Source · Select Committees · Public Accounts Committee
Recommendation 6
6
Accepted
Demonstrate embedded lessons from past rail projects and specific measures addressing Euston cost overruns
Conclusion
The Department has not yet learned lessons from managing major rail programmes. In previous examination of other rail programmes like Thameslink and the Great Western Railway modernisation we have reported very similar problems to the ones we are now seeing again with Euston. The Department and HS2 Ltd say that they are learning lessons from other programmes such as Crossrail. But that there is more for them to do for example, on cost estimation, the treatment of contingency and managing the integration of complex projects. They also acknowledge that there are lessons they could learn from the development at King’s Cross such as the value that could come from managing the work at Euston as one integrated programme. HS2 Ltd considers that the work at Manchester Piccadilly will be the most important place for them to learn the lessons from Euston, given that Curzon Street Station in Birmingham is already much more developed. However, both stations are major construction projects in their own right and careful scrutiny of costs needs to be maintained by the Department to ensure that similar mistakes 8 HS2 Euston do not reoccur. This will include thinking about the right set up and organisation of the project, getting it in place early and determining the scale of ambition for regeneration and over-site development work. Recommendation 6: The Department needs to demonstrate to Parliament and the public that they are successfully embedding the lessons from past rail projects and not just repeating the same mistakes. Specifically on Euston the Department and HS2 Ltd should report back to the Committee on: • what measures the Department and contractors took internally to address costs overruns and to identify who was responsible • what lessons they have learned from the Euston project and how it will apply them at both Birmingham Curzon Street, Manchester Piccadilly, having done so they will scrutinise the revised costs carefully to avoid further cost occurring in other pa
Government Response Summary
The government agreed, outlining actions to embed lessons from past rail projects, including working with the IPA, promoting a learning culture, identifying cost drivers in the Euston Reset Programme, and sharing insights for future projects like Birmingham Curzon Street and Manchester Piccadilly.
Government Response
Accepted
HM Government
Accepted
The government agrees with the Committee’s recommendation. programmes, which includes working with the Infrastructure and Projects Authority in order to learn lessons from Crossrail. The department made the decision not to proceed to full construction of Euston Station in the next two years due to affordability and profiling issues. It will continue to apply lessons learnt across phases of the HS2 programme. A culture of lessons learned is actively encouraged within the department, and specific initiatives are promoted in the individual directorates running each part of the HS2 project, including a structured learning and development programme, peer-to-peer learning, mentoring, and shadowing and facilitated workshops. As part of the Euston Reset Programme, the department is working to identify the cost drivers of the previous station cost estimate of £4.8 billion. High Speed Rail Group is learning from the more mature elements of the HS2 programme, including those from Birmingham Curzon Street and other major projects in the department's portfolio. These are being actively shared with projects that are less mature. HS2 Ltd are undertaking work in order to understand the key cost drivers of the current station design and the reasons why the station cost increased following the move to a 10- platform single-stage build design in 2021. The department is also keen to understand appropriate lessons to enact as part of the Euston Reset Programme. Learning, both within the department and at HS2 Ltd will be shared with colleagues developing Manchester Piccadilly and Birmingham Curzon Street stations. The department is working with delivery partners to complete the optioneering stage of the Euston Reset Programme. Once appropriate options have been identified, the department will undertake a sift process in which only solutions that are deliverable cross-campus will be considered.