Extra London Bridge work pushes up Thameslink cost
COSTS on the Thameslink project have risen by £474 million from the 2012 budget, according to the latest National Audit Office (NAO) report into the project.
The overall cost of the scheme is £5.5 billion. Phase 2’s budget has increased by 18% from £2,629m to £3,103m.
The NAO says this is largely due to associated work at London Bridge, with an extra £210m required after it was determined that the station and railway system designs were inappropriate for the site. Some changes involved extra infrastructure work, while some existing station assets were found to be in a poorer condition than anticipated. Design costs added a further £60m, due to the volume of the changes.
Accelerating the programme cost £109m, involving construction and procurement in order to meet deadlines. The cancellation of a national traffic management system cost £66m, while construction inflation cost £29m.
Thameslink has been split into two phases. Phase 1, including the redevelopment of Blackfriars and Farringdon stations, was completed on time and on budget in 2011 for £2.4bn. Phase 2 started in 2013 and includes the London Bridge redevelopment and introduction of Automatic Train Operation (ATO). Its budget is £3.1bn.
NAO said that as Network Rail developed its detailed design for
London Bridge and accessed the site, so it found conditions were not what was expected. This meant changes to the design, additional work, and acceleration of other works to meet schedules. NR was not set up to deal with the scale of the changes, according to NAO.
Released on November 23, the NAO report states that while NR has kept the infrastructure works to schedule, failing to complete planned work could set the project back by up to a year, because of the sequence in which the work needs to be done. It states NR has so far avoided a delay and has only one more set of critical works planned - this Christmas.
Responding to the NAO report, an NR spokesman said: “The Thameslink Programme is transforming north-south travel through London to provide more frequent, more reliable journeys to new destinations for passengers, and upgraded stations including the landmark, entirely redeveloped London Bridge.
“On January 2, the final section of the brand new, modern concourse - which is larger than the pitch at Wembley - will open to passengers alongside entirely rebuilt Platforms 1-5. Thousands of new, more frequent services to more destinations than ever before will be introduced throughout 2018, to deliver better journeys for the millions of passengers who travel on this route each year.”
Linda McCord, passenger manager at independent watchdog Transport Focus, said: “Passengers using Thameslink services will be pleased to hear that an improved service is on its way. We called for the timetable changes to be phased in, and are pleased to see the operator has taken this sensible approach, hopefully allowing passengers to experience the benefits while minimising the chances of further disruption.”