Article from: www.thenewspaper.com/news/15/1519.asp

12/28/2006

Australia: Toll Tunnel Goes Bankrupt
The unpopular Cross City Tunnel toll road in New South Wales, Australia has gone into receivership.

New South Wales, Australia's unpopular toll road, the Cross City Tunnel, has gone bankrupt. Creditors appointed KordaMentha Corporate Recovery Services to take over operations and likely sell the tunnel to recover A$560 million (US $440 million) in debt.

A parliamentary report issued in February documented public outrage over the closing of streets in Central Sydney to force motorists to pay A$3.56 for a short round trip on the road. Fewer than a third of the expected number of motorists used the tunnel, despite efforts to drive up ridership with temporary discounts and later efforts to increase revenue with speed cameras.

"The sorry saga seems to have come to its inevitable conclusion," Opposition Transport spokesman Andrew Stoner told ABC radio. "All in all it was an absolute public relations disaster, a case study in how not to manage a public-private partnership."

Source: Cross city tunnel placed into receivership (ABC Radio (Australia), 12/28/2006)

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