3:30pm Thursday 11th March 2010
By Kevin Bradford
THE row over the cost of upgrades to the Northern Line has escalated after transport bosses were told they have to find a further £400 million to fund the completion of the work.
Despite recognising improvements to the service were “seriously delayed and over budget”, the arbiter of the Public Private Partnership (PPP) set the costs for maintenance firm Tube Lines at £4.46 billion.
The figure remains adrift of the maximum payout of £4 billion which is seen as sufficient by Mayor of London Boris Johnson.
The ongoing conflict means improvement work across the Northern Line, which serves 13 tube stations in the borough, may experience further delays.
The arbiter, Chris Bolt, also confirmed his view that Tube Lines, who are contracted to carry out work on the Jubilee Line as well, should have completed around half of the Northern Line upgrade by this summer.
Mr Bolt recommended London Underground (LU) cut back on promised upgrades of the Tube in order to finance Tube Lines.
The ruling sparked anger from Mayor Johnson, who is considering legal action against the company.
He said: “Londoners will be outraged that the Tube upgrades promised to them are now threatened.
“Simply put, we are being asked to write a blank cheque in order to prop up an ailing and failing Tube Lines.
“We will fight this to the last and are therefore examining all our options, including legal remedies.”
LU managing director, Richard Parry said: "The Jubilee and Northern line upgrades are seriously delayed and over budget as a result of Tube Lines' failure to deliver, a fact now confirmed by both the PPP Arbiter and an independent QC earlier this year.
"It is essential that Tube Lines and its shareholders are now called upon to set out in full their plan to deliver the full scope of works for £4.46bn.”
Tube Lines defended its record claiming the Northern Line is now “routinely more reliable” than all other lines on the network. They also cited the successful completion work which has resulted in seven of the borough's Tube stations having disabled access, more than the total on the rest of the line.
Tube Lines Acting Chief Executive, Andrew Cleaves, said: “We consider that this decision could present Tube Lines with a significant challenge in its efforts to deliver the investment in the Tube that the system continues to require.”
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