Cost of Great Western rail line modernisation rockets, according to NAO

Government blamed as costs for Great Western rail line modernisation spirals to £5.6Bn.

The National Audit Office (NAO) report says that costs for the Great Western railway network has increased by £2.1Bn since 2013, with the government blamed for huge extra costs and lengthy delays to the network in England and Wales.

Poor planning from the government is to blame for the project’s problems, according to the audit office report.

Delays have added between 18 and 36 months to the project’s timescale, with the government announcing yesterday that the electrification of four short parts of the network would now be deferred.

Plans for the Great Western Rail were amended last year, after it became clear that costs were increasing and the schedule could not be met. The report found that as a result of this, some passengers in the north and west of England may have to wait longer for improvements to their services as the relocation of Great Western trains is held up.

The report says that the value for money of the work needs to be reassessed and the extent of electrification reconsidered

Head of NAO, Amyas Morse said the modernisation plan was a “case study in how not to manage a major programme.

“The department’s failure to plan and manage all the projects which now make up the Great Western Route Modernisation industry programme in a sufficiently joined-up way, combined with weaknesses in Network Rail’s management of the infrastructure programme, has led to additional costs for the taxpayer.”

This week, Labour accused Rail Minister, Paul Maynard, of being responsible for “another broken Tory promise on rail” after the electrification of four sections of the Great Western line was “deferred”.

The report found that work to electrify the line between Maidenhead and Cardiff accounted for £1.7Bn out of the £2.1Bn increase in the cost of the programme.

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