A committee of MPs has urged the Department for Transport (DfT) and Crossrail Ltd to explain who is responsible for the delays and mounting cost failures on the Crossrail project
The Crossrail project aims to deliver a new east-west railway through central London, providing passengers with new train services to improve connections on the existing transport network, reduce journey times and ease congestion.
It was expected to set the standard for delivery of transport programmes, where the skills and knowledge gained from the programme could be exported around the world. However, costs have escalated and delivery dates have turned out to be over-optimistic.
New train services were due to begin in December 2018 but have been seriously delayed. Until a revised opening schedule has been agreed, MPs revealed they are not convinced that new services will start to run in 2020 as now hoped, or that the additional £2.8bn of funding provided will be enough.
The DfT and Crossrail Ltd are unable to wholly explain how the Crossrail project has been allowed to unravel.
Crossrail Ltd failed to properly report the position of the programme and risks. Key warning signs were missed or ignored, and Parliament and potential new passengers still do not know the root causes of the delays and significant cost overruns.
As the programme progressed, the DfT, as a joint sponsor of the programme with Transport for London (TfL), failed to ensure that the governance arrangements it had put in place were robust.
Chair of the Committee of Public Accounts, said: “Passengers were led to believe they would be able use new Crossrail services through central London from the end of last year. Instead, they have been badly let down by significant delays and cost overruns.
“It is clear that the delivery deadline of December 2018 had been unrealistic for some time. But the Department for Transport, Transport for London and Crossrail Ltd continued to put a positive face on the programme long after mounting evidence should have prompted changes.
“Wishful thinking is no basis for spending public money and there remain serious risks to delivering this programme, with a revised schedule and costings for completing the work still to be agreed. Some £2.8bin of extra funding has been provided for Crossrail but even that may not be enough.
“It is unacceptable that Parliament and the public still do not know the root causes of the failures that beset this project. Nor will we accept the Department and Crossrail Ltd’s description of these serious problems as ‘systems failures’.
“Accountability in the use of public money is of fundamental importance. The Department should write to us urgently to explain what it, Transport for London and Crossrail Limited are responsible and accountable for on this programme, and set out clearly what consequences there have been for well-rewarded officials whose costly failures are paid for by taxpayers.”
MPs Crossrail project recommendations
- The DfT should write to the committee within six months of this report to explain the steps it is taking to encourage a culture of openness and transparency internally and across its delivery bodies.
- The department should also commit to updating the committee at regular intervals and ensure that we are kept up-to-date with all key developments.
- The department should consider the root causes of cost increases and delays and should write to the committee by June 2019 setting out how it has taken lessons learned into consideration and what impact this has had on its approach to the project.
- In response to this report, the DfT should set out how it considered the value for money for the taxpayer when agreeing to increased funding for the programme in 2018.
- The department must write to the committee immediately after reaching agreement with Crossrail Ltd to outline how it has assured itself that the revised schedule and cost to completion are robust.
- By July 2019, the department must explain how it has changed its contractual relationship with Crossrail so that it can properly exercise oversight and hold Crossrail Ltd to account for its performance managing the programme to completion.
- DfT should, as a matter of urgency, write to the committee clearly articulating what it, Transport for London and Crossrail Limited are responsible and accountable for in relation to the Crossrail project and what the consequences have been for those senior officials in positions of accountability and responsibility for failures on the programme.
