BROWN AND LIVINGSTONE MUST MEET TO BRING TUBE MAINTENANCE BACK IN-HOUSE

12.39.18pm BST (GMT +0100) Thu 13th Oct 2005

Following the announcement that the Northern Line will not be restored until the weekend at the earliest, the London Assembly Liberal Democrats today called for the Chancellor Gordon Brown and Mayor Ken Livingstone to have urgent face-to-face talks about how the London Underground maintenance contracts can be brought back in house without costing Londoners millions of pounds.

The call follows the ongoing problems on the Northern Line. Earlier this week the Liberal Democrats produced new evidence that shows that faults on the Northern Line have increased by 30% since the PPP deal came into force.

London Assembly Liberal Democrat transport spokesman, Geoff Pope, said:

"The Northern Line fiasco shows that the PPP deal struck by Gordon Brown on the Tube was ill-judged, ill-conceived and poorly implemented.

"It was the current Chancellor who concocted this ludicrous PPP deal that has left Londoners with a system where the dangerous game of pass the problem parcel has become routine.

"Gordon Brown and Ken Livingstone must find a way of bringing the responsibility of maintaining the infrastructure of the Tube back in house and run by Transport for London without it costing Londoners millions of pounds."

ENDS