Bombardier: Why TfL didn't spot the signals
- TfL spent £85m to get out of a failed signalling contract
- It now has almost £900 million less to spend on transport improvements
- Tube upgrade programme is five years behind schedule
Today the London Assembly Budget and Performance Committee releases the report “Transport for London’s Signal Failure”[1] – which examines the circumstances behind the appointment of Bombardier Transport to upgrade signalling on the District, Circle, Metropolitan and Hammersmith & City lines.
Transport for London (TfL) ultimately paid £85 million to cancel the contract with Bombardier Transport in 2013, two years after appointment, but the ramifications of the deal are still being felt. The Sub-Surface Upgrade Programme (SSUP) is now five years behind schedule and is forecast to cost nearly £900 million more than originally expected. [2]
A culmination of nearly three years’ work scrutinising TfL’s Sub-Surface Upgrade Programme, the report highlights how poor commercial expertise and a lack of IT procurement skills left TfL ill-prepared to appoint a suitable contractor for the project, and vulnerable enough to be duped into a contract which Bombardier was never able to deliver.
It draws attention to a culture at TfL which meant that management was only interested in presenting good news and was in denial about the progress and effectiveness of the programme, allowing it to continue for much longer than it should have.
Appointing Bombardier and then waiting over two years to end the contract has bigger long term costs for TfL and Londoners. Eleven million fewer journeys than expected will take place on the underground per year between 2017 and 2023: which is estimated will cost TfL another £271 million in lost fares.
John Biggs AM, Chairman of the Budget and Performance Committee, said:
“This is nothing short of a disaster for London. Neither TfL nor Bombardier’s management teams were up to the task of managing the programme, but it is Londoners that will ultimately pay the price in travel delays and inefficiencies.”
What is most remarkable about this affair is that no-one in TfL has been held to account, and the Mayor, who chairs its board, serenely and indifferently acts as if a £900 million increase to the budget isn’t an issue. In government, heads – political or official – would roll after such financial mismanagement. At TfL the key players have been promoted and nobody was to blame. It is a scandal. ”
Related documents
Transport for London's Signal Failure
Notes to editors
- The Committee’s report is available here and below.
- TfL has since increased the budget for the signalling element of the Sub-Surface Upgrade Programme by £886 million.
- John Biggs AM, Chair of the Budget & Performance Committee is available for interview. See contact details below.
- The key responsibility of the Budget and Performance Committee is its annual scrutiny of the Mayor’s budget proposals for the next financial year. This involves detailed examination of the Mayor’s plans for spending his budget to help ensure taxpayers’ money is spent appropriately and effectively.
- As well as investigating issues that matter to Londoners, the London Assembly acts as a check and a balance on the Mayor.
For media enquiries, please contact Ben Walker on 020 7983 5769. For out of hours media enquiries, call 020 7983 4000 and ask for the London Assembly duty press officer. Non-media enquiries should be directed to the Public Liaison Unit on 020 7983 4100.