Transport for London (TfL) is bringing maintenance of the Underground in-house in a bid to save £80m in management fees over 10 years, it has emerged.
The transport authority has confirmed reports that the Jubilee, Northern and Piccadilly lines will be looked after by TfL engineers after it ends a contract with private firm Amey next year.
TfL is under pressure to make savings to support mayor Sadiq Khan’s pledge to freeze transport fares for four years – thought to cost £640m. It is also due to lose its central government grant in 2018.
Mark Wild, managing director of LU, said: ‘We are carrying out a root-and-branch review of our business to cost less and make transport in London more affordable for our customers. As part of this, we are using our in-house maintenance expertise to save tens of millions of pounds.
‘There will be no impact on our extremely high standards of maintenance and we will be working closely with Amey over the next 18 months to ensure a smooth transition.’
The mayor's election pledge read: 'Freeze London transport fares for four years and introduce a one-hour bus ‘Hopper’ ticket, paid for by making TfL more efficient and exploring new revenue-raising opportunities. Londoners won’t pay a penny more for their travel in 2020 than they do today.'
However he has already been accused of rowing back on this promise after he announced it would apply only to single journeys.
