JARVIS BANRUPTCY COULD CAUSE CHAOS TO TUBE COMMUTERS

7.00.00pm BST (GMT +0100) Wed 7th Jul 2004

Liberal Democrat Chair of the London Assembly Transport Committee, Lynne Featherstone, has today written to Mayor Livingstone urging him to make urgent contingency plans to protect Londoners in the event of maintenance firm Jarvis going bankrupt.

Jarvis is a one-third share holder in the London Underground maintenance firm TubeLines that undertakes repairs on the Jubilee, Northern & Piccadilly Lines. Ms Featherstone is concerned that in the event of Jarvis going bankrupt, as part of the consortium TubeLines, it will be unable to fulfil contracts to improve the Tube.

Lynne Featherstone said:-

"London's long suffering commuters could be left in the lurch if Jarvis goes bankrupt.

"The Mayor is relying on TubeLines, with Jarvis as a key partner, to provide vital maintenance work for the Tube. If the TubeLines partnership collapses it could leave the underground behind in the re-investment programme put forward as part of the PPP contracts.

"If Jarvis does go bankrupt, this could threaten TubeLines resulting in a serious disruption of maintenance and repairs on the crumbling Tube infrastructure. Londoners need reassurance from the Mayor that any cash flow problems or contractual disputes with TubeLines will not halt maintenance work on the underground.

"I have today written to the Mayor to ask him to give urgent attention to this matter, and give clear guidance to Transport for London and London Underground on what they should do in the event that Jarvis does go belly up."

Ends

Notes to editor

Letter to Ken Livingstone from Lynne Featherstone is attached:-

7th July 2004

Dear Mr Livingstone

As I am sure you are aware, the share price of Jarvis, a company that has a one-third stake in maintenance underground contractor, TubeLines, has plummeted to the extent that City forecasters are unsure as to its ability to stay afloat or ability to not default on loans.

I am writing to seek your assurance that in the event of Jarvis going bankrupt, there have been contingency plans put in place to ensure there is no disruption on the maintenance projects of the Jubilee, Piccadilly and Northern Lines.

With the current Tube strike threat to Londoners, the last thing many commuters need is the fear that further disruption to their workplace could be caused by private contractors going bust.

I trust that you will be able to reassure both the London Assembly and the traveling public that contingency plans are under review, meetings have taken place with both Ministers and the maintenance contractors and every opportunity will be taken to prevent any further disruption to the commuter.

Regards

Lynne Featherstone

Liberal Democrat Spokesman on London Transport

The share price of Jarvis has slumped from a year high of 386.50p to just 23.5p on Tuesday