The New South Wales Supreme Court has ordered the Australian state’s government to produce copies of ministerial briefing papers and minutes of internal meetings related to a terminated contract tied to the Tcard transport smartcard system, local newspaper Sydney Morning Herald reports.
The state’s Public Transport Ticketing Corp. had awarded the contract to technology vendor ERG Ltd. but terminated it in 2008, reportedly because of software problems and other issues.
Public Transport Ticketing subsequently sued ERG for AU$77 million (US$70.8 million or 52.6 million euros) for recovery of dues already paid to ERG for the system. ERG filed a countersuit seeking $215 million in reaction to losing the contract, according to the Morning Herald.
On June 9, ERG won access to all relevant documents except those privy to only the government's cabinet of ministers. Public Transport Ticketing Corp. was unable to convince the court that many of its documents should remain confidential because they related to “matters of state.”
The case is scheduled to go to trial next year, according to the newspaper.
PaymentsSource was unable to reach officials at any of the parties for comment.
ERG originally planned to roll out the Tcard system in 2007, but it pushed back the timetable because of a cash crunch. In April, the state awarded a new Tcard system contract to the Pearl Consortium (
Pearl Consortium’s members include the Commonwealth Bank Ltd.; Cubic Transportation Systems Australia Ltd.; which built a similar ticketing system in Queensland; and Downer EDI Engineering Power Ltd. The consortium plans to introduce the system for public-transport access in Sydney, New South Wales, by 2012, according to the official TCard website.
Public Transport Ticketing expects the smart card to replace the existing Automated Fare Collection System used to access transit services provided by CityRail, Sydney Buses, Western Sydney Buses, Sydney Ferries, and Newcastle Buses & Ferries. It also would bring private-sector bus, rail and ferry operators into the city’s integrated ticketing system.
