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Mayor pledges less disruption after TfL takes over Tube lines
Pippa Crerar and Dick Murray10 May 2010
Boris Johnson today pledged to slash the number of disruptive evening and weekend closures on the Tube after securing a deal to bring some of the busiest Underground lines back under state control.
The Mayor said the millions of commuters would be the “big winners” of the £310 million deal to take over control of the Northern, Jubilee and Piccadilly lines from Tube Lines.
Tube Lines will become a wholly owned subsidiary of TfL when the sale is anticipated to be completed on 30 June.
“The great advantage for all of us is that we no longer have to accede numbly dumbly to the requirements of Tube Lines. We can now do the upgrade at a time that suits us,” he said.
“I am confident that London Underground and private contractors are more than capable of delivering the improvements to London's transport network we need, on time and on budget.”
Private maintenance firm Tube Lines had come under fire for plans to close the Northern line at evenings and weekends for 18 months and an eight-month delay on the Jubilee upgrade.
“The big winners are the London travelling public and the big losers are the lawyers,” said the Mayor. “I'm delighted it's finished, I'm delighted it's over. I think it was a misconceived project. The contracts were very badly drawn up. It did waste colossal sums of money.”
The Mayor described the PPP contracts as “intolerable” and criticised original architect Gordon Brown. “The facts speak for themselves, there he is clinging onto office, with his signature project ruthlessly scuppered beneath him,” he said.
TfL said the first priority would be to complete the upgrade of the Jubilee line. There would be steps taken to reduce the impact of line closures beginning with a much less disruptive programme on the Northern Line.
A spokesman for TfL said it is “confident of generating substantial savings” on upgrade work for the three lines.
London First chief Baroness Jo Valentine said: “We think this is the best outcome we could have hoped for. The onus is now entirely on the Mayor and TfL to deliver the Tube upgrades promptly and efficiently.”
However, more than 1.5 million Tube commuters using the Jubilee, Northern and Piccadilly lines face strike action in a row over jobs.
The RMT is to ballot staff at Tube Lines recommending they back industrial action. Union leaders fear the takeover could lead to hundreds of jobs being lost among the 3,000 staff.Bob Crow, the RMT leader, said: “We will ballot our members at Tube Lines unless we receive a guarantee from TfL that they will not cut jobs.”
The RMT has demanded a meeting with Mayor Boris Johnson to discuss the takeover and the future of staff. The union has yet to decide when the ballot will start.
Reader views (11)
How BIZARRE, the World of Politics is!
Here is Right-Wing Mayor Boris, doing away with Public Private Investments.
His Predecessor KEN LIVINGSTONE, even went to Court in endeavours to NOT follow the Governments Diktat.
Ken was over-ruled, and the complex contracts which followed - FAILED.
The Cost has been astronomical for the GLA and Tfl.
However, BORIS has HAD to abandon these NONSENSICAL PRIVATE/PUBLIC CONTRACTS.
IT IS SAD that during BORIS's Tenure,
HE has WASTED £19-millions by cancelling KEN's CROSS-RIVER TRAM;
THROWN-AWAY MILLIONS on ABANDONING the BENDY-BUS FLEETS;
MILLIONS on a PURPORTEDLY 'NEW' ROUTE-MASTER;
AND supported the IDIOCY of CLOSING-DOWN a number of existing SOUTH-LONDON OVERGROUND RAIL-LINES.
BORIS JOHNSON: DROP THE BLUSTERING & APPLY YOUR INTELLIGENCE INSTEAD of INSOUCIANT FLIPPANCY.
- TEDWARD HEATH, South-East , London, 11/05/2010 08:45
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Can Bumbling Boris actually give some firm targets, budgets and quality to what is required? We need to be realistic, know honestly what needs to be done, when and how much. I know, in reality, this fool doesn't have a clue. What is the status NOW and where will we be WHEN, and HOW and credible costs.
- Rod, Epping, UK, 10/05/2010 15:48
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To answer the comments left by Justin.
Who has put the country in this financial mess , the ordinary people working in the frontline of public services or the bankers and politicians?
You must be very confident of your own position in whatever job you do to be so smug while bread is being taken from childrens mouths as their parents lose their jobs!
Every beggar in the street has a history, lets hope YOU dont become one.
- Jonny, South London, 10/05/2010 15:46
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Everything, and anything, that has to do with London; should be controlled, and owned, by London, and its people etc, and also run directly by the GLA etc.
If this is not so; why do we need a GLA or Mayor at all?
- mickinlondon, london, 10/05/2010 14:47
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Voted Conservatives knowing that cuts would be coming, also was honest enough with myself to see that the waste in the public sector and their partnerships were nothing less than criminal, sometimes, offering very little. Or offering something at criminal costs!
And though I've benefitted from being able to hold down jobs in this sector, felt sometimes that working in them was just an extension of the job centre (but have to say I'd rather the job). What I don't feel is fair, is that lower level workers like myself who had no choice but to work in this area face the prospect of being unemployed, through no fault of our own, there were not the jobs in the private sector, and once you've worked in this area recruitment tend to slot you. Have never taken a permanent job in the sector as it's almost as though you have to loose your integrity to belong! There's a club! that just don't get it! at all levels!
This is going to be just the first of many such reports from Boris or government.
Recently finished after a year of working in an org. with no scruples either for spending.
- M, London, 10/05/2010 13:17
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Public-private partnership (and PFI) can work well, but only when it is possible to define all risks and outcomes upfront. So they may work for building a new tube systems, but they have no chance for upgrading an old system that on-one knows the current state of.
I tend to think, that if a PFI is so complex that there needs to be lots of legal costs setting it up, than it should not be done as a PFI.
- Ian, Stockport, 10/05/2010 12:27
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If Boris had been Tory leader he would be sitting in No 10 right now and the tories would have wiped the floor with Brown and his clowns.
- HK Expat, Hong Kong, 10/05/2010 11:52
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It's ironic to see a Tory mayor reversing Labour practise of financing public investment through PPPs, which is of course itself a classic Tory free market undertaking.
- Luke, London, 10/05/2010 11:41
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Just goes to show - Tory ideas about the 'efficiency' of the private sector are nonsense.
Next step should be a re-nationalisation of our railways too.
- Mike, London, 10/05/2010 11:23
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Justin, exactly.
- Rod, Epping, UK, 10/05/2010 10:49
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So Bob Crow wants concrete assurances on jobs and conditions. It's about time that him and other union leaders (especially in the public sector) realise that with the country in the state it is, the time for concrete assurances is over.
- Justin, London, 10/05/2010 10:10
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