The £8bn modernisation of London Underground is in crises with the government and the London mayoral team at loggerheads.
Bob Kiley, Ken Livingstone’s transport supreme for the capital, accused the government of reneging on a compromise deal in which the Deputy Prime Minister had agreed to modify his planned public-private partnership and asked Kiley to “take the lead” in working out new proposals.
But Kiley was told earlier this week he would not be granted a controlling equity stake in the companies set up to manage London Underground’s infrastructure. There appears to have been either a misinterpretation of what John Prescott had agreed or a change of heart. The DETR said that it had agreed to discuss with Kiley what he meant by unified management control. If he was talking about a 51% holding in the infrastructure companies, then there was a problem.
Financial Times 16/02/01 page 1
