Former Buckingham Group rail projects have been hit with delays, despite Kier taking over the collapsed contractor’s rail division.
The combined cost of building two new stations in the Midlands faces a further rise of up to £15m, with construction delayed by more than a year, while upgrades to a depot of trains to London have also come to a standstill.
Kier bought the rail division of Buckingham Group out of administration for £9.6m in September, saving 180 jobs and taking on a number of assets and live contracts.
The projects included the construction of two stations in Staffordshire, at Darlaston and Willenhall (pictured).
However, the West Midlands Combined Authority (WMCA) met on Friday (November 17) to consider an increase of up to £15.4 million to the project’s budget. According to the agenda documents, project costs have increased due to delays caused by the Buckingham collapse and changes to the project scope negotiated during the contract renewal at Kier.
The WMCA did not approve additional funding, noting that work was underway to reassess the program’s affordability and funding. The board agreed that only work that was within the current budget would be carried out until it had reviewed and agreed on its affordability.
The budget had previously been increased from £55.8m to £69.8m in June due to unexpected ground repair and fire safety requirements. The new cost is estimated at between £81.3m and £85.3m.
A spokesman for Transport for West Midlands said Construction news that the body could adapt to cost increases after receiving more than £1 billion of infrastructure funding through the city region’s sustainable transport deal.
They said: “This downtime and the subsequent remobilization has had a significant impact on expected timelines and costs.
“However, we will continue to work with our partners to seek opportunities to accelerate the delivery of Willenhall and Darlaston.”
The new stations are expected to open in the winter of 2025-26, according to a rough estimate by Kier. They were initially supposed to be completed this year.
Buckingham too won a contract in 2021 to upgrade the northern sidings at Beckton Depot in preparation for 33 new fixed formation trains. The works included the creation of additional track, new switching and crossing units, platforms, footbridges, lighting, communications and signalling.
The company suspended work on the site when it filed a notice of intention to appoint administrators in August.
The site remains in limbo in the absence of a replacement contractor, as the contract was not part of the sale to Kier.
“Work is underway to develop and consider options for how to complete these works,” the client, Transport for London, said in a September investment program report.
