RER rail upgrade costs surge to €3.5 billion

Some €308.4 million more will be needed to complete the construction of Brussels’ Regional Express Network (RER) rail project, according to new estimates from the cabinet of Belgium's federal mobility minister Jean-Luc Crucke (Les Engagés).

Rail network operator Infrabel is said to have warned the minister’s office that this extra money must be found to complete the network of new and fast train connections around Brussels.

In the document, Crucke states he is “surprised at the size of the additional costs identified” of the project, an increase of almost 40% in two years.

“Two years ago, during negotiations on the performance contract between the state and Infrabel, the network operator estimated that an additional €900 million was needed to complete the project,” Crucke’s chief of staff said. “Now €1.2 billion is required.”

The letter refers to “a spectacular increase in budget estimates” to complete this project first mooted in the 1990s and plagued by delays and budgetary increases ever since.

An Infrabel spokesperson said: “These are not additional costs, but an estimate of RER costs between now and completion, based on a number of hypotheses. It is very likely that the final amount will be different, either more or less.”

According to Infrabel, these estimates have been revised upwards mainly because of external economic factors, “such as inflation, more expensive building materials and higher salaries needed for construction workers, and delays in granting permits”.

But this explanation did not satisfy Crucke, who had already called for a financial audit of the project. At the start, the cost was estimated at €1.4 billion. Taking inflation into account, it should be €2.2 billion today. But in the meantime, the estimated price has risen to almost €3.5 billion.

“The RER project is crucial to improving mobility around Brussels. However, such a budgetary discrepancy cannot be left unexplained. This audit is essential to ensure that every euro is invested wisely,” Crucke said.

Work on the RER began in 2004. Originally, the entire project to double the capacity of rail lines serving Brussels was due to be completed in 2012.

More than 20 years later, the work is still ongoing with a continually rising budget. The bulk of the work to be completed is in Wallonia on line 161 (Brussels-Ottignies) and line 124 (Brussels-Nivelles).