Boris in £3bn battle to rescue Tube upgrade

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Mayor Boris Johnson is demanding the Government provides up to £3 billion of extra funding for the work.

Without it, the project - which includes new tracks, signals and trains - is at risk. The Government has refused to provide the funds, saying that Transport for London should foot the bill.

The Mayor has accused the Government of creating the financial shortfall by imposing the public-private partnership, under which large sections of the Tube were hived off to the private sector on 30-year leases. Mr Johnson says this means the Government is now under a "moral" obligation to pay the extra costs involved resulting from their actions.

He said it was "desperately necessary" for both the London and national economy that the Tube upgrade is completed.

The current cash problems result from last year's collapse of Tube maintenance firm Metronet amid £2billion debt. Metronet has since been taken back under public control through TfL.

Now Tube Lines, the second and remaining private sector consortium, needs at least £1.4 billion in extra funding to complete its scheduled programme of improvements.

Mr Johnson has written to Chancellor Alistair Darling setting out the need for the extra funding. Senior Government sources have ruled out the Chancellor agreeing to any more money.

Hesaid: "The Government is morally responsible for the PPP which it imposed on London and which does nothing to protect fare payers and taxpayers.

"We have done our bit [to raise cash]. We have put up fares by RPI plus one per cent. We have asked Londoners to take the pain and the Government should do its bit."

The Mayor's spokeswoman added: "The prediction that more funding is required by Tube Lines were forecast from the beginning of these contracts, yet roundly ignored by the Government."

Former mayor Ken Livingstone failed in two High Court attempts to prevent the PPP, devised by Gordon Brown as Chancellor, from going ahead.

The Government has already ruled out using funds allocated to the £16 billion Crossrail project, despite transport experts advising that the Tube network upgrade is a higher priority.