RAJAN DEMANDS QUICK ANSWERS ON METRONET (Southwark Liberal Democrats)

Southwark Liberal Democrats <info@southwark-libdems.org.uk>

RAJAN DEMANDS QUICK ANSWERS ON METRONET

April 24, 2007 12:00 AM

Cllr Lisa Rajan, Liberal Democrat Executive Member for Environment and Transport on Southwark Council, has demanded urgent answers from London Mayor Ken Livingstone in the wake of Mr Livingstone's admission that Metronet, the firm which runs tube lines through the borough, could face bankruptcy.

Metronet runs nine of the deep tube lines in London including the Bakerloo and East London Lines which serve stations in Southwark.

"It will be very worrying for Southwark's residents and visitors to hear the Mayor's warning that Metronet Rail could collapse," said Cllr Lisa Rajan. "Many thousands of people use the tube each day to travel to and from Southwark for work or pleasure. We need reassurances that tube services will be unaffected and that planned engineering work will still go ahead."

"According to the Guardian, Metronet faces an overspend of £750 million and its parent companies might pull the plug rather than finding the money. We need to know that the Mayor has plans in place to cope with such an eventuality."

"Liberal Democrats warned that tube privatisation would be a disaster when it was proposed by Labour. Mayor Livingstone has presided over the semi-privatised network and he must take the blame for any failure."

"The Mayor has said that London Underground managers would take over if Metronet ceased work. I want to know that services will be maintained, that planned and emergency maintenance will happen and that there will be no compromise on passenger safety."