The Tube and PPP

London Underground was finally transferred from the Government to the Mayor and Transport for London in July 2003. London Underground is an important public asset and is a vital part of London's public transport infrastructure. It carries three million passengers per weekday, including 35 per cent of commuters to central London. The Underground now carries approximately the same number of passengers as the entire UK National Rail Network carrying almost 1 billion passengers a year.

The Public Private Partnership (PPP)

London Underground has a history of under-investment, stretching back decades, and in 1997 the Government proposed a PPP for the London Underground which sought to provide a sustained high-level of funding together with the engineering skills required to rehabilitate and regenerate the Tube.

In short, the PPP structure divides the London Underground into four parts for the next 30 years - three private sector infrastructure companies, or Infracos, and a public sector operating company, namely London Underground as part of Transport for London (TfL).

The three Infracos take control of London Underground's assets - the trains, tracks, tunnels, signals and stations - that are effectively privatised for the next 30 years. London Underground will manage the PPP contracts and provide train operators and station staff.

The three Infracos are based on groups of Tube lines as follows:

SSL (Sub-Surface Lines)- Circle, District, Metropolitan, Hammersmith & City and East London Line.
BCV - Bakerloo, Central, Victoria and Waterloo & City.
JNP - Jubilee, Northern and Piccadilly.

The SSL and BCV Infacos are the responsibility of Metronet, a private sector consortium of Balfour Beatty, WS Atkins, Bombardier Transportation, Thames Water and Seeboard.

The JNP Infraco has been transferred to Tube Lines, a private sector consortium of Bechtel and Amey.

It is the responsibility of the Infracos, Metronet and Tube Lines, to raise the money to invest in London's Tube network and carry out the maintenance and engineering work that should lead to its regeneration and improvement.

The delivery dates for new trains and refurbished stations have already been agreed and are written in the PPP contracts. But it is TfL's responsibility to manage the PPP contracts so that the Infracos deliver the improvements to the Tube network they have promised.

TfL's new London Underground management, led by new Tube Managing Director Tim O'Toole, will manage London Underground in the best interests of Londoners and Tube users, to ensure that the many improvements promised by the Infracos are delivered on time and on budget. The first priority is to ensure a safe, reliable and clean tube service.

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