Boris Johnson ready to pull the plug on ‘disastrous’ Tube Lines deal

Mayor Boris Johnson is to axe Tube Lines, the private sector consortium responsible for the Jubilee, Northern and Piccadilly lines, "within days".

Under the deal — kept secret until the result of the general election is known — Tube Lines shareholders could be paid up to £400 million. But the figure is not confirmed and could be much less.

The company's contracts and 2,500 staff will be taken over by Transport for London. It brings to an end the disastrous £30 billion Public Private Partnership under which large sections of the Tube were sold off on 30-year leases.

Union leaders welcomed the end of the "privatisation disaster". Bob Crow, general secretary of the Rail Maritime and Transport union, said: "If the reports are true that Tube Lines is at last being taken back under public control it would be a welcome development and would kill off the privatisation disaster on the Tube once and for all."

The takeover follows the collapse of Metronet, the maintenance giant responsible for two thirds of the Tube, which went bust three years ago with debts of £2 billion. The Mayor has repeatedly condemned Tube Lines for its failures in upgrading the Jubilee and Northern lines and relations between the company, owned by Ferrovial and Bechtel, and London Underground have worsened over the past few months.

The Mayor has accused Tube Lines of "looting" hundreds of millions of pounds from its contract and has described the PPP as "disastrous" for London's fare and taxpayers.

He said "It's a catastrophic system and it is not good value for the taxpayer. I really think it is time that we had a new approach."

The Mayor said he had "absolutely no doubt" that LU could deliver the planned upgrade of the Northern line quicker and cheaper than Tube Lines.

Tube Lines planned to charge LU £4.4 billion for the work — reduced from more than £6 billion — but LU argues the "true cost" is £4 billion.