Northern Line extension row over rising costs on the £1.2bn project remains unresolved seven months on
A row over extra costs to the Northern Line extension is still yet to be resolved, six months since Transport for London (TfL) said that court could be an option in the stand-off, though not one it was keen to pursue.
The £1.2bn project will extend the Northern Line from Kennington to Battersea via Nine Elms, and is due to be completed in 2020. It is expected to cut journey times to the West End and the City to just under 15 minutes.
Read more: On track: The £1.2bn Northern Line extension just finished tunnelling work
But changes to the original design of the development around the new station at Battersea by the Battersea Power Station Development Corporation (BPSDC) led to a £240m rise in costs, and a disagreement over how much the developer should contribute to these.
Back in September, TfL’s director of major projects, Stuart Harvey, said TfL could refuse to open the new station if an agreement was not reached, and that ending up in court was also an option, but would not say whether the former was being considered.
He also said at the time that neither party wanted to end up in court.
Harvey said then that an agreement was unlikely to be reached before Christmas 2017, but City A.M. understands little has changed from seven months ago, though work elsewhere on the project continues.
Today, Harvey said TfL was committed to delivering the whole project, and the transport body was “moving forward with the process” to recover costs from the developer.
He said:
Significant changes have been made by the Battersea Power Station Developer to the agreed proposed development above the station at Battersea.
These more ambitious structures have in turn meant significant changes are needed to the new Tube station, leading to an increase in the overall cost of the project. We have been in discussions with BPS over these additional costs and are moving forward with the process to recover these from them.
“We are fully focused on completing the Northern Line extension, including the opening of the new Underground station at Battersea. Major tunnelling finished last year and, over Christmas, the new and existing Northern Line tunnels were connected for the first time. Work at both new stations is also well underway,” Harvey added.
TfL would not comment further on whether the timeline of the project could be affected if it can’t reach an agreement with the BPSDC anytime soon.
BPSDC was approached for comment.
Read more: A crucial part of the £1bn Northern Line extension is under threat