Tube Lines to axe 60 engineers

Sixty engineers at Tube Lines are facing the axe, hit by London Underground’s funding crisis.

Tube Lines wants additional work brought forward on the London Underground PPP contract so it can keep the 60 engineers employed. However London Underground is facing a funding gap of at least £1.4bn on the PPP contract and is unlikely to bring work forward.

LUL’s funding gap came to light in October during negotiations between London Underground and Tube Lines on estimated costs for the second period of the PPP programme, which runs from 2010 to 2017. The PPP Arbiter Chris Bolt, brought in to broker the agreement, estimated a funding shortfall of at least £1.4bn.

A Tube Lines spokeswoman confirmed the job cuts this week. "It was always anticipated that our workload would reduce towards the end of the first period. Had we been given extra work from LUL these job cuts could have been avoided."

She added that none of the engineers would be made redundant before Christmas, adding, "We are helping people find other positions in Tube Lines as well as talking to Transport for London and Metronet about possible job opportunities."

However the chances of work at Transport for London (TfL) and Metronet are slim after TfL chief Peter Hendy announced a major restructuring at TfL last week, aimed at saving £2.4bn over ten years. Hendy warned of "significant" job losses which will include jobs in the Metronet division.

Tube Lines is seeking work outside the PPP contract as a way of increasing workload. A spokeswoman said: "We are looking at doing more track and stations work for LUL, not necessarily standalone contracts but full packages of works."

Tube Lines is already bidding outside of the PPP for a10-year £90m maintenance contract on the East London Line.

A TfL spokesman said: "Tube Lines is responsible for planning and delivering its own programme of work to meet its obligations under the PPP. London Underground has already engaged Tube Lines in work above and beyond the PPP contract - notably at Stratford and Green Park - and while there are of course further schemes which LU would like to do to improve the Tube’s infrastructure if they were affordable, we can only pursue those for which funding is in place."