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Costs set to rocket after JLE shake-up
00:00 30 Sep 1998
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The cost of the Jubilee Line Extension is set to soar after London
Transport chief executive Denis Tunnicliffe said financial
resources will be provided for "what it takes to finish" the
project.
Tunnicliffe would not put a figure on the costs required to accelerate work to enable the troubled project to meet its rescheduled completion date of September/October 1999 - more than 18 months late and with a lower spec signalling system.
The original budget price for the work was £1.7 billion. Last Friday, Tunnicliffe said the cost would be at least £2.75 billion. One day later transport minister Dr John Reid said the bill would be "in the region of £2.9 billion". Industry sources suggest that the final cost could be £3.5 billion, or higher, once the costs for accelerating the work and settling the claims made by JLE contractors are taken into consideration
Last week, the 1,000-strong JLE project team was rocked by Tunnicliffe announcing that project director Hugh Doherty was quitting and that US construction manager Bechtel was taking over to ensure the project was finished in time for the millennium celebrations.
Doherty will be replaced by Cliff Mumm, a senior vice president of Bechtel. Mumm will be bringing in between 25-30 Bechtel staff to handle the project. Mumm said "possibly half a dozen" senior JLE staff could also be leaving. He added that Doherty will be "my adviser for a day or two."
Tunnicliffe would not reveal Bechtel's fees but these are likely to run into several million pounds. The US firm will also receive an undisclosed incentive sum if the JLE is completed to the rescheduled programme. This calls for the extension to open in three stages - Stratford to North Greenwich by 30 April 1999, North Greenwich to Waterloo by the end of August 1999, and Waterloo to Green Park by September/October 1999 - only weeks before the Millennium Dome is due to open.
Tunnicliffe said "the rate of completing stations over the summer had been disappointing" and this was one reason for the works slipping further behind schedule. He defended Bechtel's appointment by saying: "It is not unusual to bring a new team in to re-energise a project." He said the project is "some 90 per cent complete" and that "to deliver the project next year, we needed more resources."
LT has also abandoned plans to get the "moving block" signalling system working in time for the millennium.
l See Comment on page 16.
Tunnicliffe would not put a figure on the costs required to accelerate work to enable the troubled project to meet its rescheduled completion date of September/October 1999 - more than 18 months late and with a lower spec signalling system.
The original budget price for the work was £1.7 billion. Last Friday, Tunnicliffe said the cost would be at least £2.75 billion. One day later transport minister Dr John Reid said the bill would be "in the region of £2.9 billion". Industry sources suggest that the final cost could be £3.5 billion, or higher, once the costs for accelerating the work and settling the claims made by JLE contractors are taken into consideration
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Last week, the 1,000-strong JLE project team was rocked by Tunnicliffe announcing that project director Hugh Doherty was quitting and that US construction manager Bechtel was taking over to ensure the project was finished in time for the millennium celebrations.
Doherty will be replaced by Cliff Mumm, a senior vice president of Bechtel. Mumm will be bringing in between 25-30 Bechtel staff to handle the project. Mumm said "possibly half a dozen" senior JLE staff could also be leaving. He added that Doherty will be "my adviser for a day or two."
Tunnicliffe would not reveal Bechtel's fees but these are likely to run into several million pounds. The US firm will also receive an undisclosed incentive sum if the JLE is completed to the rescheduled programme. This calls for the extension to open in three stages - Stratford to North Greenwich by 30 April 1999, North Greenwich to Waterloo by the end of August 1999, and Waterloo to Green Park by September/October 1999 - only weeks before the Millennium Dome is due to open.
Tunnicliffe said "the rate of completing stations over the summer had been disappointing" and this was one reason for the works slipping further behind schedule. He defended Bechtel's appointment by saying: "It is not unusual to bring a new team in to re-energise a project." He said the project is "some 90 per cent complete" and that "to deliver the project next year, we needed more resources."
LT has also abandoned plans to get the "moving block" signalling system working in time for the millennium.
l See Comment on page 16.
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