The public sector looks to regain direct control of maintenance and upgrade work on two-thirds of the London Underground after Transport for London lodged a formal bid to take over Metronet Rail, the failed private contractor. Financial Times, Daily Telegraph

TfL looks likely to be the only bidder for Metronet, which went into administration in August . LU, which is owned by TfL, already employs the drivers, signallers and station staff on the Underground.

Neither the administrator nor TfL would comment on the structure of TfL’s bid, although TfL said it would involve no extra net cost to the organisation. Because it has extended loans for up to £897m to Metronet since it went into administration, TfL would automatically receive back any fee it paid for the company.

A successful bid by TfL would leave only three Underground lines – Jubilee, Northern and Piccadilly, where track and trains are maintained and upgraded by the Tube Lines consortium – operating under the public-private partnership arrangement. Signed in 2003, the PPP contracts were intended to last for 30 years.