for failing to meet performance benchmarks, such as on-time running.
A performance review for July-September 2012 found that Transfield’s Light-City Buses ran late 38 percent of the time, resulting in a $45,000 fine for the company.
The result was an improvement on the previous review, which found only 48 percent of Transfield buses ran on time, resulting in a $70,000 fine in August 2012.
State Government Public Transport Services Minister Chloe Fox says it is common knowledge that Transfield has continually underperformed.
“Five of our six contract areas are consistently reaching, and in some cases exceeding, the very high standards we demand,” Fox says.
“However, it is well known that one area has continued to underperform.”
Fox says no jobs will be lost under the contract adjustment.
But the state’s government will now pay an extra $2 million to improve north-south corridor services, including the purchase of an extra 16 buses.
“It’s important to note that recontracting our bus services has saved us a significant amount of money, money that we can now reinvest in service improvements like these,” Fox says.
Fox says the state’s transport department worked closely with Transfield to identify the eight key routes to be transferred to Torrens Transit. The routes include:
- W90/W91 (St Mary.s/Marion to Marden via the City)
- 190 (Glenelg to the City via Edwardstown, Hawthorn, Unley Road)
- 195/196 (Blackwood Station to the City via Belair and Unley Roads)
- 230/231 and 232 (Port Adelaide to the City via Arndale)