The London underground PPP has been criticised already at an early stage for its high costs and high profits for the private partners. In the end, the PPP was ended when the consortiums were bought by London's public transport company.
The controversy about the D1 motorway came from two angles: first, as a PPP its critics said it was overpriced, and second, the project promoter decided not to follow the route recommended through the Environmental Impact Assessment process, instead choosing one that would impact on protected Natura 2000 areas.
The M25 widening scheme has faced a barrage of criticism due to its higher than necessary costs and failure to properly assess the alternative option of using the hard shoulder as an extra lane during peak hours. The UK House of Commons Public Accounts Committee has estimated that the potential extra cost to the taxpayer has amounted to around GBP 1 billion (EUR 1.2 billion).
Some of the best-known examples of failed PPPs in CEE are the M1/M15 and M5 motorways in Hungary. These were among the rare cases when significant demand risk really was transferred to the private sector concessionaires, but as a result the M1/M15 ended up being fully renationalised and the M5 partially renationalised, thus showing that ultimately the public sector in any case bears the risk as it cannot afford for the service to be halted.
Negotiated with single bidders, the two PPP concession contracts are unlikely to offer value for money. The lack of reviews however make it difficult to confirm this.
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