The news of the significant cost increase of MetroWest Phase 1 comes as no surprise as I raised my concerns with the Transport Secretary, Chris Grayling, on 9/2/17 on exactly this issue. My letter to him and his reply of 27/2/17 are available on the link below. As I said in my letter, the Councils would not have agreed to be a “third party promoter” of the scheme if the likely size of the cost had been correctly identified by Network Rail at an earlier stage.
I very much welcome the Secretary of State’s announcement to spend £2.8 million on Junction 19 and will continue to press that equal priority can be given to a solution to the railway that makes it affordable and viable.