A NEW report has said the Great Western Electrification programme is currently more than a billion pounds over budget and two years behind schedule.

This rise in cost, from £1.6 billion to an estimated £2.8 billion, has been described by the Government’s Public Accounts Committee as “staggering and unacceptable.”

Network Rail, which is responsible for the programme, is currently working on lines through Swindon meaning the Stratton Green Bridge is shut.

The work was meant to be carried out last year but delays meant it was postponed. In Royal Wootton Bassett, the Skew Bridges were due to close without an alternative route being provided but when it became apparent this was not feasible, Network Rail decided to construct a temporary road.

Although Network Rail has up until now said this has not impacted on timescales, the committee report says there is now no firm date for the electrification to be completed.

Committee chairman Meg Hillier said: "Network Rail has lost its grip on managing large infrastructure projects.

"The result is a twofold blow to taxpayers: delays in the delivery of promised improvements and a vastly bigger bill for delivering them."

Network Rail has said the project was extremely complex but changes had been made to bring costs under control.

A spokesman said: "Network Rail has successfully delivered over 5,000 projects over the past five years, but our understanding of how best to plan and deliver major new electrification schemes was not good enough.

"We have now made significant changes to the way we plan and deliver our investment programme, which will see schemes progress only once they are sufficiently developed that a reliable cost estimate can be established."