Met Line Extension: £130m of taxpayers' money spent on project

An FOI request by the Observer shows that £130m has been spent
An FOI request by the Observer shows that £130m has been spent
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Almost £130m of taxpayers’ money has been spent on the Met Line Extension, a Freedom of Information request has revealed.

Before transferring the project to Transport for London in 2015, Hertfordshire County Council contributed £30.9m, Watford Borough Council gave £9.6m and the Hertfordshire Local Enterprise Partnership gave £87.9m

READ MORE:'The implications for Watford are significant': Metropolitan Line Extension £50m short of budget

The future of the £284m project - which plans to connect the Metropolitan Line from Croxley to several stations across Watford – is uncertain, after the Observer earlier announced that TfL officials said the project is £50m short of funding.

The project received £49 million from the previous Mayor of London Boris Johnson, but recent cost projections by TfL show that £50 million more will be required before it can progress.

READ MORE: Met Line extension: Mayor confirms work has stopped

There has been much speculation about the project since London Mayor Sadiq Khan failed to include the extension in his TfL business plan – and he has now confirmed that no more cash will be made available for the project and that he has asked the Department of Transport for extra funding. 

Earlier this year, a TfL worker told the Observer that work had stopped on the line, and Watford Mayor Dorothy Thornhill also confirmed that Affinity Water were no longer working on the extension. 

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