London Underground takes on Tube works

London Underground bosses are set to take over the work of Tube Lines, the remaining private sector maintenance and improvement giant.

Senior industry sources warned of a repeat of the Metronet fiasco two years ago, when LU was forced to take contracts and 7,500 staff back into the public sector.

A decision on a £1.5 billion "black hole" will be made on Thursday. Tube Lines is responsible for the Jubilee, Northern and Piccadilly lines.

The £500 million upgrade of the Jubilee line, used by more than 600,000 passengers a day, is running months late and more weekend shutdowns have been ordered in an effort to get the work done.

Now, the Evening Standard can reveal, there are similar problems facing the Northern line signalling upgrade - intended to finish by the end of 2011 in time for the 2012 Olympic Games.