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Post by capitalomnibus on Jan 25, 2018 20:01:41 GMT
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Post by galwhv69 on Jan 25, 2018 20:16:47 GMT
dear oh dear  |
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Post by MoEnviro on Jan 25, 2018 20:27:58 GMT
dear oh dear A quote from the article "the Mayor...suggested a guided bus route". Investing in the bus network??? surely not  |
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Post by galwhv69 on Jan 25, 2018 20:30:56 GMT
it will probably get cancelled like this project
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Post by snoggle on Jan 25, 2018 21:45:51 GMT
Can we interrupt the rhetoric and hate with some facts? - the cost of the scheme has skyrocketed. - the scope of the project has changed umpteen times. - a new road was built in Watford that has affected the planned alignment and forced a redesign of a key bridge - Herts County Council tried to pass off land that was effectively worthless as being valued at £1m. - the design was not finished when the scheme was transferred to TfL - Boris Johnson lumbered TfL with an open ended commitment to carry all cost overruns. This was part of a Government deal to lob a load of money into the marginal constituency of Watford prior to the 2015 election. Boris signed off the open ended funding risk because he knew he wasn't standing for re-electon and any fall out would be for someone else. - The current Mayor has said he would meet the extra funding commitments up to a set limit. - The project costs are only at what is called P50 level of confidence. Normally for a committed scheme you would have P90 level of confidence. - TfL now believe that costs will be in excess of the previously agreed limit for which there was funding. - It now appears that, despite previous statements, the Government have coughed up an extra £73 million but will NOT remove the open ended cost risk from TfL. - It seems that the Mayor has said he will not proceed unless the open ended cost risk is transferred elsewhere. I can only assume he is in possession of information from TfL that says that costs may escalate yet again. - The Mayor signed off a Direction to TfL to instruct them to wind down the project team if funding had not been secured by 31 Dec 2017. The TWA powers to build the line expire in August this year so there is a small time window. I am afraid that given TfL's constrained funding and the fact that this scheme has marginal benefit to Londoners he is entirely right to say no until that open ended cost risk is removed. The Tories want this scheme to go ahead so they have to find the money and carry the risk. It is a shame that many decades of effort may come to nothing but that's sometimes how things go. |
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