Old Street Station and Roundabout Works Project Costs, Delays, and Tube Rider Traffic Data
Request ID: FOI-4240-2324 Date published: 18 March 2024
You asked
To whom it may concern,
Under the Freedom of Information Act 2000, I am writing to request detailed information regarding the "Old Street Station and Roundabout Works" project. This request is made in the public interest due to the significant impact on local businesses and footfall in the area caused by the project delays, and the substantial public funding that TFL continues to receive.
Original Budgets and Quotations: The original budgetary allocations and quotations for the project.
Additional Expenses: Detailed records of all additional expenses incurred beyond the original budget.
Current Financial Position: An up-to-date summary of the net financial position vis-a-vis the original budget.
Contractor Quotations and Budget Revisions: Copies of additional quotations from contractors and any budget revisions.
Additionally, I request the following information:
Tube Rider Traffic Data: Monthly statistics on the number of passengers riding the tube to and from Old Street Station, for each month from 2018 to January 2024. I am aware that the project has experienced several substantial delays, and I am particularly interested in the information from the project's inception to the current date. The requested data is essential for understanding the project's impact on the local community and commuter patterns.
I would prefer to receive this information in a digital format (e.g., PDF files via email).
I am willing to provide any further clarifications needed to assist you in processing this request. If this request is too broad or unclear, please feel free to contact me. I understand that under the Act, you are required to advise and assist requesters. Also, if any of this information is already in the public domain, please direct me to it with page references and URLs if necessary.
I understand that under the Freedom of Information Act, I should expect a response within 20 working days of your receipt of this letter. If my request is denied in whole or part, I ask that you justify all deletions by reference to specific exemptions of the act.
Thank you for your attention to this matter and for your assistance.
We answered
TfL Ref: EIR-4240-2324 Thank you for your request received by Transport for London (TfL) on 15th February 2024 asking for information about Old Street station and roundabout works. Your request has been considered in accordance with the requirements of the Environmental Information Regulations (EIR) and our information access policy. Specifically you asked the following: “I am writing to request detailed information regarding the "Old Street Station and Roundabout Works" project. This request is made in the public interest due to the significant impact on local businesses and footfall in the area caused by the project delays, and the substantial public funding that TFL continues to receive. Original Budgets and Quotations: The original budgetary allocations and quotations for the project. Additional Expenses: Detailed records of all additional expenses incurred beyond the original budget. Current Financial Position: An up-to-date summary of the net financial position vis-a-vis the original budget. Contractor Quotations and Budget Revisions: Copies of additional quotations from contractors and any budget revisions. Additionally, I request the following information: Tube Rider Traffic Data: Monthly statistics on the number of passengers riding the tube to and from Old Street Station, for each month from 2018 to January 2024. I am aware that the project has experienced several substantial delays, and I am particularly interested in the information from the project's inception to the current date. The requested data is essential for understanding the project's impact on the local community and commuter patterns.” I can confirm that we hold the information you require. The table below provides the costs to date and estimated final costs for the project, as at Period 12 of the Financial Year 2023/24:
Old Street Station and Roundabout Project Costs
Cost to Date (£m)
Estimated Final Costs (£m)
Project Management & Engineering
£11.44
£12.24
Design
£5.69
£5.69
3rd Party Stakeholders & Utility Providers
£2.61
£2.61
Surveys & Enabling Works
£2.79
£2.89
Construction
£102.85
£103.75
Risk*
£0.00
£2.36
£125.37
£129.54
*The risk allowance is to cover for any identified risks materialising on the project which could cause further delay or disruption and impact on the completion date and associated costs. The estimated final costs may be lower if the risk share is not utilised. The table below provides the entries and exits at Old Street London Underground Station by month in 2018:
Entries
Exits
Jan
889638
920365
Feb
757689
782401
Mar
890922
931268
Apr
775318
821540
May
820491
864638
Jun
932988
990106
Jul
816913
852401
Aug
756118
800197
Sep
846898
897411
Oct
970783
1029249
Nov
982238
1035642
Dec
791935
845605
Data from 2019 onwards is published proactively on the TfL website via the following link: Microsoft Power BI – click ‘Understood – take me to the reports’ and then select the ‘Taps by station’ tab. You can then select Old Street station from the ‘Station’ tab on the top row of that page. The ‘Travel Date’ tab to the top left allows you to filter the date range, going back to 01/01/2019, and the ‘Entry / Exit’ tab to the top right allows you to see entries only, exits only, or both combined. To the very far right of the top row you can select to see the data by year, month, week or day. In regard to the remaining information you have requested, this is being refused under Regulation 12(4)(b) of the EIR on the basis that it would be ‘manifestly unreasonable’ to source it all. The project spans a decade now (the original consultation exercise began in November 2014) and is extremely complex. There is no quick, efficient or automated way of sourcing all of the original quotations, additional expenses and revisions across that period. There is no single source for this information, and just trying to determine exactly what is held would be a convoluted task, notwithstanding the need to then source it. We see no particular wider public interest in expending the necessary resource to answer such a broad set of questions, particularly given that information on the running costs of the project have frequently been put into the public domain across its lifetime, including via previous FOI requests (note that you can search all previous FOI responses, going back several years, via our website here: https://tfl.gov.uk/corporate/transparency/freedom-of-information). Colleagues estimate it would take well in excess of 30 hours to source all of this remaining information, and we do not believe that represents a proportionate use of their time. 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, David Wells FOI Case Officer FOI Case Management Team General Counsel Transport for London
