The minutes added: “In response to a question whether there was a positive business case on the revised costs this was confirmed still to be the position … . Critically lessons needed to be learnt, particularly from the early part of the project and the executive team were keenly aware of this.”
Creagh told the Evening Standard' sister paper The Independent: “With the Government’s flagship electrification programme in trouble ministers have denied the public the chance to access information until after the election. Their reluctance begs the question, what are they trying to hide?
“David Cameron said sunshine is the best disinfectant, but he and his ministers are strangely reluctant to let light in on the workings of Network Rail. Hard-pressed fare-payers and tax-payers deserve to know how their £4bn annual support is being used – especially as ticket prices have risen by 20 per cent since 2010.”
FoIs could cover Network Rail’s expansion into lucrative consultancy work, safety incidents, and its suppliers. Its contractors EDF, Carillion and Babcock won £341.1m, £281.2m and £220.5m of work respectively in 2013-14.
A spokesman said that Network Rail had been “operating as if” FoI applied for more than a year.
