The Public Accounts Committee (PAC) has spoken out against the long time taken to upgrade the Thameslink railway.

Chair of PAC Margaret Hodge said the need for improvement has been visible since 1989 with proposals being made across the 1990s and early 2000s, yet action only occurred when the Department of Transport (DfT) sponsored the programme in 2005.

She said: "The planned completion date has been put back to 2018. But meeting the timetable for delivering the new trains will be very demanding and risky."

These views were endorsed by the National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers (RMT) - general secretary Bob Crow considered the replacement scheme to be a "expensive and damaging fiasco".

Ms Hodge also criticised the DfT's Thameslink team, as it only consists of five people despite it being a sizable development, questioning whether the department has enough skilled management personnel for the project.