Tube PPP damned - it stays (but the boss goes)

Over a period of a few weeks recently the government's private-public-partnership (PPP) of London's underground railway (the Tube) has taken a real, official bashing saying it is unsafe, extremely expensive and not delivering improvements. This has ended not with the end of the Tube PPP but the resignation of the man in charge of Metronet, one of the private sector companies given the task of improving the Tube.

Events started with the publication of the House of Commons Transport Select Committee report in March on tube privatisation. Under the PPP in 2003 Metronet and Tubelines were awarded 30 year contracts worth £17 billion and combined profits of almost £100 million. While spending on the Tube has increased massively these firms have failed to meet most service targets that were lowered from precious benchmarks.

There has also been an increase in safety incidents since they took over the network's maintenance, with four derailments, and a rise in the number of broken rails. Last year almost 200 signals were passed at danger, up from 150 in 2001-2.

The MP's on the committee were very concerned about the fragmentation of Tube maintenance and up-grading being given to two separate companies, Metronet and Tubelines, and that they are separate from London Underground Limited (LUL) who are in control of the day to day running of the Tube. This could lead to "inconsistent communication" which could increase risk. They urged London Underground to prevent this.

Bob Crowe of the tube workers union RMT called for an end to the PPP and for the work to be taken back in-house. He said: "Report after report into the PPP has delivered the verdict that privatising the Tube infrastructure work has bought nothing but delays, excuses and increasing safety concerns. The committee has accepted RMT's evidence that fragmentation of the Tube has brought with it a communications breakdown that has undermined safety on what was one of the safest railways in the world."

After this, another government committee, the Public Accounts Committee announced the Tube PPP had already cost the taxpayer £1 billion. As well as this the report said the bond financing scheme - favoured over PPP by Transport for London (TfL) and London's Mayor - would have saved about £90m per year, although it did say this would have been more risky.

A TfL spokesman said: "TfL has consistently said that the London Underground PPP deals are an expensive and over complicated way to manage the maintenance and renewal of the Tube. Nothing has yet encouraged TfL to change that view."

Then on a morning when there were problems on four main tube lines leaving thousands of commuters with massive rush hour delays, London Transport Commissioner Bob Kiley slammed the Tube maintenance companies. He said: "The rush hour for half of the city was a disaster this morning. That has happened scores of times during the short lives of these contracts - I find that completely unacceptable." He called the Tube's efficiency and reliability "embarrassing, if not disgraceful."

Mr. Kiley's outburst was seen by some as a possible link to Mayor Ken Livingstone's comments that if the PPP wasn't working after two years he would go to the government again on the issue. This after the Mayor's long and bitter battle in the courts with the government about the funding of Tube maintenance, who should carry that work out and how it should be managed.

The issue didn't go away in the press or public eye as in April the London Transport Users Committee (LTUC) called for a review of private maintenance contracts because it said delays "plagued" lines. On top of this LU said it was demanding a "marked improvement in performance".

Then came the announcement that the chief executive of Metronet, John Weight, had resigned. Metronet's board said he was stepping down because the board decided the group "needed to accelerate change" and "the shareholders felt that we needed someone new to bring about change."

Brian Cook, chair of LTUC, has written calling for a meeting with LU bosses saying: "On behalf of the passengers we represent, we think the time has come to ask formally whether the level of disruption is such that Metronet and Tube Lines, the infrastructure companies (infracos), can be said to be in breach of their contracts."

London's mayor Ken Livingstone said after the resignation: "Metronet's recent performance has been intolerable. We require a step change improvement. It remains to be seen whether the new management will be able to do what Londoners are entitled to expect."

General secretary of the Rail, Maritime and Transport union, Bob Crow said: "The profit-hungry ethics of Jarvis has already led to them being kicked off maintenance contracts on the mainline following disasters like Potter's Bar and Hatfield. It is unbelievable that Jarvis are now being handed control of the Tube. If Tube safety is undermined as a result we will be balloting for industrial action."