Transurban shuns east-west project. Matt O’Sullivan, Business Reporter, The Age August 2 2013

The Napthine government’s proposed $8 billion east-west tunnel project ”just doesn’t make sense for us”, CityLink operator Transurban has said. Transurban chief executive Scott Charlton said on Thursday the project did not suit his company’s ”strategic approach and risk profile”.

And he cast doubt on the government’s proposed funding model for the project. ”It just doesn’t work for us the way they have proposed it,” he said.

Transurban – Australia’s largest toll road operator – had been expected to show interest in the east-west project because it would connect with CityLink. But Mr Charlton said the availability funding model tended to be ”very highly leveraged” with lower returns because the risks on traffic usage remained with the government. Fairfax Media has reported previously that Victorian taxpayers face hundreds of millions of dollars in risks from the project, including a government promise to foot the bill if construction is hampered by industrial action linked to government policy. Continue Reading…