Success for Sydney Metro at national infrastructure awards

SYDNEY, NEW SOUTH WALES – Sydney Metro has been awarded two of the industry’s highest honours, named Project of the Year and recognised for Government Partnership Excellence at the 2020 National Infrastructure Awards.

The annual awards, run by Infrastructure Partnerships Australia, celebrate outstanding achievement in infrastructure delivery and procurement across Australia and New Zealand and were presented in Sydney overnight.

Plenary was principal commercial and financial adviser, sponsor and investor for the NRT consortium that in 2019 delivered the $3.7 billion operations, trains and systems public-private partnership, the largest PPP in the State of New South Wales at the time.

Sydney Metro’s North West line opened to passengers in May 2019 and included many Australian firsts – Australia’s first metro railway, first driverless trains, first fully-accessible railway, and the first use of platform screen doors.

More than 22,000 people worked on the mega project – Australia’s largest public transport project.

The judges recognised the project for the complexity of its engineering construction, including a range of unprecedented and elegant solutions to major challenges.

They noted the success of the project built a strong social licence for future stages of the Sydney Metro program, and paved the way for other major metro projects in other parts of the country.

The judges also recognised the complexity of the project’s construction, innovative approach to solving challenges, and genuine partnership between government, contractors, operators and advisers.

Six months after opening, NRT achieved financial close on the City and Southwest extension – the largest augmentation of a PPP in Australia bysome way.

The $3.7 billion project is extending Sydney Metro south, under Sydney Harbour and through the CBD into Sydney’s southwest.

Construction of the extension is underway and when complete in 2024, NRT will operate the combined North West and City and Southwest lines until 2034.