Concerns over Thameslink delivery

A public spending watchdog has cast doubt on the Government's ability to deliver a major upgrade to a key rail route by the 2018 deadline
5 June 2013

A public spending watchdog has cast doubt on the Government's ability to deliver a major upgrade to a key rail route by the 2018 deadline.

Delays in awarding the contract to build new trains for the Thameslink risk putting the entire project behind schedule and call into question the skills of Whitehall mandarins to plan for complex transport schemes, according to the National Audit Office (NAO).

Margaret Hodge, who chairs the Commons Public Accounts Committee, raised fears that the Department for Transport (DfT), which has come in for criticism for its handling of a number of schemes including the West Coast Main Line franchise collapse, was "doomed to repeat history".

She said: "Despite the department's chequered history in this area, it was encouraging to see that the first phase of the infrastructure project to alter both Blackfriars and Farringdon stations came in on time and under budget. The department now has to build the rest of the infrastructure, buy new trains and let the operating franchise.

"Unlike the shambolic HS2 business case, the case for Thameslink is clear: it is consistently among the most crowded routes in London. However, the department will have to balance the demands of delivering this complex project alongside HS2 and Crossrail.

"With only a small team running Thameslink and their most senior person leaving, I am worried that the department is doomed to repeat history and has underestimated the scale of work, time and skills needed to deliver such an important and complex project.

"There has been a three-year delay trying to agree the £1.6 billion contract for trains. There is a risk the 2018 completion date will slip if negotiations with Siemens, the train provider, aren't concluded soon. I am concerned at this stage in the project, given the lengthy delays, that the department has left itself with little contingency should anything go wrong. It needs to plan ahead and make sure it avoids another West Coast Main Line-style fiasco."

The NAO report found there continues to be a "robust" transport case for investment in the route, worth £3.552 billion in 2006 prices, because the Bedford to Brighton crossing through London is one of the capital's most overcrowded services. A contract for the trains was supposed to have been signed off by March 2010 but the DfT only selected its preferred bidder - a consortium led by Germany's Siemens at the expense of Bombardier Transportation, which builds trains in Derby - in June 2011 and the deal has yet to be finalised.

Rail Maritime and Transport union (RMT) general secretary Bob Crow said: "The National Audit Office are confirming everything that RMT has said over the past two years about the chaotic mismanagement of the Thameslink upgrade right up to cabinet level. Not only has this disgraceful shambles delayed key rail developments but it has also left 10,000 skilled engineering jobs across the East Midlands hanging in the balance."

A DfT spokesman said: "The procurement process for the new Thameslink rolling stock is complex and it is important that we get it absolutely right in order to ensure the best deal for the taxpayer in these challenging financial times. However we are in the final stages of the process and we expect to conclude the deal shortly. We have an experienced senior team in place and are confident that we will be able to deliver the remainder of the project on time and on budget."

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