Member Article

Khan to fund TfL fare freeze by bringing Tube maintenance in-house

Transport for London (TfL) has earmarked savings of £80m after the TfL board announced that maintenance work on three of its busiest underground lines is to be brought back in-house.

The move will see TfL manage maintenance work on the Jubilee, Northern and Piccadilly lines, bringing an end to private firm Amey’s 13-year stint carrying out maintenance work on the three lines.

It comes after Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, announced a root and branch review of TfL in an effort to drive efficiency savings and cut down on waste, with savings set to be fed back into system improvements and the highly publicised fare freeze which formed a key promise in Khan’s mayoral manifesto.

The contract is set to be terminated at the end of next year, the earliest the current contract allows, and will save TfL around £80m in maintenance fees.

Following the announcement, Khan said: “I’m really proud to announce that TfL will bring underground maintenance work back in-house.

“I’ve asked TfL to carry out a root-and-branch review of all its business operations, and the decision to bring underground maintenance work in-house will save tens of millions of pounds to invest in our transport network and pay for my freeze in TfL fares.

“London Underground already has experience running successful maintenance operations in-house, and we’re making the changes as soon as the contract allows. I want TfL to be the best in the world while staying in public control.

“Londoners still pay some of the highest fares in the world. I will continue to work with TfL to cut waste and inefficiency, and deliver the affordable and world-class transport system Londoners deserve.”