The council wants Network Rail to pay the £1.4m shortfall out of its contingency finds.

Hammersmith & Fulham Council (H&F) working with Kensington & Chelsea Council, Tfl and developers St.George, had a funding package agreed in the summer that would have meant the station got a green light but just as progress looked likely Network Rail’s construction and project management fees increased. The total cost of building the station is now £7.93m – more than four times the original £1.75m cost which was first mooted in the late 1990s.

H&F Council deputy leader and cabinet member for Environment, Cllr Nicholas Botterill, said: “We have gone as far as we can in terms of financing the building of this station and we are asking Network Rail to pay for the last £1.4m of this £8m project. Failure is not an option as local business, residents and commuters are desperate for the station to be completed as soon as possible.”

The proposed station will be built north of the West London Line railway bridge over the River Thames. The station will serve the Townmead Road and Lots Road areas of Fulham and Chelsea, with the recent and proposed developments of Imperial Wharf, Chelsea Harbour and Lots Road Power Station.

Originally scheduled to open last month, it is now not known when the station will be completed.