Tube strike London

Today London has been hit by a tube strike. I'm currently trying to keep my evening appointment. So far this has led me to walking away empty handed from Old Street, my station, as the underground that TfL said was working,wasn't. I walked to Farringdon, took a train to Blackfriars and then a boat to Embankment.

The reason for all this? Most people don't realise or care as they just want to get home. Tory mayor Boris Johnson plans to cut the number of staff on the network.

Employees have the right to strike by law just as ordinary Londoners have the right to complain about the disruption. As mayor Boris has a duty to negotiate with the unions to avoid this. He came to power pledging to ban strikes - ridiculous and illegal. He could do something far less radical and far more achievable - agree a deal.  Londoners and London's economy could do with a mayor who gets things done rather than spouts empty rhetoric.

Tubelines not keen on Metronet contracts

Reading about Tubeline's apprehension in taking on Metronet's failed Tube PPP contracts one thing seemed remarkable to me. It appears that much of th eprescribed work laid out in the PPP contracts omitted some crucial details. Terry Morgan of Tubelines cites the upgrading of Arsenal station, my nearest station:

"He cites an upgrade at Arsenal station as an example of the complexity of deciding the scope of work. Tube Lines undertook to put "a new cover on the station", but found it could not build on the existing roof. "So we had to strip the existing roof," he said - at Tube Lines' own cost."

It is remarkable that despite £500m of public money spent on drawing up these contracts that 'unforseen' situations like this could occur.

Tube bans Gay Times ad

I was disappointed to read that the Tube had rejected a Gay Times advert (shown here)celebrating 40 years since being homosexual ceased to be a criminal offence. It will be interesting to see what the London Paper and Gay Times poll finds. Do people still think this sort of image inappropriate? I hope not, I hope we've moved on and that the Tube can be shamed into their backward thinking of this. We should be celebrating 40 years of a progressive law change under a Labour Government and this sort of petty behaviour really doesn't help.

Metronet

So Metronet look like going bust. The only people who seem to have benefited from the PPP on London Underground are management consultants and lawyers who drew up the preoposterous idea in the first place. The whole point of the PPP was to transfer the financial risk away from the public sector. Yet when things go wrong, Metronet simply hold out a begging bowl to the public purse. Asking TfL for £551m to cover extra costs wasn't on and I'm pleased that Chris Bolt, the PPP Arbiter, only offered them £121m.

I'm not sure what this means for the future upgrading of the tube but what it says about poor decisions made in the past is stark. Transferring risk to the private sctor doesn't always work - just look at the rest of the railways. Metronet have shown little regard for the public purse and I'm pleased that they are being stood up to. London Underground's MD, Tim O-Toole, said “I’m determined to make the case that the public should not be forced to pay a penny for Metronet’s inefficiencies.”