Guided busway dispute: Out-of-court settlement agreed by Cambrigeshire County Council and BAM Nuttall over repairs

Cambridgeshire County Council has agreed an out-of-court settlement with BAM Nuttall in a case concerning repairs to the guided busway.

It said it had reached a “confidential settlement” after “positive discussions” with the contractor.

The agreement comes a month after the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) announced it was prosecuting the council following three deaths and a life-changing injury on the busway.

The 16-mile (25km) route from St Ives to Cambridge opened in August 2011 after a series of delays and amid spiralling costs.

In 2017, after cracks appeared in the concrete beams, the council estimated that £36.5m of repairs were required.

Then in June 2020, the council announced it was taking legal action against BAM Nuttall over the cost of repairing what it described as “defects”. The council claimed there were issues with the foundations, concrete beam moulds and drainage, which amounted to £87m of problems.

BAM Nuttall said it would be defending the case and said it was “confident” that it would demonstrate to the satisfaction of the High Court “that the design of the busway is not fundamentally defective and doesn’t require the remedial works which the council claims”.

Today (June 12), the council issued a brief statement on the case, saying: “The county council has been working hard to ensure the long-term future of the guided busway, as a safe, sustainable and effective part of our local infrastructure, which millions of passengers rely on.

“Following positive discussions with BAM Nuttall, the case will no longer be going to court as all parties have reached an undisclosed, confidential settlement.

“This settlement gives the council the confidence it needed to secure the long-term future of the busway.”

It is not the first time the council has struck an agreement out of court with BAM Nuttall over the busway.

In 2013, it accepted a £33m payout from the contractor after another protracted dispute over the cost of building the transport route, which was completed two years later than planned.

It meant the council had paid BAM Nuttall £84.7m to build the busway, slightly above the original price of £83.9m. BAM Nuttall had claimed the council owed it about £70m more than the price originally quoted, leading to the protracted legal dispute.

The contractor argued the guided busway – which is the longest on the world – cost £152.5m to build and the council should pay an extra £43mn on top of the £117.7m it had already paid.

But amid the threat of legal action and mediation, the company paid £33m to the council, which also retained various monies that it had withheld under the terms of the contract.

It meant the final cost of the busway was £152m, against a budget of around £126m, which had included construction, land acquisition and other costs. The government paid £92.5m of this, with £26m from section 106 funds from developers and the rest in transport grants and other income.

But troubles surrounding the busway are far from over, with the HSE prosecuting the council following the deaths of three people and the life-changing injuries sustained by a fourth person on the busway.

Jennifer Taylor, 81, died when she was hit by a bus as she crossed the busway on foot at Fen Drayton on November 17, 2015.

Then almost three years later, cyclist Steve Moir, 50, died after colliding with a bus on the section of the busway between Cambridge railway station and Long Road on September 13, 2018.

Pedestrian Kathleen Pitts, 52, died after being hit by a bus on a section of the busway, also between Cambridge railway station and Long Road, on October 26, 2021.

The fourth person, a teenage cyclist, was seriously injured when he collided with a bus in the guided section of the busway parallel to King’s Hedges Road less than a month later, on November 9, 2021.

Cambridgeshire County Council faces a charge under s3(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974.

The charge follows an extensive investigation by HSE, which regulates the nation’s workplaces.

A first hearing date has yet to be confirmed.