Firm tasked with avoiding delays on Crossrail to be paid extra fee

TAXPAYER-FUNDED Crossrail is to pay millions of pounds in extra fees to a company originally hired to make sure the project opened on time and did not go over budget.

Officials on the South East railway scheme are close to striking a deal with its Us-based partner Bechtel, one of the world’s biggest engineering companies.

Crossrail – which is behind Europe’s biggest infrastructure project, the so-called Elizabeth line linking Reading and Heathrow airport with central London – is already facing a three-year delay and has gone more than £2bn over budget.

A new “incentive scheme” is due to be agreed with Bechtel in the next few weeks, trade publication New Civil Engineer revealed.

It is understood that other contractors are in similar talks with Crossrail officials to agree fresh incentives.

The negotiations come after public spending watchdog, the National Audit Office, concluded project leaders are not putting enough financial pressure on key contractors to deliver the programme efficiently.

Last week Crossrail announced a fresh delay until 2021 with costs to hit £18.3bn.

Bosses had previously warned in April that services would be delayed until between October 2020 and March 2021.

The Elizabeth Line was initially due to open in late 2018.

It was originally budgeted to cost £15.9bn. London mayor Sadiq Khan later agreed to raise this to £17.6bn.

Bechtel was awarded a £400m contract in 2009. It was charged with overseeing the creation of a huge tunnel under central London, and with managing the overall design process.

Boris Johnson, London mayor at the time, called Bechtel’s appointment a “significant step towards the delivery of Crossrail”.

An agreement on Bechtel’s bill to manage the overrunning process was supposed to have been struck in August.

Crossrail has been branded a “national embarrassment” by business leaders in the wake of the latest delays announcement.

A Crossrail spokesman said: “Crossrail

The Elizabeth line project is already running three years late and has gone more than £2bn over original budget

and Bechtel have been in discussion on agreement of an incentive scheme which reflects the one-team approach to achievement of this highly complex and vital programme for London.

“We expect it to be concluded within the next few weeks.”

A Bechtel spokesman said: “Bechtel has always supported Crossrail management and will continue to do so throughout the extended project period.”

Last week, Crossrail chief executive Mark Wild said the central section of the Elizabeth line will be mostly complete by the end of March 2020.

This would be with the exception of the work at Bond Street and Whitechapel stations.