Recommendation 24

The Department’s failures around budgeting, cost estimation and integration on the Euston project are not new. We have reported on these as part of our examination of other major rail programmes over the years. For example, on the Thameslink Programme, this committee found in 2018 that Network Rail did not have enough contingency within its budget for the redevelopment of London Bridge station, where costs rose from the condition and complexity of the site.60 This committee also reported about the Department’s failure to manage the modernisation of the Great Western Railway in 2017 in a joined-up way, including a failure to integrate projects together.61