Opposition rails against new appointment
Posted
The New South Wales Opposition has criticised the appointment of the new head of RailCorp, Elizabeth Crouch.
The Opposition says it is concerned because Ms Crouch was previously in charge of the Public Transport Ticketing Corporation, the agency that was dealing with the failed T-Card ticketing system.
NSW Transport Minister David Campbell has defended the appointment.
"I reject any criticism of Elizabeth Crouch," he said.
"I have full confidence that she will provide strong leadership to a reconstituted board [of RailCorp]."
He says Ms Crouch has extensive public policy experience, making her the ideal candidate for the position.
Rail woes
The NSW Government moved to restructure the RailCorp in October to bring the state-owned corporation under full ministerial control after a major scandal and a litany of complaints about poor service.
A series of investigations by the NSW Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) has led to corruption findings against a total of 31 people at RailCorp.
In ICAC's latest report on November 19, Commissioner Jerrold Cripps QC recommended the prosecution of 11 employees and contractors for 97 offences, including accepting bribes and making false claims for travel and accommodation.
A report last month by the NSW Auditor-General found a third of RailCorp's electric fleet is more than 30-years old and 23 per cent of all carriages fail every month on average.
The ill-fated T-card was a project to introduce integrated ticketing on Sydney's public transport network.
It was finally terminated by the State Government in January after a 10-year struggle failed to come up with an adequate system.
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