Watch The Lawsuits Fly!
There will be no SkyTrain to Langley.
Comments from real experts, you know they type, guys and gals who plan, design and operate transit systems, have all said, almost in union, that SkyTrain will not be built to Langley.
The terse comments by people who actually know what they are talking about, should give cause to reflect upon what will happen if incompetent politicians forces a change from LRT to SkyTrain to go to Langley.
Oh yes, let us not forget that $3 billion upgrade needed for the Innovia SkyTrain Lines before such an extension could be possible.
From Mr. Haveacow:
There will be no Skytrain line to Langley because the federal infrastructure money for the LRT project isn’t transferable to another project because of the PPP (Public, Public Partnership) program that grants all federal transit dollars, makes that illegal! Whether you realized it or not, Translink has already accepting design/engineering tenders from interested consortia for the LRT design. Changing now means everyone involved on the Federal and Translink side of the competitive process can be sued for bad faith negotiating. I have been involved in one such lawsuit, it’s messy and the tax payers always get killed! The involved companies in each consortium are now going out and getting private loans and financing (a major responsibility in their requirements of the Federal PPP program) to take on all the expected building costs as well as all legal liability costs for the project(which can add up to 25% of the entire project’s cost). If a politician or a group of them tries to change the project scope now, wow, watch the lawsuits fly!
It is now time to get very real with current planning and stop relying on hearsay and gossip on the Skyscraper and/or Hive web pages.
Ottawa found out what the sting of losing lawsuits over cancelled transit projects and it is not just the court judgment and compensation that must be made, but the cost of the legalities must be included. Lawyers do not come cheap.
viel Geld!
If current contracts are broken by a change of planning direction, be prepared….viel Geld!
It still astounds us how your SkyTrain is revered by all; just the same as it astounds us how your neighbors elected Mr. Trump.
We live in an age of confusion.
The case I was involved with was PPP money from the federal government infrastructure fund for a new bus garage in Ottawa. The building was originally supposed to have a green roof and the contractor went out got funding and designed a great green roof. The council changed and suddenly double decker buses were now a new priority. This meant that having a bus garage that could handle our new double decker buses was also needed as well as the new bus garage with the green roof that was almost ready to start construction. So instead of building a new structure specifically designed for the height of double decker buses, the new council believed it would be cheaper to make the bus garage with the green roof larger and taller. This changed the project’s scope but it also wiped out the entire green roof design.
The contractor had spent hundreds of thousands dollars designing a bus garage for 12 metre long standard buses and 18 metre long articulated buses and yes it would have one of the world’s most modern and innovative green roof designs. When the new design requirements for the entire roof appeared as well as the increase in garage vehicle capacity, lawyers were contacted.
It was a big surprise for the city when the Federal Government and the city’s own lawyers informed city council that because this was partially paid for with PPP federal cash and that contractors in this program are required to get private funding first and are then reimbursed when construction goals are met. The city has to pay for all design and project scope changes once designs, project engineering tenders go out to and are negotiated, even before final design approval.
$16.5 million later (plus the original cost of the project) the city reached a out of court settlement with the contractors and the Federal Government. Ottawa’s newest bus garage had door and roof issues during construction but we now have a bus garage capable of holding 300 new 12 metre, 18 metre articulated and up to 100 double decker units. However no world class energy saving green roof. Even though we designed and paid for one.
This website is funny.
There will no lawsuit because the contracts have not been awarded yet to build the project. It is only in the design stages right now. The people writing things on this blog know nothing about business law.
Last year, the NDP cancelled the contract to build a new bridge on the highway 99 that was already started construction. You can see the mess created in Richmond. Has there been any lawsuits todate?
Zwei replies: In fact I have been told that design contracts have been let.
As for the “mess in Richmond”, it was all done under the MoT.
Only the first phase of LRT in Surrey and it is just for design. There is no contract for construction. The second phase to Langley has no contract yet. Makes more sense to extend existing Skytrain.
Zwei replies: Actually it doesn’t. Why would one spend $3 billion, no $6 billion, including the Expo Line rehab, on an obsolete light metro, that will be soon out of production. Show me the budget and funding!
Interesting is it not, that those people wanting your Skytrain seem so bereft of any financial wisdom. It is the same of those wanting monorails and can’t seem to get their heads around the fact that monorails tend to be a lot more expensive than trams.
Your skytrain people want this and that but never have a budget or any inkling on how to pay for it. Are your streets paved with gold? it would seem so with the billions of Euros needed for construction.
As I state before, in Europe two decades ago your SkyTrain was deemed dangerous in operation and flimsily made and is now considered only for children’s picture books of trains and other such compendiums.
@ TheWanted, you are clearly a child. It’s time for you to leave the room, so the serious adults can have a conversation. The LRT project in Surrey is already in the design and engineering phase so, contracts have been signed and some federal money has already been earmarked for later payment of work. Translink couldn’t have got to this point unless some early planning, design and engineering work was tendered out therefore, any work done by engineering and design firms have had to been paid for by private funding because of the Federal PPP process requirements! You are right, there would be very little in construction costs right now but I can assure you at the minimum right now, several million in funding has been spent by the private contractors and designers to get to this point, towards the final project design.
Even if the final consortium to Finance/Design/Build/Operate and Maintain the Surrey LRT project hasn’t been chosen yet, there are still multiple consortia doing the final design and engineering work competing for the right to be chosen. That’s not free, all these designs have to be paid for from the project budget!!! They are spending tens of millions of dollars in private funding right now just to do this work, in competition with others. They have to do this by law because all federal transit money requires a 3P or (PPP) process or no federal transit money is granted. If you change the type of train or cancel the project out right, TransLink and the Federal Government can be sued for costs by everyone involved who got private funding, which is part of the rules for bidders in the federal process and therefore your process. Even in a design competition, where the final design and builders haven’t been chosen yet!!!
As soon as Translink and Surrey accepted federal money for the Surrey LRT project, that is it, you are locked in and legally responsible!
Just a note: The cost of the Leewood study was put at $200,000.00 a decade ago.
Studies do not come cheap and today the cost of a consultants’s study, depending on the scope, for a “rail” project would run from $300K to several millions of dollars.
The average person just does not know the time and effort put in to create a credible study.
It is my understanding that somewhere between $10 to $30 million has already been spent on the Surrey LRT.
1.Surrey LRT goes to RFQ (Request For Qualifications) Stage
https://www.langleytimes.com/news/translink-opens-up-bidding-process-for-surrey-light-rail/
Too Late to stop LRT now, I told you guys!
https://globalnews.ca/news/4430523/too-late-for-skytrain-in-surrey-translink-ceo/
2. Daryl’s Mom is part of the Surrey First Party
https://www.peacearchnews.com/municipal-election/surrey-first-announces-full-slate-of-candidates/