TfL Ref: 0531-1920

Thank you for your request received by us on 22 and 26 May 2019 asking for information about government approval documents in relation to various projects.

Your request has been considered in accordance with the requirements of the Freedom of Information Act and our information access policy. I can confirm that we hold some of the information you require. You asked for:
what Government approval documents the Transport for London produces for the following projects?
government approval documents to go ahead with a project. As long as they provide estimated schedule and cost information before the start of construction, however, government approval documents for funding are also acceptable
Bond Street: Station Upgrade
Contactless Ticketing on All Modes Excluding Cycle Hire
Delivery of 800 New Routemaster Buses
London Overground Capacity Improvement Project: Five Car
Northern Line Upgrade
Tottenham Court Road: Station Upgrade
Tramlink Improvements: Four Additional Trams and Wimbledon Platform Works
Victoria: Station Upgrade
In addition, TWAO seems to be applied to two schemes, Northern Line Upgrade and Victoria Station Upgrade. But I have received none of the requested information. Would you forward TWAO applications and final cost/schedule information?
As stated in my previous response (reference 0207-1920) the Northern line upgrade consisted of signalling that was introduced in 2014/15 without a TWAO. Furthermore, the Northern Line Upgrade 2 was cancelled as part of business planning.

In further reference to the Victoria Station Upgrade, the following information was also provided:

The time taken for TWAOs varies considerably. The table below sets out how long recent TfL TWAOs have taken. The cost of each TWAO is difficult to determine exactly and can vary depending on the overlaps with design progression and general project overhead costs. Each scheme has estimated that the TWAO is around £6-8m.

Stage Victoria
Station Upgrade Northern Line Extension Bank
Station Upgrade Barking Riverside Extension
1. TWA team formed
(approx. date) Q3 2005 Early 2012* c2010 Oct.2014
2. Application submitted 22/11/07 30/4/13 9/9/14 31/3/16
3. LBC / CAC apps submitted 4/4/08 6/6/13 9/9/14 N/A
4. Pre inquiry meeting 9/7/08 13/9/13 28/1/15 8/9/16
5. revised application (VSU only) 2/8/08 N/A N/A N/A
6. Inquiry
a) Start
b) End
c) No. of sitting days
d) Overall duration 
28/10/08
23/1/09
16
12.5 weeks 
19/11/13
20/12/13
16
4.5 weeks 
14/4/15
30/4/15
8
2.5 weeks 
18/10/16
21/10/16
4
0.4 wks
7. Date of inspectors report 21/4/09** 19/6/14 9/7/15 12/1/17
8. DfT decision letter 23/7/09 12/11/14 15/12/15 4/8/17
9. LBC / CAC decision 23/7/09 12/11/14 15/12/15 N/A
10. Order Made, Deemed PP D/N 28/8/09 24/11/14 22/12/15 15/8/17
11. Order Came into Force 18/9/09 15/12/14 12/1/16 5/9/17
Time taken, 1>10 4 years 3 years 6 years*** 3 years
Time taken, 2>10 21 months 19 months 16 m 16.5 m
    

* TfL had previously been working with Treasury Holdings but the latter went into administration in Nov.2011 and TfL took responsibility for promotion of the TWAO circa Jan 2012. A lot of work had already been done but we found that a lot had not or had to be redone.
** short version has wrong date
*** the long gap between team formation and TWA submission for Bank due in large part to (a) the need to sort out the OSD permission before submission, (b) early contractor involvement (ICE) and (c) extensive negotiation with landowners, all of which helped to achieve minimal objections and major late changes.

Attached is further documentation about the Victoria Station Upgrade. Please note that in accordance with TfL’s obligations under Data Protection Legislation, some personal information has been withheld, as required by section 40(2) of the Freedom of Information Act. This is because disclosure of this personal data would be a breach of the legislation, specifically the first principle which requires all processing of personal data to be fair and lawful. It would not be fair to disclose this personal information when the individuals have no expectation it would be disclosed and TfL has not satisfied one of the conditions which would make the processing ‘fair’. This is an absolute exemption and therefore not subject to a public interest test.

I can also advise that the Wimbledon Line Enhancements Project consisting of the Wimbledon platform works as well as four additional trams did not require a TWAO, nor was any national government funding required or requested.
Additionally, we publish details of the our funding letters from the Government regarding funding settlements at: https://tfl.gov.uk/corporate/publications-and-reports/funding-letters
In reference to the Bond Street Station and Tottenham Court Road upgrades, as mentioned in my previous response, consents were secured via the Crossrail Hybrid Bill, which were both were completed in 2017. These stations were completed with a final cost of £312m and £478m respectively, below what the programme authority granted at the start of these schemes. Further information about the Bill can be found here: http://www.crossrail.co.uk/about-us/crossrail-act-2008/

In accordance with section 21 of the FOI Act, we are not obliged to supply you with a copy of the requested information as it is already accessible to you elsewhere.

If this is not the information you are looking for, or if you are unable to access it for any reason, please do not hesitate to contact me.

Please see the attached information sheet for details of your right to appeal as well as information on copyright and what to do if you would like to re-use any of the information we have disclosed.

Yours sincerely

Jasmine Howard
FOI Case Officer
Information Governance
Transport For London

Attachments