Transport for London orders independent review after Silvertown procurement saga

Transport for London (TfL) is to undertake a full independent review of its Silvertown Tunnel procurement process, after paying £10M to settle out-of-court with losing bidder Silver Thames Connect (STC).

Agenda papers published in advance of this week’s TfL Finance Committee meeting confirm that TfL paid STC an out-of-court settlement in relation to Silvertown Tunnel in March. As previously reported by Arfon Consulting, the settlement is believed to be in the region of £10M.

The settlement was made after two years of legal dispute following TfL’s decision to name the Riverlinx consortium (consisting of Ferrovial subsidiary Cintra, Bam PPP PGGM, Macquarie Capital and SK E&C) as preferred bidder for the Silvertown Tunnel contract in May 2019.

STC (comprising Hochtieff, Dragados and Iridium Concesiones de Infraestructuras) claimed its bid was better value for money and started legal action in August 2019 in order to suspend the project. The suspension was lifted by the High Court two months later, but STC continued to pursue damages.

TfL’s meeting agenda papers add that “a procurement lessons-learned exercise would be undertaken” as a direct result of the out of court settlement.

The review will be carried out by TfL’s Independent Investment Programme Advisory Group and will report its findings in October. Responding to the New Civil Engineer, a TfL spokesperson said:

“As is standard on all TfL projects, we will be carrying out an internal review into the Silvertown Tunnel tendering process to ensure that any lessons learned from the procurement can be implemented for future projects”

The Silvertown Tunnel project, set to open in 2025, is the UK’s first road tunnel to have dedicated bus lanes, and from the first day, passengers will be able to cross the river on one of around 37 zero emission buses an hour during peak periods and will connect south London with the Tidal Basin Roundabout in Silvertown, in a bid to relieve congestion at the Blackwall Tunnel.

Cover Photo by Ariel Pilotto on Unsplash