London station improvements put on hold

Transport for London (TfL) has put more than half of its programme of station improvements on hold. The plans were established under the now-bust Metronet PPP which TfL now controls.

£50m plans to refurbish Embankment station are on ice as are station improvements at Westbourne Park, Rickmansworth and Moor Park.

The contract to refurbish Sloane Square which was lumped into the Westbourne Park improvement will be retendered in the coming weeks.

The news comes as TfL prepares to issue its first major job under the Vendor Capital Programme (VCP) which will be preparatory works for Crossrail.

The VCP, which covers tunnel cooling, station improvements, congestion relief, disabled access and staff accommodation.

Firms on the £2.8bn five-year framework include Skanska, Balfour Beatty, Taylor Woodrow, Birse Metro, Mansell Construction, Costain, Dyer & Butler, Bam Nuttall, Geoffrey Osborne, Morgan Est and YJL Infrastructure.

Metronet had overspent on its refurbishment work by the time it collapsed in 2007, a spokeswoman said, adding:

“London Underground had to do significant work to align Metronet Rail spending plans to the actual funding available.

“Unfortunately this has had an impact on the station work programme, with many station projects deferred. As a result, the tendering process under the VCP has been postponed and some contract retenders are on hold.”