TfL closes door on Tube Lines takeover
BORIS JOHNSON, London’s Mayor, and Transport for London (TfL) have completed the takeover of Tube Lines.
Under the agreement, TfL has purchased all of Tube Lines’ shares from Bechtel and Ferrovial’s Amey, for £310m and will now manage the ongoing work to the Northern, Jubilee and Piccadilly lines.
Johnson said the deal will open a new era for the tube giving TfL greater flexibility to how improvement work is carried out.
Amey will continue to provide maintenance services to all three lines, while Bechtel will oversee a transition period.
He said: “The capital is the engine room of the UK economy and this new arrangement ensures that the vital tube upgrade work, upon which London’s own economic success depends, is delivered at the best possible value.”
TfL said that its first objective is to launch a review of the public private partnership (PPP) upgrade programme at the same time completing the maintenance work affecting the Jubilee Line.
“We have wasted no time in acting to limit the disruption of the upgrade programme by cutting back the closures… we will now look at how we can keep disruption to a minimum in the future,” said Johnson.
However, an ongoing dispute between Tube Lines, its workers and rail union RMT is yet to be resolved after workers launched a three-day strike, causing severe delays across the Northern, Piccadilly and Jubilee Lines.
A further set of strikes are scheduled between 14 and 16 July but could be stopped by a court injunction this week.
The dispute is over pay, working conditions and job security.