Media Release: Alistair Coe MLA, 19 September 2009

Alistair Coe, the Shadow Minister for Transport Services, said today that the Government’s purchase of new generation diesel buses raises issues in relation to the Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) fleet.

“The Government’s announcement of the procurement of diesel buses is an admission of failure on CNG buses,” Mr Coe said.

“When the Government purchased these buses there was significant investment for a refuelling station at the Tuggeranong depot and considerable costs continue to be incurred for the extra maintenance required for these buses.”

“It is now obvious that the Government will fail to reach economies of scale with these buses.”

“The Government got the procurement of CNG buses wrong and is now moving back to the tried-and-true technology of diesel buses.”

“Today’s announcement had all the typical over-the-top gloss of a Stanhope-Gallagher Government announcement, but hiding behind the gloss was the inefficiency and failure to deliver basic government services in a cost effective way.”

“The community deserves answers on how much extra we are paying for the CNG fleet and how long we expect them to be in operation for.”

“I will be seeking further information on these issues and how much it is costing the taxpayer.”

This page was last updated on 13 August 2022