1999: Carr Government Drops the Eastern Suburbs Light Rail Plan - A forerunner to trouble's in 2018?

Earlier this month, I shared an article on the 1997 proposal of the Carr Government to construct a light rail link from Central running along Anzac Parade to Kingsford, which formed the foundation for the current scheme.

While organising articles in recent times, I found an article from October 1999 where the plans were axed due to construction costs. Other factors included:

• Concerns over the water table
• The steepness of streets like Foveaux Street.
• Lack of demand by commuters.

Note that as of April 2018, the cost of the Eastern Suburbs and CBD Light Rail expansion has blown out by $1.2 billion.

Is this a forerunner to the cost blowouts that we see in 2018 as construction continues?

Source: Bissett, K. 1999. "Light rail dumped: Link to east too costly". The Daily Telegraph, October 28: 20.