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A PROGRAMME to modernise the Great Western railway route between London and the west of England has descended into farce, with soaring costs, delays, and bad planning by the Department for Transport, the National Audit Office (NAO) revealed yesterday.
The watchdog detailed a catalogue of inefficiency and incompetence, including a rise in costs from £2.1 billion to £5.58 billion and delays in an electrification programme of up to three years costing the taxpayer an extra £330 million.
In a letter, Transport Minister Paul Maynard announced the deferment of the electrification of four key Great Western routes: between Oxford and Didcot Parkway, Filton Bank (Bristol Parkway to Bristol Temple Meads), west of Thingley Junction (Bath Spa to Bristol Temple Meads) and the Thames Valley branches (Henley and Windsor).
The HS2 debacle exposes what happens when public infrastructure is handed to private contractors – especially when set against China’s state-led high-speed rail success, says CARLOS MARTINEZ
On the eve of the 157th Trades Union Congress, MICK WHELAN, general secretary of Aslef, the train drivers’ union, celebrates victory in his campaign to get dignity for drivers at work
