IT failings delay tube refurbishment

Serious IT failings have contributed to delays in the refurbishment of London Underground (LU) stations, track renewals and train system upgrades, according to a report published last week.

The private-public partnership (PPP) arbiter Chris Bolt has criticised Metronet, the private consortium that maintains two-thirds of the Tube network, for poor IT integration, lack of supply chain software and rising IT costs.

Metronet is just three years into a 30-year contract but is already significantly behind schedule in its renewal works and over budget by an estimated £750m.

A spokeswoman for Metronet said that ‘some difficulties with integration’ of IT systems in the supply chain have been resolved.

But a spokesman for the PPP arbiter says essential information systems do not appear to be integrated fully, and some important tools are missing.

He says major infrastructure firms need full supply chain visibility to know when and where to make repairs, optimise delivery of assets and minimise delays.

‘This visibility can only be delivered by IT applications that Metronet does not possess, and it must address this if it is to balance all its objectives,’ he said.

Rising IT project costs have been caused in part by the acceleration of the second-stage delivery of Metronet’s Ellipse Enterprise Asset Management system, without which it will be unable to meet information requirements.

‘Metronet’s IT projects have yet to be fully implemented and may not meet all the needs of a benchmark operator,’ says the report.

A spokeswoman for transport user group London TravelWatch says the lack of visibility has resulted in assets being delivered to the wrong station, causing engineering overruns.

What do you think? Email us at feedback@computing.co.uk

Further reading

Tube gets new remote monitoring system

Metronet staff to use mobile computing

Metronet reaches Tube milestonelondon underground