The nearly £2 billion gap between Tube Lines’ £7.2 billion
costs estimate and the maximum £5.5 billion the PPP arbiter says it should get
raises fears for planned Tube upgrades.
The Tube Lines
estimate is a massive £3.1 billion higher – £2.5 billion taking inflation into
account – than that of London Underground, which called for the arbiter’s early
guidance.
"Metronet’s
collapse was so spectacular that it made Tube Lines look good in comparison, but
RMT has maintained from the start that the PPP itself is the complex, wasteful
problem," RMT general secretary Bob Crow said today.
"After
Metronet’s collapse left the public with a £2 billion extra bill, the alarm
bells should be ringing and it is important to understand that 95 % of Tube
Lines’ colossal liabilities are also underwritten by the public purse.”
Subsidy for the
Tube has increased 20-fold as a result of the PPP, and Tube Lines has been
taking more than £1 million a week in profits for its shareholders. Now they
are asking for £2 billion more than the arbiter thinks their costs should be.
They’re picking our pockets!
"The PPP,
like all PFI projects, is a complex scam designed to convert public money into
private profit, and these contracts should be brought in-house now," Bob
Crow continued.
Meanwhile chaos looms in preparation for the London
Olympics
We are now less
than four years away from the 2012 Olympics, and if we are to get the Tube
network the capital needs in place by then, the time to sort out this mess is
now.
There is no agreement with London Underground staff to run
the network round the clock during the 2012 Olympics, the Tube’s biggest union
said today.
Following the mayor’s public announcement that the network
would operate 24 hours a day during the 2012 games, RMT reveals that it has yet
to be approached by the mayor, Transport for London or London Underground Ltd
management for discussions on the many complex issues involved.
“It is all very well the mayor announcing that the Tube
will run-around the clock during the Olympics, but if it is going to happen it
will need detailed planning and the agreement and goodwill of the professional
staff who will deliver it,” RMT general secretary Bob Crow said.
“RMT supports the 2012 Olympics and for two years we have
been seeking an early settlement that takes account of the substantial
additional burdens and responsibilities that London’s transport workers will
have placed upon them.
“We are not opposed to 24-hour running during the games in
principle, but simply announcing it will not make it happen, and so far there
has not been a word from the new mayor seeking even preliminary talks.”
Mayor Boris is clearly out of his depth in all this. Here’s
more evidence.
Passengers to pay
Inflation-busting
fare increases are a short-sighted fix that will create more problems than they
solve, London Underground’s biggest union says today.
As the mayor
of London announced increases at one per cent ahead of inflation, RMT called
for an end to the colossal waste of public money still being poured into
private pockets under the part-privatisation of the Tube’s infrastructure
“If the
mayor needs extra cash for the London transport network he should be looking at
ways to end the shocking waste still caused by the PPP, not squeezing
passengers even more with inflation-busting fares hikes,” RMT general secretary
Bob Crow said today.
“The economy and the environment need a
massive increase in affordable transport capacity, and that applies to London as
much as the rest of Britain,” Bob Crow said.
