Dundee’s new rail station will cost £7 million more than Dundee City Council originally estimated.
On the day John McClelland delivered his damning report into the V&A overspend, it admitted its £21 million concourse budget had been wildly optimistic.
Contractors were asked to submit tenders for the project but none could come even close to the council figure.
It looks set to accept the lowest bid that from Balfour Beatty which will see the project now cost £28million.
Funding has been secured for the project already under way to be completed despite far exceeding the pre-tender estimate. The administration will hold a meeting on August 24 in a bid to secure the backing that will allow Balfour Beatty to begin work.
Though the increased cost has only just been made public, the administration revealed that it had already commissioned and received the findings of a study into the reasons for the price hike.
News of the spiralling project costs disappointed senior Labour councillor Richard McCready, who called on the council to ensure it keeps the budget under control.
He told The Courier that Dundee was in desperate need of a railway station fit for the 21st Century and welcomes the development and the jobs it will bring.
Nonetheless, he said it was vital that the council not consider that it has a “blank cheque” with which to deliver the station.
He urged senior SNP councillors to show “political leadership” now and in the future to see council officers “held to account”.
“This is the first time we have heard of this and it’s disappointing that the costs have risen so dramatically,” he said.
Should the tender be backed later this month, work will start in the autumn and should take just over two years.
The station’s completion in time for the opening of the V&A Museum of Design is critical to its business and travel planning.
The proposed new station building will occupy the site of the former concourse and has been designed to create an impressive new landmark within the Waterfront development.