 Late-running maintenance work has caused commuter chaos |
Engineering group WS Atkins has reported a 9% rise in half-year profits but admitted it is losing money on its troubled London tube network contract. It lost �400,000 in the six months to 30 September as part of its involvement in the Metronet consortium maintaining nine of the underground's 12 lines.
It said track and signals issues had incurred financial penalties and its station upgrade schedule was a concern.
The consortium is facing a bill of �750m in cost overruns on the project.
Rush-hour delays
In its first annual review of the public-private partnership deal between London Underground and Metronet last week, the Office of Rail Regulation (ORR) said Metronet had mismanaged the contract and may have to pay for the resultant costs.
The bill would be shared between Atkins and its partners on the project - Balfour Beatty, Bombardier, EDF Energy and Thames Water.
Atkins has 750 people working on the project, which has faced particular criticism for its regular late-running repairs that have led to severe delays for rush-hour commuters.
"Whilst some improvements have been made, much still remains to be done to enable Metronet to achieve its goal of being economic and efficient overall at the end of its first review period in September 2010," the company said.
Overall, Atkins made a pre-tax profit of �30.9m for the period, led by increasing work in Dubai, where it is helping to design a new light-rail network, and on urban planning projects in China.
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