CBD and South East Light Rail Project, Sydney

Running Head: SBM1202 PROJECT QUALITY, RISK & PROCUREMENT MANAGEMENT
CBD and South East Light Rail Project, Sydney
Name of the Student
Name of the University

1SBM1202 PROJECT QUALITY, RISK & PROCUREMENT MANAGEMENT
1. Introduction and Background of the Project
Light Rail transit networks are becoming popular around the world due to being efficient
and reliable as well as environment friendly compared to other modes of transport. In addition to
being run on electricity, the light rail cars are fast, very frequent (a train in every 5 or 6 minutes)
and also can carry a large number of passengers, more than public buses. Sydney CBD has an
existing light rail transit network 13 km long that has 23 stops along the way. However, due to
the rapid expansion of the city, especially the business district, the transport demands have also
increased (Birdsall 2015). Due to excessive rush during peak hours, the available public transport
vehicles are under extreme pressure for transporting passengers. Moreover, the traffic has also
significantly increased resulting in slow movement and traffic jams. Hence, around 2013, NSW
government has announced the extension of the existing light rail network with an additional 13
km to the current network. The proposed network of 13 km would include 20 stops and there
would also be major intersections at important transit points like rail, ferry and bus stops (Love
et al. 2017). In addition to the various opportunities presented by the new proposed construction
work, there are also large number of risks associated. In order to avoid the risks and ensure safe
and error free construction, the organisation who is constructing the network has adopted a
specific risk management framework.
The purpose of this report is to analyse the possible risks associated with this project and
also discuss about the risk management framework adopted by the organisation to get rid of the
risks identified.

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2. Risk Management Plan
2.1 Case Organisation’s Project Risk Management
The chosen project i.e. the light rail construction in Sydney CBD is being managed by
Transport for NSW (TfNSW), a statutory authority controlled by the New South Wales
Government. The organisation is currently constructing the 13 km line through main areas of the
CBD where there is maximum rush during the peak hours. In addition to construction, the
organisation also needs to take care of various risks associated with the project. Some of the
major risks in the project are discussed as follows.
Collision with Other Vehicles / Trains – Once the light rail becomes operational, there
will be a major chance of risk in which the trains may collide with each other or other vehicles.
Since the track is along the main highway, the trains will run side by side with other road
vehicles. If a road vehicle abruptly runs over the tracks, it may collide with a light rail train
(Luong and Xia 2016). Again, as per the plan, the trains will run at very high frequency and
since, all the trains will run on the same line (for same direction), two trains may collide with
each other. Both of these cases will result in major to fatal injuries to the passengers as well as
the driver.
Accident with Pedestrians – Another major risk associated with the light rail is accident
with the pedestrians. This will mainly occur if the pedestrian crosses the line without being
aware of an incoming train or a train does not stop at a red light and runs over a pedestrian
crossing the track (Ding et al. 2016). This type of accident is most likely to cause very major or
fatal injuries to the pedestrian.

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Overhead Wiring Accident – This is also a major risk that can result in fatal injuries to the
train passengers and other nearby pedestrians. In this case, the overhead wire may get cut or high
voltage flow may occur resulting in current flow and electrocution of the passengers inside the
railcars. This is one of the most deadly and nearly unavoidable risk if the railcar driver or line
inspector are not aware of the open ends in the overhead line.
Toxic Air or Fumes – Another risk event may occur in which the passengers may get
suffocated due to lack of air / oxygen while the train is travelling through a tunnel or toxic gas
inside A.C. railcars. The toxicity can result in serious illnesses or even death to the passengers.
In addition to these major risks, there are also other risks like derailment that may occur
due to technical errors, inappropriate speed during curves and others. Most of the risks discussed
above can arise due to technical faults or the carelessness of the drivers during the journey
(Burtonshaw-Gunn 2017). During the construction progress of the light rail network, the
organisation needs to be aware and implement a design that will help to reduce the chances of
the risks. In addition to the change in network architecture design, additional guideline
documents have also been planned by the organisation that will be provided to the drivers once
the light rail network becomes operational.
In order to avoid the risks mentioned above, the organisation has decided to change the
overall design of the light rail track and also has plans to install line inspectors every 2 km along
the route. Furthermore, extra precautions have been planned that will be undertaken once the
light rail becomes operational.
Further risks, excluding the direct operational risks, include budget and schedule
overshoot, legal risk, negative cash flow, performance risk and others that can otherwise cause