11 January 2002
Tube Lines, a group composed of American construction company Bechtel, Jarvis and the business support group Amey, said this week that it was confident the government would back its final bid for the Piccadilly, Jubilee and the Northern Line contract.
'Our position remains the same,' said Victoria Pender, a spokeswoman for Tube Lines. 'We have been through a procurement process, over quite a few hurdles. At every stage along the way we have made the case for value for money and we have every confidence we will do this again at the final hurdle.'
Tube Lines said it still expected to go ahead with the final contract, which it claimed could be signed by the end of April.
Rumours have been circulating in the capital for the past week that the government would be unable to pass Tube Lines' value-for-money case. The consortium plans to invest £3.5bn in the first seven years of the contract.
The rumours came as fears resurfaced that the PPP, across all lines, was in jeopardy.
The government is thought to be preparing an announcement that would allow for some form of public sector control over the network.
One proposal gaining credence is that the PPP will be left in place for all but one contract, which would revert to the control of the London mayor, Ken Livingstone.
But Transport for London, the body that will oversee policy in the capital, would be unhappy with this outcome. 'Our view is pretty damning,' said a TfL spokeswoman. 'That would be even less acceptable than PPP.'
She added that TfL was continuing to lobby civil servants to press for the mayoral option of keeping the Tube in the public sector.
The situation could be further complicated in the next few weeks by publication of an Ernst and Young report into the feasibility of the PPP.
The company said it would hand its findings to ministers 'in the next two to three weeks'.
PFjan2002
